Smoking is BAD, mmkay!?!?!

Wow.

Ok, so I smoked for about 8 years or so from about the age of 19-ish until 27-ish...

And at the time, I didn't REALLY notice much of an effect on my voice EXCEPT after several years I did find I had to clear my throat SO often while singing...but I never noticed any issues with range or anything.

For anyone who has heard anything I've sung, you'd know I have a fairly light kinda voice and can sing pretty high (as well as quite low)...and I never noticed straining or anything at the time.

So I quit ages ago...I'm 32 (soonish, not yet) this year, and I've for some inexplicable reason started smoking maybe a couple of cigs most days again...*head in hands* STUPID STUPID STUPID, I KNOW!

So ALREADY I've found I'm "cutting out" on certain softly sung, delicate higher notes of my range...notes I could do perfect before!!

I also find my voice is rougher...

EEEK! It really DOES affect your voice!!!!! And quickly too. WOW. Take heed, people.

Do you have a lot of stress in your life right now? That will fuel a need for smoking to sedate some of the anxiety. Or, is it just a malaise that has you in a down mood?

I agree - Smoking definitely affects your ability to sing, so if you can, try doing your singing before you have your smoke.

I hope you find the strength to quit - or cut back so it's not daily, maybe only weekly.

smoking is bad mainly for lungs, it's really much harder to sing..

I've cut down a lot recently. Went from maybe five packs a week to one. With the ridiculous $2 per pack increase here, the govt are just plain taking the piss.

Still can't breathe for {censored}.

I {censored}ing butchered some Jeff Buckley at a gig once cause I smoked a cig thirty minutes beforehand.

The difference after I stopped smoking completely was incredible. I could finally hit that B5 again! My control was far better as well. It's pretty remarkable how much damage even one cigarette will do to your falsetto. Don't even try singing above C5 if you smoke.

The craziest thing is Buckley himself loved cigarettes.

Grace slick:

Interesting post. It could be that your body is starting to hit the wall on smoking; when smoking starts to have ill effects that are noticeable. I remember my family doctor telling me that one's tolerance to cigarette smoking varies from individual to individual, how much they smoke, and smoking non filter camels are worse than filtered lite cigs to a certain extent. With non filter cigs, you get everything. He also told me that "You will reach a point where the damage is irreversible". He said he couldn't tell me when that was, only that it was not a question of "if" the damage will ever be irreversible, but "when". The only thing to do is QUIT. Cutting down may work for awhile, but I only know of a few people that can keep their smoking habit under control and not increase the number of cigs a day as time goes on. I was not one of those people, so I HAD to quit.

So Grace, if you are noticing that you have to clear your throat more often, your voice "cutting out" and generally rougher, its time to quit forever. Quit, take no prisoners.

Mike T.