10.30.07
Posted in Uncategorized, Vocal Health at 9:51 pm by Administrator
I have many voice students who smoke, and several who have quit smoking since I started working with them. While it is possible to sing while you smoke, I can tell you that those students who quit experience a drastic increase in vocal range. And although the first month or so is tough with the “smokers cough” acting up - eventually the “gunk” clears out of the lungs and lung capacity is increased and breath intake becomes quieter and easier.Here is an excellent blog posting I came across on www.answerbag.com that sums up the effects of smoking on the singing voice:
“One of the greatest singers of all time, and the most recorded musician of all time, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, was a smoker. Not that I would suggest three packs a day based on this, but it can be done.
“The vocal folds are folds are sheathed when not in use, so as long as you don’t speak or sing while exhaling smoke, you won’t do much direct damage to them.
“The biggest effect of smoking on the singing voice is a drastic loss of lung capacity. I once knew a smoker-singer who experimented with this. She quit smoking and monitored her lung capacity by timing long notes. Within two weeks, she had literally doubled her time. After six weeks, she caved in and started smoking again, and her lung time almost immediately dropped back to what it had been before.
“The brief explanation of this is that nicotine is a sedative. It deadens the nerves which control the support musculature, and does not allow the proper use of the lungs. The effects of tar in terms of congesting the lungs are also significant, but this is a complex problem.
“The primary issue of tar in the lungs is that the nicotine deadens the cillia in the bronchioles and bronchial passages. These tiny, finger-shaped bits of tissue serve two purposes: they increase the surface area of the bronchioles, allowing more oxygen to pass through to the capillaries behind them. Under normal circumstances, they also sway gently back and forth to move the mucous and phlegm around, preventing things from getting clogged up in there. Nicotine deadens the cillia, allowing tar and phlegm to coat them. This congestion reduces lung capacity. It also reduces the body’s ability to guage and react to irritation from smoke.
“In the morning, after not having had a dose of nicotine for eight hours, the cillia begin to awaken and sway again, moving all the stuff around. This is what causes “smoker’s cough,” the only effective cure for which, is of all things, a cigarette to deaden the cillia again. The cough, of course, irritates the vocal mechanism, and that’s a problem, too.”
What I can add to this author’s insight is that while the smoke itself may not directly damage the vocal folds, dehydration from continual exposure to heated cigarette fumes as well as daily abuse from “smokers cough” can indeed cause considerable damage to the delicate vocal folds. While not everyone will experience this, thankfully, it is a fact these combined factors can lead to permanent damage such as vocal nodes, polyps, and obviously, cancer.
Having said all of this I do realize that many singers smoke and have fine careers. So obviously smoking does not rule out professional singing. However, quitting will yield not only better overall health, oxygen intake, and decreased chances of permanent vocal issues, but will also increase lung capacity and vocal range.
The choice is yours.
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10.27.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:46 pm by Administrator
“Art is not about perfection, it is about expression. The key is simply to love it.”
Sometimes when I try to write a song I wind up abandoning the project before it’s even begun. My logic usually goes something like this: “Well, I’m not in the right mood, so if I write the song now it won’t be quite right and then it’ll be a mediocre product so I’d better do it later when it’s the ‘perfect’ moment and then I’ll write the ‘perfect’ song.”Interesting.
We all know what happens next: the perfect moment never comes and I rarely get around to writing that song. And, even more importantly, I rarely get around to expressing the thought that originally inspired me - and so I wind up quashing my own expression. (Sabotage, anyone?)
And at this point I ask myself: “what’s so bad about mediocre expression?” Without those songs that lack the luster I will never get to those that are at once fresh, honest, and timeless (ie. that ‘perfect song’).
I think perhaps it’s time my priorities were re-stacked with “expression” on top and “perfection” left on the back shelf to gather some dust. I can’t change the fact that nothing I create will be perfect beyond any opportunity to be improved. Expression, however, is inherently valuable simply for the fact that it took place.
The key is simply to love it.
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