how much have i damaged my voice?

M

mohdanas1

New member
Hello everyone, I use to be a very good singer but then i 3 years ago i gave up all my practise. I have not taken any professional training and i use to teach and practise myself. I use to listen to songs and try and imitate the way the singer is singing ever since i was a child, this made me develop the ability of singing in different voices. but i stopped that 4 years ago
and whats worse is that i started smoking cigarets quite regularly, 2-3 cig per day, and 2 years ago i also got into smoking weed once a while, i want to get back to singing now and try to earn from it and make a channel on youtube. My voice is good now but i have problem with my stamina, i am no longer versatile like i used to be and usually sing in my own comfortable zone.
what i want to know is, the damage that i have done to myself, is it permanent? is it too late to try to fix it? if not, then what can i do to fix it? i am rdy to do anything. Disciple myself and restrain myself from anything that can further harm my voice, i just need someone to guide me.
 
Everyone is different.

There are singers who smoked and drank and still sang good all their lives (not that I'm condoning it).

So really, you just have to get back in it and you will find out for yourself what damage if any is permanent...and build your stamina back up.
You won't know until you really try.
There's no way for anyone to be able to tell you that on a forum.
 
I'd be surprised if you permanently damaged your voice by smoking 2-3 cigarettes a day for a few years, plus weed (you're not smoking that every day, I hope). More likely, you are out of practice. Ditch the smokes and start singing again. Try some warm up exercises to limber up your vocal chords, and then just work it.

Your voice will change as you age no matter what you do.
 
it's a person by person thing.
I smoke 'erb before every gig and I sing fine ... doing as many as seven or eight four hour gigs in a week and I'm the only singer. Doubles on Sat and Sundays so 8 hours of singing on those days ..... nary a problem.
So clearly it causes me no issues.

I've seen other singers that can simply be in a club where there's smoke and lose their voice an hour into the gig.

You voice is basically a system of muscles and like any muscle it needs exercise ..... more than likely you're just out of shape and need to start working it out .... start easy ..... don't strain .... and work up from there.
 
Like others have said, it's going to vary person by person. However, it doesn't sound like you've done enough to permanently damage your voice: you're just out of practice, and have some bad habits. If you do any kind of "aggressive" singing, or screaming, though, you should think about taking lessons to do it safely: a lot of professional singers HAVE damaged their voices by doing this the wrong way for several years.
 
I smoked for 35 years...2 packs a day. I ultimately almost completely destroyed my voice with cigarettes and pot. I quit about 8 years or so ago and my voice is back. it's not as high pitched as when I was 20, but that is part of the aging process and to be expected. Quit smoking, it serves no purpose other than causing cancer and lung disease, burning holes in everything, and making you smell like an ashtray.

By the way, it has taken years for my voice to recover from all that smoking. I've been quit for 8 years and my voice has improved every year including this year.
So, it's not a thing that happens in a month of not smoking.
The others posting on this are right. Some smoke and still sing very well. But, the decades of smoking usually take their toll of them all.

I could smoke one cigarette and start having to clear my throat and my voice would be thicker and lack range. After a pack I wouldn't have a falsetta.
I can't even dabble with cigarettes if I want to be a good voice.
No big deal though...I don't miss smoking one bit
 
oddly, considering my life as a player, I never smoked cigarettes ever.


Also have never been arrested ....... two unusual things for a lifelong musician.
 
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