I recently seen a video of a well know harp player (not going to mention names) smoking on stage well he was playing. So this got me thinking, I wonder how many people who play harmonica, professional or otherwise smoke cigarettes. To me it would seem to go against, the purpose of trying to improve, and make it a lot harder, in many ways. I wonder if smoking and playing harp would affect you less than other wind instruments, because your inhaling and exhaling. So my questions are for anyone that smokes and plays harp.
1- Do you find it hard breathing when playing, or not so much because your using your diaphragm more so than your lungs?
2- Those that use to smoke, but then quit, did you find a huge difference in your capacity to draw air in when playing, or not much difference.
3- Those that smoked then quit, did you notice any change in your tone, did it improve?
My answers are, no, no and not applicable. But that is perhaps because I quit before I was 40. The serious health effects of smoking usually kick in around 50 or 60.
i do a single deal in bars with rack--Ive had singing lessons--Ive been a runner on n off all my life--Been playin harp since I was 20--- some of my staple songs---my A songs--Ive been doing for years ---
I never smoked, but I smoked a cigar on a blues cruise with my girlfriend on the deck---3 years later with an over $ 300 a month habit I finally went to nicotine anonymous online--1 year clean---
I CAN TELL U WITHOUT A DOUGHT-THAT MY WIND WAS GREATLY AFFECTED---i WAS RUNNING OUT OF AIR ON PARTS IN SONGS i NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH----SAME FOR THE HARP-
FROM RUNNING AND OR SINGING AND OR HARP ,iVE ALWAYS HAD A GUAGE OF MY WIND-- IT WAS GREATLY AFFECTED---AFTER ABOUT 3-4 MONTHES OF NOT SMOKING --MY WIND WAS GOOD AGAIN---WITH NO RUNNING OR ANYTHING ELSE--I also started missing a lot of high notes singing----since quiting Im hitting them again-
--No I didn't inhale ,but my own 2nd hand smoke in car and or house or wherever GREATLY AFFECTED ME--iI tried to rationalize "ah Im just old" but funny thing when I quit it ALL IMPROVED---
oh I also had that hacking cough when I laughed deep---Thats gone Peace out
Last Edited by snowman on Feb 24, 2016 4:41 PM
I'm 63 and been playing harmonica mostly just for myself since my early 20's. I gave up smoking in 94 and wish I'd never seen a bloody cigarette. Luckily I took up jogging around 2001 and got really fit and came down from a fat and sedate 115Kg's (253 lbs) to 71.5 kg's (157 lbs) which was too low. Then my knee's went and had a couple of knee replacements and all the good work turned to crap again and I'm on the way down again from 115 and now 105. Wish I could run again, that was the best exercise for lung capacity.
If you smoke and play harp, get good real quick cause I don't think you're gonna last for long. I can't believe I'm older than Walter Horton who was only 60 when he left us way too soon and Junior Wells was only 63, my age!
I have never smoked, but the harp habit sometimes takes me outside looking for a place near the building I am working in where I can play for a while and not disturb anyone. I frequently find myself among the smokers.
One day I also noticed the similarity when I pulled into the parking lot a work and reached into my pocket for a harp to blow a bit before going in to work. To my horror I and forgotten to put one in my pocket. I searched frantically through my car and finally found a little key-chain harp! It kind of reminded me of a smoker settling for a not quite fully smoked butt just to have something.
I'm asthmatic, with a particular trigger being cigarette smoke. It used to be I couldn't go into places that didn't have the non-smoking section well sectioned off from the smokers, so I can't imagine smoking and playing harp. Aside from the breathing issues I'd think the tar would gum things up in the harp pretty good.
I'm not recommending smoking but i have been lighting up for around 45 years..seen a few non smoking mates die in that time. Harp is a great instrument to play for smokers,as it is a good lung workout. Thing is that where i am smoking is totally banned everywhere indoors and a pack of 20 is now 25$(15 US) It is like being a Leper and i'm ready to give up.
I really really like the Red Devils, that first link you posted "Cross your Heart" then the one that automatically followed up "Quarter to Twelve". Magic! Thanks 1847 for posting the clip. I'll search out if they've got any CD's. Love all the 3rd position stuff. I'm playing quite a lot in 3rd these days and love that darker sound. No Idea what it's got to do with smoking and playing, but I like it!
Last Edited by John M G on Feb 24, 2016 11:00 PM
i seam to recall lester smoking, it was a long time ago so my memory is not clear. i always wondered how on the track, cross your heart, from " live at the king king" how he was able to play that long sustained note. it took me a long time to develop enough breath so i could play it.
the version i posted is in third position, as opposed to straight harp on the king king record. and is the first time i heard that. very cool indeed. it is great to hear something new so to speak from lester, he was one of the all time greats in my book.
with all due respect to mr bbq, he is a fine player and there are others... james harmon dennis gruenling big walter etc. that use a soft touch on the harmonica. but everyone is different. to say unequivocally, that there is only one way to do something is short sighted. personally i try to maintain a medium breath when playing, so that when i choose to use less breath, i have that option, same thing when i decide to play with excessive breath. yes i agree you need to master playing softly, but that is only one aspect in my book.
also there are other considerations, what may be a soft breath to one person could quite possibly be an extremely deep breath to someone else entirely. everyone is different.
I agree 1847 but I am actually surprised that harp playing is considered a lung workout. I can't really imagine getting out of breath playing except possibly an extended fast train rhythm or something. I kicked the smoking about 15 yrs ago after about 30 yrs but can't say that I ever noticed any difference with respect to harp.
eebadeeb, I'm a fairly soft player, but you still need air capacity. Sometimes it's long sustained notes. Sometimes it's just a long string of blow notes or a long string of draw notes where you can't sneak a breath. Unless you circular breath you can still run out. At least on harp you get some in and out.
I play better if I haven't been smoking. Trouble I have is the environment/situation of performance hits my wanna smoke triggers. I can go a long time without smoking but bars make me want to smoke. I haven't really been an indulgent addict for 15 years. Prior to that I had 5 years on a 3 a day habit maintenance program. And the 20 years before that were pack a day territory. Smoke seems to get to my tongue and make it more clumsy than usual. I don't notice a breathing problem with the harp but it definitely will affect my ability to sing. Irritates the throat I think. anyway, best to stay away from it. Hard to think of anything which is improved by smoking
There are better ways to image yourself as a blues player than smoking. While flying back from Atlanta to Albany, NY one time, I was seated next to a doctor form the CDC. He spoke about the dangers of smoking and remarked that you can improve your overall health more by doing one thing: STOP SMOKING! About 12% improvement in overall health. Non-smokers have epithelial cells lining their trachea 2 cells thick. In a smoker these thicken up to 12 cells thick, trying to protect your body from toxicity. That ought to tell you something: tobacco and harp don't mix.
I had the blues once, flying back into the Albany airport. I'd been visiting my dad in San Diego over Christmas. They had a record cold snap that trip, and it was all the way down in the upper 50s. My dad tried to make me wear a jacket. I got off the plane back in Albany and it was four below. (I suppose it would have been a better story if it was nine below. I may take a little artistic license the next time I tell it!)
STME ... "One day I also noticed the similarity when I pulled into the parking lot a work and reached into my pocket for a harp to blow a bit before going in to work. To my horror I and forgotten to put one in my pocket. I searched frantically through my car and finally found a little key-chain harp! It kind of reminded me of a smoker settling for a not quite fully smoked butt just to have something."
That's very funny. I know what you mean. I smoked off and on since grade school, but i dont think i ever felt that way about a cigarette. SURELY for other substances, but that's another story.
I do get that with the harps tho. You get that cold sweat feeling when you goto reach for em and theyre not there...like.. NOOOOO!! ..I forgot em.
I always keep harps in my car. At the moment i have a C and A sp20 that always stays in the car. Day 2 day i drag my seydel 12 case around With me with mixed brands and keys. N ill stick one in my pocket when I'm away from the car. But sometimes i forget the bag in the morning. It's a total drag even with the backups.
I quit smoking right before starting to play. By coincidence. But i will tell you it definitely improves lung function. A run up a good flight of steps is way easier after about a month without. I don't find quitting smoking difficult. I smoked for years n just dropped it. Ive actually done it more than once. It just gets in my head one day that i dont wanna do it. N i stop. Pisses all my friends off.
As far as soft playing. That's the way i play, but i agree that is not THE WAY.
Adam plays hard. Cotton plays HARD. It's not me, but i would say its wrong by far.
-- "Trust Those Who Seek The Truth. Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Feb 27, 2016 8:02 PM
I smoked for 35 years, and when I began to play on stage I usually had a cig going. Then no smoking venues came along and I would wait for break and go outside. It was sort of a sick priority looking back.
I believe though that playing harp probably kept my lungs in not-as-bad shape as they could have been. Yes I had a cough and was more susceptible to cold/flu/crud/allergies and I still have to take something for sinus every ]day. But the past 3 1/2 years have been so awesome. My voice is better than ever after some hardship. My playing has improved. I've saved about $25k, that's 25 THOUSAND dollars just not buying cigarettes, and that's conservative at 2 packs a day.
Harps taste better and maybe last longer too. And to me VERY important, my wife has told me that for the first time in her life, she can breathe easy in her own home. She was always exposed to second hand smoke and she's always had breathing issues. So this has been a huge gift for both of us AND I FELT SO GREAT WHEN SHE TOLD ME THAT.
I'm not a snob about smoking, cigs even still sometimes smell good to me, but I don't have to do that any more.
When I'm playing that's what I'm doing. I like that. ---------- http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
I do have an occasional cigarette, probably 2-3 a week. I do sometimes smoke when playing but don't like how it makes the harps taste. I don't think this effects my tone or playing.
I was a pack a day guy but quit in the service after an impacted wisdom tooth closed off my breathing passages. They had a trach kit beside the bed. Not breathing was no fun so I quite cold turkey for 6 months. After that I figured a smoke now and then would not hurt me. 60 yrs old now and no troubles yet, knock on wood...
I think playing harp is a fine workout for your lungs. The lungs are your bellows, the diaphragm just works the bellows and opens up the bottom of the resonant chamber. This is a constructions workers point of view...BN
