[Harp-L] overblow practice question

[George Brooks <gbrooks1@xxxxxxxxx>]

Mr. Peloquin informs:

I was lucky that I learned them after playing for only 2-3 years. Chris 
M.
teaches them to beginners, I don't know how well that works, but what 
the
heck!?

And Mr. Michalek reports:

I learned within the first year of playing. I think it's important
to have basic techniques like bending and overblows progress at the
same time as everything else. OBing has always been a part of my
style and technique.

=======================================================

I believe that the breakthrough non-Howard chromatic ten-hole player 
will emerge, if at all, from the ranks of those that learned to 
overblow and overdraw at the same time or very soon after they learned 
to bend.  OB/ODs are just a type of bend, and if we can simply approach 
them in that way, it's a lot easier making music with them than 
considering them something extraordinary and hard.  My guess is that if 
you learn them from the beginning, it's much easier to approach them in 
this way.

I came to the idea of trying to play chromatically pretty late, and I 
am happy to learn that Michael and Chris have had that orientation 
almost from the start.  They're both amazing players, as many of you 
know, and it makes me feel better about playing catch-up.  It's partly 
that I have a lot to learn, and partly that I have a lot to unlearn.

Mr. Peloquin informs further:

Mr. Ricci (I'm nasty) and I believe that if players only learned how to
master the 6 OB (minor 3rd in cross) their blues playing would expand
greatly. You don't have learn bebop licks or play everything on 1 harp, 
just
add the octave of the expressive blue note that is 3 draw 1/2 step bend.

========================================================

I agree totally.  Mastering just the 6OB allows you to continue any 
crossharp lick or pattern past hole 6.  It opens up the high end of the 
harp.  And the 6OB, in my experience, is the easiest to master of all 
the OB/ODs.


Eric Neumann adds:

But, I have to say - that learning to OB did not just involve *learning
to OB*... it involved also, setting the harp up for OB....

=======================================================

This, in my opinion, is so wrong if you are at all serious or value 
your time or sanity to any degree.  Teenagers want to drive so they can 
get away from their parents and go parking.  Some teenagers go on to 
learn auto mechanics, but most don't.  You can maybe learn to tighten 
up and set up your stock harps to be nearly as good as a Filisko or a 
Sleigh or a Gordon, but if you can do it at all, it's going to take you 
some considerable time.  It's the rare teenager who insists on being 
able to rebuild an engine himself before driving the family car.

If you are at all serious about learning to use overblows in music, buy 
a custom harmonica set up for that purpose by someone who really knows 
what he is doing.  Jimmy Gordon has built some overblow harmonicas for 
me that rival the best production of Joe Filisko and Richard Sleigh.  
(I haven't tried anyone else's custom harps, so I cannot comment on 
them.)  Get a good custom harp and go to work.  It's hugely fun, and 
actually not that hard.  It's surprising, but true.  I wish I had met 
Chris or Michael earlier in life.  It would have saved me years.

I tried teaching myself to overblow on Golden Melodies that I regapped 
myself.  But the sounds I made were pitiful. Thanks to the Internet and 
Tom Ellis's website, I soon learned of Joe Filisko, and once I got my 
first harp from him I started to actually progress.  Now I've got the 
harps!  Get you one, take a lesson if you need one, and have some fun.

On another subject, there have been some really great posts lately.  
It's nice.

George