Re: [Harp-L] hole sizes



first vincent writes:
Well my newest naive revelation is that the hole sizes are not the
same on my different harps, even though they are all Hohners.<snip>

This is a pretty major issue in my opinion, since I started and have
practiced most on the Silverstar, and am having trouble switching to
the technically superior Blues Harp. Hole size seems to me a
fundamental issue in playing, doing one-hole draws, etc.<more snipping>

And then Elizabeth Hess adds:
Oh, man, I can relate.<snippage>

That said, different hole sizes on different harps is one of those
realities of life. With less than two years of playing under my belt,
I have a mix of two different brands of harp (fewer of the expensive
ones, more of the moderately-priced ones) and they have different hole
sizes. My way of coping with this has been learning to play mostly
with the tongue-block embouchure. I can *feel* the holes with my
tongue, and so I don't have to calibrate my moves up and down the harp
so precisely. But then, I can get deeper and better bends on hole 2
with the pucker embouchure, and can't get blow bends at all reliably
with tongue blocking (though I believe it can be done). So I've worked
almost as hard at *switching* embouchures on the fly as I have at
playing with each embouchure separately.<brutal snipping>

Well, Vincent and Elizabeth, I'm going to give you an answer you may not want to hear. That is, don't sweat the ~little~ stuff in your initial forays into "harmonicology." There are too many vastly more important things to learn than being able to play harps with different hole spacings. Your insensitivity to hole spacing will come with time. Before you realize it, it will soon be automatic. For example, I can play harps with any spacing, from the little "necklace" toys to varying brands and styles of "good" diatonics and tremolos within just a moment or two of picking one up. If you are sensitive to hole spacing now, put the ones that give you trouble aside and concentrate on the far more important aspects of your harmonica technique, like breathing properly from the diaphragm, bending accurately on different key harps, learning different embouchures and as Elizabeth points out, switching seamlessly back and forth between them.


As you progress with your basic technique, you can add exercises to become more precise in jumping over increasing numbers of holes around a harmonica with the byproduct of becoming less sensitive to hole spacing. I learned a great exercise from PT Gazell, one of the most "precise" harpers out there. He teaches an exercise in which you start at the bottom end and jump first one hole, then back to the bottom, and then jump two holes and back to the bottom, then repeat with a three-hole jump and so on, jumping farther and farther up the harp. Then do the same exercise starting at the top end and jumping down one, then two, then three holes and so on. Then start in the middle and jump down, return to the middle and jump up, etc. Push yourself to get faster and faster and more and more accurate. You'll soon be able to identify where you need more work, and you can devise similar exercises to overcome any particular difficulty. Soon you will find yourself jumping freely around any harmonica with ease.

Good luck and let us know how you do. :-)

Michelle





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