G harp's killing me

[Dick Anderson <anderson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Re:

How come the G is so much harder?  It shouldn't be so different.

When I was starting, I also found that the lower harps were harder to bend.
Here's some advice in the order most likely to help.

1.  Practice  bending each draw note 1,2,3, and 4 on the lowest harp for
    which  you can get a bend.  (When I began, I could  get  both 2 draw
    bent notes on my D harp but not on my A.  As I worked on it, I found
    that I needed to use more  "throat"  to get the 2 draw bent notes on
    an A or G.  Now they are my some of my favorite  notes and I love my
    G and A harps.

2.  Adjust  the  "action"  of the lower  reeds.  The draw  reeds are the
    obvious place to begin, but the blow reeds if set too high will leak
    more air too.  (Action is the  distance  between the tip of the reed
    and the  plane of the  reed  plate.)  For  general  use, 1 to 2 reed
    thicknesses  is the  corect  height.  You might  want to go lower or
    higher depending on your preference and interest in other techniques
    such as overblowing...later).  --

3.  Buy another harp.  Hey it's no sin to blame the instrument, but just
    understand  that it might not fix the problem.  ;-) A long time ago,
    I had only one  harmonica,  a G Marine  Band.  I gave up many  times
    because I  couldn't  do certain  things on it.  Now I know that if I
    had purchased a "D" harp, I probably would have  progressed a little
    quicker without the dissapointment of feeling it was all my problem.

4.  Don't sweat it.  As your single note improves, and your lung capacity
    increases, the stability of your tone will improve and those bent notes
    on the lower harps will come along too.


    Have Fun,


    dick....


"I'm warning you...  I have a HARMONICA, and I'm not afraid to use it!!!"

Dick Anderson  CCMO Component Engineering        Telnet                 229-3110
Hewlett Packard                                  Direct Dial      1-303-229-3110
3404 E Harmony Road                              HPDESK     dick_anderson@hp4000
Fort Collins Colorado 80525                      mail anderson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx