VARIOUS

[Winslow Yerxa <76450.3230@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

TO: internet:harp-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

========F&R FARELL 800 Numbers

Just got off the phone with Richard Farrell, and he tells me that
as of Wednesday, he will have two 800 numbers in operation:

1-800-438-3543 and 3544

========Paul Goulden asks about harp tab.

The only thing that approaches a standard in harp tab - there are
many systems - is the arrow and number method, which is much
easier to write than the 10-line method you propose (I've seen
something like that used in some of Jon Gindick's books).

To tab out a melody with the arrow & number method, you would
write out the sequence of hole numbers, written on the same line.
Aabove these, you place arrows to indicate blow and draw. An up
arrow means blow, a down arrow means draw. I proposed an ASCII
version of this some time ago; it's in the HARP-L archives.

For instance, Mary Had a Little lamb could be tabbed out for any
key of diatonic in first position like this:

^ v ^ V ^ ^ ^ V V V  ^ ^ ^  ^ V ^ V ^ ^ ^ V V ^ V ^
5 4 4 4 5 5 5 4 4 4  5 6 6  5 4 4 4 5 5 5 4 4 5 4 4

Bends are sometimes indicated with slashes through the arrow stem
- one for each semitone, or by curved stems. I just use musical
flats - b in ASCII - before the hole number, again, one for each
semitone.

In addition to being less work to write, the arrow-number method
is vertically compact - it doesn't force the eye to travel up and
down a long distance to glean essential information.

========Paul Bombach asks about tonguing with a pucker
embouchure. Sure, you can do Dah and Dit single tonguing. You can
also do Ta-Ka double tonguing, and Ta-Ka-Ta triple tonguing. You
can also do side-to-side rapid repeated tongue flicking for a
tremulando sound. These are all important spices in the harmonica
cookbook.

The high note reeds in harmonicas are often poorly adjusted out
of the box (they may be gapped too high or too low). Try playing
them more gently than the lower reeds. Also try playing them with
more volume. Depending on the harp, either one could be called
for. Also make sure your tongue isn't bunched up at the front of
your mouth. Let it relax and lie like a carpet on the floor of
your mouth.

========Karl Storck further defines sucking and drawing.

The breath is coming from the lungs. This is good. The nose
should be closed for bending - you can't bend very easily with
the nose open - this destroys the integrity of the resonant
chamber I mentioned. Air should not escape through the nose or
through an incomplete lip seal.

There is no physical reason for your cheeks to tense up when you
close your nose. This is probably a learned habit. You may need
to work on separating these two things. Practice breathing with
you nose closed and your cheeks - and your entire mouth - relaxed,
without a harmonica. Then add the harmonica. if you get tension
then, you need to figure out where it's coming from - maybe lip
tension, and work on relaxing that.

When you're learning new muscle actions, there is bound to be
some amount of tension until your body gets used to the new
actions. However, you should work at keeping this tension at a
minimum, and always work to eliminate it as far as possible.

Hope this helps.

========Janet Lieberman writes about the cancelled Toots gig. To
bad - he's great in person. I recently spoke with his agent, and
he, too mentioned that Toots' health hasn't been all that great
lately, and he's been staying in Belgium. The album you
mention is called Compact Jazz, part of a series of anthologies
from the work of various jazz artists, all with that title. I
reviewed it in HIP No. 1. Most of it is from European albums made
in the '70's, with a few cuts from his recent albums on Emarcy
(Footprints, Sultry Serenade). Blackbird, by the way, is on a
chromatic - although you could do it on a diatonic - probably in
second position if you want to get the same bends he does.

The angle thing might help if air is leaking out of the corners
of your mouth - assuming a pucker embouchure. By tilting the harp
side-to-side you could limit contact with the mouthpiece to just
the front of the lips (I'm experimenting with this as I write).
The resulting improvement in air seal would give results like the
ones you describe.


Winslow Yerxa
Harmonica Information Press

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