[Harp-L] The Saga of the Leaky Nose

["Less Paul" <lesspaul58@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

A personal tale, guaranteed to bore you to tears:

Today I hit a milestone. It was marked by being able to play all the bends
on 3 draw on my Hering 1923 without leaking air out my nose. Playing the
three bends has not been an issue itself. I've been able to do it on my LO
and my SP20 for many weeks. But the 1923 required just enough additional
pressure as to cause a nose leak. 

I'm pretty happy. See, air leaks have been my #1 problem. I was frustrated
by lines in the beginner books because I would fill up with air. For a while
I thought that either I would not be able to play this instrument, or I
would need to learn it with a swimmers nose clip. (A method I used out of
frustration a few times). Some might argue that it is simply a matter of
learning to control the muscle, but for me it was a bigger task. I had no
problem opening or closeing the soft palate. The problem was I couldn't hold
it closed tightly enough to prevent the air from leaking past with a soft
snorting sound.

The reason I wondered whether I would ever be able to build the strength and
control the air is because a few years back I was diagnosed with a disease
that attacks and damages muscles. The muscles it likes best are the central
muscles, including diaphram, shoulders, neck, throat, tongue, mouth, etc. 

At first my soft palate was so weakend that I could not prevent food or
liquids from entering my nasal cavities, let alone air. I couldn't swallow
anything that didn't have the consistency of apple sauce, and could only
talk in a hoarse whisper. As medications put the disease (Dermatomyositis)
in check, permanently damaged muscles were left behind. Though I can now
talk just fine (almost an octave higher than before) my singing voice as I
knew it is no more. 

So I took up harp to help fill the musical void, and of equal importance, as
therapy and rehabilitation for the affected muscles. Every day I would work
a few minutes to strengthen the soft palate. I'll tell you what, it is an
odd feeling to have that muscle sore and tired at the end of the day.

A few days ago I measured my lung volume, which had been 60% of normal. It
was now normal. I have to believe the harp played a big part in getting that
diaphram back into shape. And today I managed the elusive 3-hold bends on my
1923 without a leak. I'm pretty happy. I'm still a bit leaky switching from
a blow to a draw tongue slap, so I'd better wind this missive up and get
back to practicing.

Happy Holidays to you all,

Paul