RE: [Harp-L] embouchure questions

["Tinus" <tinus@xxxxxxx>]

> Do you,
> when bending, need more pressure around the hole to keep the 
> air isolated, or do you keep the same pressure all the time, 
> and just change the tongue placement? I find myself using 
> more lip pressure around the hole to get the deep bends, and 
> I don't know if this is a bad habit, or not.

There is no need to change the lip pressure. For someone who is used to
doing things with lippressure it might feel like  a natural thing to do
and it is possible to bend by changing the hole between the lips.
However the tone and pitch are easier to control when the lips are
relaxed and it is a lot easier to change from one note to the next, from
one hole to the next when there is less tension in the lips. 

So my advise is to stop it and try to learn to play with relaxed lips,
especially if the tone is giving you trouble.

Tinus
http://www.tenhole.com
http://www.overblow.com