[Harp-L] Re: upper register

["Jonathan Metts" <jonathan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Up until recently I didn't really realize that 95% of my 2nd position 
playing has been using the 1st 5 holes. "

That's an easy rut to fall into, and it happens to me all the time.  One 
thing I do to get out of it is to play 6 blow -- that's the tonic note in 
2nd position.  It's easy to play, easy to tack onto the end of a scale run, 
and easy to use for playing your riffs backwards!  This one note can add a 
lot more pitch variance to your solos, so don't be afraid to go there.  And 
it's a nice launching point for expanding into the true upper registers, 
holes 7-10.  You may find that after playing with 6 blow for a while, it 
feels quite natural to extend your riffs up into the really high notes.

Another suggestion I can make from (limited but valuable) personal 
experience is to practice your blow bend technique and learn to play some 
blues with blow bends.  "Amazing Grace", "I'll Fly Away", "When the Saints 
Go Marching In", etc. are familiar songs that are easy to pick out in the 
top holes once you can blow bend hole 8 two steps.  I have found that 
practicing these songs in the upper register gives me more confidence to 
move from the typical lower register 2nd position playing all the way up to 
the top of the harp when playing other songs.

Related topic: sometimes I can't tell if I'm playing in 4th position or just 
high-register 2nd position.  If I'm mainly playing blow notes and blow bend 
notes on holes 7-10, which one would that be?

Jonathan Metts