[Harp-L] Re: octaves only...

["Jonathan Metts" <jonathan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am usually a pucker player so I don't use many chords or octaves, but I 
love to bust them out when playing solo for an audience.  What I do is this: 
get into tongue-blocking embouchure but use the middle of my mouth rather 
than the side.  Frame an octave (I usually try this in first position) but 
play all the notes in between; then vamp onto the octave with my tongue. 
With good timing and good tone, it makes an organ kind of sound that is 
surprising for most people to hear coming from a harmonica.  I like to play 
these vamped octaves all around the harp, blowing and drawing, to create a 
rhythm pattern.  It sounds better for me on low keys, since they have more 
sustain.

Jonathan Metts