One suggestion: play JUST the holes 7-10 for at least some period of "practice" time or just fooling around.....A lot of the problems that people experience from the higher holes come from habits formed playing the lower holes. Most of us got the first good sounds from the low end, and learned to wail on those draw notes. There are a lot of "unconscious" habits about approaching notes there, especially draw notes:
-hitting them harder than blow notes
-starting them bent and bringing them up to pitch
-playing them always bent
-applying "bending vibrato"
-tapering off with a bend
These habits will kill notes 7-10, since the reed relationship in those holes is reversed, so draw reeds will not bend (at least not like they do in 1-6). So in addition to the reeds being way smaller, the entire set-up is different, and it is both tonally confusing and breath/approach/attack confusing, IF you go there with the same habits you have already developed in the lower end. Now the notes you can really wail on are the blow notes, and to get a good solid draw note is different than the low end, and the focus of your embouchure needs development.
By spending some dedicated minutes (or more) with 7-10, approaching them completely fresh as a beginner, you will begin to enjoy allowing them to reveal their unique secrets to you. Gradually you will naturally add these to what you know and be able to make a seamless transition up and down the harp.
Rupert Oysler www.seydelusa.com
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