Re: [Harp-L] Problems with A harps

[David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Good stuff John. I like lower harps tor that easy, soft pressure dynamic, especially for the chords, the chords are so much more responsive, they ring out sweet and I've got a lot of control over the chords. For the original poster, adding a lot of chords to the playing should help. when you hit a chord with some force, you have a couple of seconds of slight reed vibration. You can hit the reeds sharply, hitting full force then decreasing pressure, instead of hitting and increasing pressure, if the reeds are in post-chord vibration. 
Think of low reeds on low key harps as driving a compact with a five speed. If you try to take off in fifth, the engine will die, so you gotta shift down, get it moving, then upshift.
On hitting the post-chord vibration thing: It's like when you're slowing down at a stoplight and you're ALMOST stopped. but you're still barely creeping when the light changes... You don't have to shift down into first gear, you can take off in second or even third, because you have momentum. 
Am I making sense or a sense of confusion and futility?
When I'm playing on G or A or something low, a lot of times I hit chords on beats one a two of every second measure, then the sharp-attack notes I hit are around beats 2-4, the rest of a riff 5-8. 
Dave
____________________
Dave Payne Sr. 
Elk RIver Harmonicas
www.elkriverharmonicas.com . 

On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 7:00 PM, John F. Potts <hvyj@xxxxxxx> wrote:

>        Do you have the same problem with a standard G harp?  If so, and the
> gapping of the reeds is correct, you may need to play the lower tuned harps
> with a softer attack.  The higher tuned harps respond well to a sharp
> attack.  It's a matter of breath control.  I happen to agree that not
> blowing too hard is generally better, but you can still blow hard if you
> want to and use breath control to employ a soft or hard attack as the
> particular key of harmonica may require.
>        By soft attack, I mean starting with slightly softer air flow at
> first--NOT slower, just less force to start--then  smoothly (and quickly)
> increasing the level of breath pressure from the soft (not slow) start.
>  This gets the larger (lower tuned) reed vibrating more quickly than
> immediate application of full pressure (sharp attack)  which may "choke" the
> reed. If you don't breath from your diaphragm, try to pull or blow the air
> from the back of your throat or deep in your mouth to soften the initial
> attack.  This has worked for me--even when I used to blow way too hard.
>  Keep in mind that a player must open the throat to get the lower draw
> bends, especially on A and G harps. Eventually, you learn how to apply just
>  the right amount of pressure necessary to start the the right vibration of
> the particular reed.
>        JP_______________________________________________
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