Re: [Harp-L] hole sizes (and embouchures)

[Elizabeth Hess <TinLizzie2010@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Oh, man, I can relate.

First off, any concern is warranted.  It may or may not turn out to be 
a big obstacle in the long run, but if you have a sticking point, you 
have a sticking point.  So don't beat yourself up about  *being*  
concerned.

That said, different hole sizes on different harps is one of those 
realities of life.  With less than two years of playing under my belt, 
I have a mix of two different brands of harp (fewer of the expensive 
ones, more of the moderately-priced ones) and they have different hole 
sizes.  My way of coping with this has been learning to play mostly 
with the tongue-block embouchure.  I can  *feel*  the holes with my 
tongue, and so I don't have to calibrate my moves up and down the harp 
so precisely.  But then, I can get deeper and better bends on hole 2 
with the pucker embouchure, and can't get blow bends at all reliably 
with tongue blocking (though I believe it can be done).  So I've worked 
almost as hard at  *switching*  embouchures on the fly as I have at 
playing with each embouchure separately.  (And as I wrestle with 
overblows and faster playing, the issue of which embouchure to use is 
probably going to bite me some more.)

My instinct is to say that it's good to try a variety of harps (even 
and perhaps especially with different hole sizes) earlier than later.  
There's some lossage with buying harps in all 12 keys -- because we 
like to be thorough -- only to find out shortly thereafter that you 
like another brand better.  If you can, weather the differing holes 
sizes as something that will make you a more versatile player.  And try 
tongue-blocking the minute you're ready to add yet another 
complication.  Mostly, though, do what you need to do to keep having 
fun, because without that,  *everything*  grinds to a halt, which is 
Bad(tm).  [Bearing in mind that sometimes _working_ at stuff now makes 
the _playing_ more fun later.  Eyes on the prize, etc.]

To the rest of the list:  Having given my recent-raw-beginner take on 
this, I hope that some of the seasoned players will also weigh in.  I'd 
be especially interested in how tongue-blockers made the transition to 
playing overblows when you were first learning them, and then later:  
Did you pucker them, first, and then learn to overblow tongue-blocked, 
or pucker the overblows and then pucker everything else, too?  A mix?  
How about you turbocharged fast players?  Tongue-block or pucker?

Elizabeth


On Jan 14, 2010, at 6:26 AM, vincent wrote:

> Well my newest naive revelation is that the hole sizes are not the
> same on my different harps, even though they are all Hohners.  This is
> a bit alarming, since I am a beginner and I was wondering why I was
> having trouble playing one harp as well as the other.  I thought it
> could be differences in the metals, flexibility of the reeds, the
> different keys (which are all possible) but now I am thinking a factor
> is  hole size.   My guess is the Blues Harp MS has to have smaller
> holes due to the wood comb and stability issues.  The Big River and
> the cheap "Silverstar" with their plastic combs seem to have the same
> size holes.
>
> This is a pretty major issue in my opinion, since I started and have
> practiced most on the Silverstar, and am having trouble switching to
> the technically superior Blues Harp.  Hole size seems to me a
> fundamental issue in playing, doing one-hole draws, etc.  Also I had
> heard some advice to get all different kinds of Harps, but now I think
> that might not be a good idea if there is going to be an issue of
> different hole sizes.
>
> Could you tell me if any other hole size variations in the other
> Hohners (like the Special 20s, which I was considering next)?  And is
> my concern on this warranted?
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