[Harp-L] Re: hole sizes

[vincent <vincent.fx@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Well, Vincent and Elizabeth, I'm going to give you an answer you may not
> want to hear. That is, don't sweat the ~little~ stuff in your initial
> forays into "harmonicology." There are too many vastly more important
> things to learn than being able to play harps with different hole
> spacings. Your insensitivity to hole spacing will come with time. Before
> you realize it, it will soon be automatic. For example, I can play harps
> with any spacing, from the little "necklace" toys to varying brands and
> styles of "good" diatonics and tremolos within just a moment or two of
> picking one up. If you are sensitive to hole spacing now, put the ones
> that give you trouble aside and concentrate on the far more important
> aspects of your harmonica technique, like breathing properly from the
> diaphragm, bending accurately on different key harps, learning different
> embouchures and as Elizabeth points out, switching seamlessly back and
> forth between them.
>
> As you progress with your basic technique, you can add exercises to
> become more precise in jumping over increasing numbers of holes around a
> harmonica with the byproduct of becoming less sensitive to hole spacing.
> I learned a great exercise from PT Gazell, one of the most "precise"
> harpers out there. He teaches an exercise in which you start at the
> bottom end and jump first one hole, then back to the bottom, and then
> jump two holes and back to the bottom, then repeat with a three-hole
> jump and so on, jumping farther and farther up the harp. Then do the
> same exercise starting at the top end and jumping down one, then two,
> then three holes and so on. Then start in the middle and jump down,
> return to the middle and jump up, etc. Push yourself to get faster and
> faster and more and more accurate. You'll soon be able to identify where
> you need more work, and you can devise similar exercises to overcome any
> particular difficulty. Soon you will find yourself jumping freely around
> any harmonica with ease.
>
> Good luck and let us know how you do. :-)
>
> Michelle
>
>

Thank you Michelle, I appreciate the answer, and especially the tip on
a new exercise.  And thanks to all on- and off-list who have answered
my various questions.

One thing -- it would be nice to be able to check out the work of the
various contributors on the list.  Is there some way to do this, or
would people start linking to their work (audio files, videos, etc)?