[Harp-L] Overblowing

["Mike Best (WGE)" <mike.best@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone.  You've probably already covered this subject many times in the past but forgive me, I'm a new user of harp-L

I've known about the concept of overblowing for years, and I can easily hit overblown notes on holes 4, 5 and 6.  I haven't got it completely under control but I think with a bit of concentrated practice I would nail it in a pretty short space of time..

My question though is, even if I did put the work into mastering OB's, I can't imagine when I would ever use them.  I've played harp in various blues bands for 30 years and I have never needed to use OB's.  I usually play in 2nd position, relatively fast if I need to, and along the full length of the harp.  Maybe it's not the most imaginative playing in the world, and if you listen to me long enough you'll start to hear the same phrases coming through, but the audience always seems to like it.

Sometimes if I'm playing a horn line and there's a missing note or two then I can usually solve it with a natural minor harp.   So am I missing something here, or am I just not trying hard enough??  Any advice from the experts out there would be much appreciated

Mike