Re: [Harp-L] How to play nice and clean upper notes ?

[Joel Fritz <williemctell@xxxxxxxxx>]

Playing very softly and working on the cleanest sound I could get was 
how I started.  When I was satisfied with a given volume level I 
increased it slightly and gradually worked my way up.  It's a matter of 
the way you breathe and what's going on in your mouth and throat.  It's 
not much different from getting a sweet sound in the middle octave.  If 
I could describe it better I'd think about giving lessons.  For me it 
was trial and error.  Playing gently is the key to many harp problems.  
Little Walter said something about trying to use as little air as 
possible and it's been something I've fallen back on over and over.  
Pucker, tongue block, or anything in between shouldn't matter unless 
they affect the size and shape of the chamber.

On 12/2/2013 1:03 PM, Sébastien Frémal wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm a young pucker player and since the beginning, I've got problems to
> play clean upper notes (particularly the draw notes). There often are
> noises similar to gratings (like if the harmonica was dying). Recently, I
> discovered than this noise disappears if I play these notes with the tip of
> my tongue on my second molar. It's not an easy way to play ...
>
> I was wondering if other harmonicists got the same problem, knew what
> causes the distortion (I guess there is a slight bending which distorts the
> note) and, please, got some advises to avoid this annoying problem.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sebastien