[Harp-L] Re: Problems with tongue articulation

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Knowing that you've played another wind instrument may be helpful.

Wind direction, velocity, and pressure on other instruments can be very specific.

When playing the harmonica, the default airflow should be as gentle as possible, with no pressure and no specific direction of the air beyond moving air in and out of your body through the oral cavity. (Bending pitches is another matter, and you're already getting that as a side effect while trying to do other things.)

Listen to the sound of your breathing. If you can hear it, you're impeding the airflow. Breathing should be silent.

Try placing the palm of your hand 2cm in front of your open mouth and breathing on it gently and silently. If you can breathe so softly that you feel the warmth of your breath but not the wind, that's all you need to activate a harmonica reed into sound.

 
Winslow Yerxa
President, SPAH, the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica
Producer, the Spring 2014 Harmonica Collective
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance


________________________________
 From: Eliza Doolittle <eliza.doolittle@xxxxxxxx>
To: "harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Cc: "michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx" <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>; "icemanle@xxxxxxx" <icemanle@xxxxxxx>; "winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx" <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>; "mlefree@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <mlefree@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Friday, April 4, 2014 8:00 AM
Subject: Re: Problems with tongue articulation
 


Thanks a lot for your advice on how to solve this problem. Of course, none of your suggestions (yawning, U-blocking -which, incidentally, looks like contortionism) is working so far, but I think it's a matter of practice, so I hope I'll be able to play the hight notes before too long. A face-to-face teacher, as the Iceman suggests, would be a great solution, but I don't think there is a single harp teacher in my town.

If I may ask, Michelle (well, or any other person here who's also played a brass instrument), as a tuba player, have you found any correspondence between that instrument and harp regarding articulation? I mean, I've been playing French horn for nine years, and I was wondering, for example, whether the way in which I am used to play staccato might be detrimental to the
 way in which I must articulate notes in the harp (perhaps by stiffening my cheeks too much, or something like that).

Eliza Doolittle