[Harp-L] Diastema

[tacopescado@xxxxxxxxxxx]

I have a diastema between my top two front teeth about 3/16" wide. There's also a little space between my other front top teeth. My lower front teeth are jammed up against each other though not compacted. I also have an overbite from playing clarinet in 4th to 8th grades (I'm really bad at clarinet but have fun with it). In my search I came upon a page about diastema's that talked about symptoms, how to diagnose, treatment and prevention. It's so ridiculous it that it makes me realize that we're approaching the dumbing down of America asymptotically. 

When I was a harp newbie I would clench my teeth for high bends and hole-3 bends. By doing so I would narrow the airflow and get the technique but it definitely took a hit on tone and control and was a crutch. Eventually I learned it's best to bend with the throat and though I mostly do that now I find times, especially on fast licks, where the old bad habits raise their head.  

My questions are: Have any of you with a diastema used it to your advantage? Have you thought about it? Have you tried not doing that and using your throat instead? Do you sometimes still resort to using your diastema out of habit? Or possibly for technique?

For those that don't have a diastema: Do you ever clench your teeth? If so, where does the airflow come from? Why do you do it? Because you want to use a special technique?

This is part of a semi-non-scientific study I want to use as part of a PhD thesis so all comments are welcome.