[Harp-L] Offbeat topic, maybe!

[John Kerkhoven]

Hey Steve,

Thanks for sharing. I play the Suzuki Humming tremolos for Québécois
traditional music. Yes, the transition from 10-hole diatonics is not as
simple as one might think. I was fortunate to have been coached by Robert
Legault before he passed away nearly a year ago. Diaphragm breathing is *at
least* as important as in the blues, and tongue-blocking a must if you are
to get a big sound with strong rhythmic accompaniment. Robert encouraged me
to get the Humming harps; he also played Tombo harps.

All the best in your new musical directions,

John



On Sat, May 17, 2025 at 5:13 PM Steve Shaw <moorcot at xxxxx> wrote:

> Hello folks
>
> I used to post a lot to harp-l but I rarely do these days. The main reason
> for this by far is that I stopped playing my Irish tunes in public on my
> beloved blues harps (generally Paddy-Richtered!) over ten years ago because
> of my hearing loss - I still noodle away at home but, in public with other
> musicians, I was simply all at sea.
>
> But my reason for doing this post is that, harmonically-speaking, I'm a
> man transformed. I've joined a lovely local bunch of singers of folk songs
> and shanties who used to have a really good accordion player who sadly
> passed away last year. I can do all that lusty singing-along that they do,
> but, more crucially for me, I play the harmonica with them, occasional
> Cornish tunes that I've had to learn as well as accompanying their songs
> and doing "starts" and instrumental breaks. I'm fine with the tunes, but
> the song accompaniment, I've discovered, is an art unto itself.  A new
> thing for me and it's taking a lot of work!
>
> But the key thing is that my beloved blues harps are now almost completely
> unused. Instead, to try to match, at least somewhat,  that accordion sound,
> I'm now playing tremolo harmonicas almost all the time. This is a new thing
> for me and the transition has been a real challenge - my muscle memory has
> been in a muddle but I'm definitely getting there. In the past I've
> struggled to find tremolos that don't rapidly go south, but I've taken the
> advice of that greatest of all Irish tremolo players, Noel Battle, and
> turned exclusively to Tombo Band 3121 harps. They are loud, resilient and
> can be trusted to stay in the right tremolo tuning - and, unlike blues
> harps, all their octaves are complete. I hasten to add that I have no
> connection with the company and that I pay full whack for all my harps!
>
> That's my journey, now at the age of 74, a new lease of life and I'm
> absolutely loving it. Six gigs to date and more in the offing. Not
> mainstream harp-l stuff maybe. Cheers to all harmonicas, no matter which
> kind! And thanks for listening!
>
> Steve Shaw