A and C draws

Hello cwclarke79. No, you're having the same problem as most (I just replied to a student about this a couple of hours ago... it's that common). Your tongue placement is causing the issue. Basically your mouth is tuned to a note that is causing those reeds to bend unintentionally (later, when learning how to bend, we’ll learn how to do this intentionally… to create a note other than the natural sounding note of that hole).

To fix this, focus on lowing the middle and back of your tongue. Play your 2 or 3 draw and then take the harmonica out of your mouth. Check in front of a mirror that your tongue is lowered. Most students swear that their tongue is lowered, but when looking at me in a lesson (or in a mirror at home), the back of their tongue is humped like a ski jump.

First, work on developing the muscle memory (with your mouth open in front of that mirror) to lower the tongue (it can be surprising how challenging this is… not everyone can do it right away). Once this is achieved, work on this on your harmonica.

Sometimes playing the 2+ first, then the 2 draw, helps the 2 to sound… it’s like resetting your mouth. For a blow, we tend to be more open and relaxed, where draws we tend to close down the embouchure, especially when we’re trying hard to get a draw note to sound (we squeeze down and try to suck that extra-thick milkshake through the straw, and the harmonica doesn’t like that, the note gets worse). This obviously doesn’t work when you’re in the process of playing a run, but it’s a good “reset” switch when working on achieving the correct embouchure.

Give it time, it will take practice and time to get. I know it’s aggravating, but you’re not alone (70% of students have this issue).

David