Articulations
Hello Mr. Barret,
I have been doing your lessons for awhile now. On other instruments I have played, single notes are articulated with a nonsense syllable like "TA" or "DA." Is there something similar for the harmoncia?
Thanks,
harpsquealer
Hello Mr. Barret,
That makes sense. I remember you mentioning (was it Tongue Blocking Study 2?) that "GA" can be used to articulate some of the inhaled notes. If I understand you correctly, harmonica players do not have a default tongue blocked articulation. Is that accurate?
The default articulation is the slap, though it's not really an articulation. An articulation technically stops and then restarts the air from a stopped point, while there is still pressure behind the stopped point. KA is an articulation (tongue raised to roof of mouth as air pressure is still present behind the stopped point of the K, and then released with the A). Slightly confusing, but the way we commonly present a note is a slap. If you do not want the slap sound, then the articulation for inhale is KA and exhale is cough (without the cough sound).
Thanks for the quick reply! I understand this much better now.
harpsquealer
Good morning harpsquealer. Yes, we use "KA" (and softer "GA") for inhale and a slight cough for exhale (same muscles you use for your tremolo). That's pretty much it for tongue blocked articulations except for our standard slaps, pulls, flutters, etc.
When playing chords (like in the Solo Harmonica Studies) where your tongue is not on the harmonica, then "TA" (and softer "DA") can also be used. There are some interesting articulations like in Magic Dick's "Warmer Jammer" with "Wa DL A" and Jr Wells' "Messin' with the Kid" with "U DL A DL A DL A DL."