Asthma & Harmonica
I suffer from asthma, although I would not consider it severe. In a practical sense, this has meant that I have to change/adapt the way I play depending on how I feel. As a more long term solution, I have learned to play more softly.
Does anyone else here suffer from asthma? Has it ever been an issue with your playing?
TOots used to travel with a tabletop therapeutic device, and he claimed that he'd never missed a gig because of his asthma.
There's a growing body of research on use of harmonica in respiratpry therapy, and two medical harmonicas have been designed by pros in that field, both made by Seydel (John Schaman's HarmonicaMD chord harmonica, and Dana Keller's spiral-tuned Pulmonica).
Interesting.
For me, even when I am short of breath it's not really an issue except at the end of songs. And even then not that much (the issue is really blowing not drawing). If you saw me on stage you might see me cough after my solo. But like I said, my asthma is not that severe.
When I was playing harder I would run out of breath before I finished playing the note. But as a consequence of playing more softly, a good bit of the timewhen I'm playing long lines I can't consciously tell if I'm drawing or blowing.
I have mild asthma and have trouble expelling enough air after a long draw musical phrase. Taking an inhaler before playing helps quite a bit - but I don't want to do that all of the time. A respiratory therapist suggested I try moving one shoulder forward and to the center a little on the exhale. She said one shoulder will work better than the other - for me it's the right shoulder. It really does help me expell air. She also said not to tighten up the upper chest and neck muscles by holding the shoulders too far back.
Toots Thielemans is a long-time asthma sufferer, and it hasn't held his harmonica playing back.