Cracked Lips and Slobbering Singers
Coupla questions for you folks:
1) Recommendations for avoiding/dealing with cracks at the corners of the mouth from lotsa playing? I've been trying various chapsticks as preventative and lysine to try and expedite the healing.
2) Tips on managing saliva buildup in a couple different circumstances:
A. While singing, leading up to a harp lick or solo
B. While doing overbends/blows (for some reason seems to stimulate saliva).
Thanks for the advice, Robert! Saliva issue turned out not to be a problem at my recital. My voice instructor made the comment that some singers just slobber all over the place on stage, and, curiously enough, when I just accepted that I would drool, I salivated less! I hear you on the fast harp playing causing saliva to block holes, but luckily didn't happen on stage this weekend ;-)
Hi Matt. Are you new to harmonica? I ask because I used to have the problem you describe when I began but it subsided as I got better. Now the only concerted saliva taming I have to do is when I alternate singing and playing at fast tempo; my singing brings on saliva that menaces my harp playing, so I really have to be agile in dealing with it. Certainly we all have our differences when it comes to saliva. Outside the realm of music, you see some folks showing quite a bit of saliva and wet lips just when talking; others do not. I remember being hampered by saliva when I started playing harmonica, but it's not much of a problem anymore and I barely even think about it. On the other hand, come to think of it, every so often I go to play a note and it's gone missing. The cause is saliva which has found its way to a reed and paralyzed it. I whack the harp on my pant leg and the note returns. I suppose that saliva is a thing for all harmonica players; it's just that as you become ever more experienced you also become better at dealing with it subconsciously. That's my opinion, anyway :-).