Drawn notes and the beginner
I have seen many post and videos that document that some beginners have problems with the 2 draw amoung other drawn notes as I did. Some early lessons discuss breating and I was left with the impression that you basicly breath through the harmonica. I then watched many other videos, including Joe Filisko's ones about breathing. I thought about what I was doing with the drawn notes that caused me problems. Came to the conclusion that sometimes I was trying to get a drawn note with my lungs already full. I sounded very stained. I started to exhale with the harmonica away from my lips to empty my lungs a bit and then try the 2 draw. It came out every time. I need to practice to get this down so I can do it quicker. Basicly beginners are not used to doing anything on the inhale even if we play other instruments. A more experience player would think this is obvious but it wasn't to me.
In the beginning I wasn’t having problems with the 2 draw other than running out of air. When my mind finally learned how to close my nasal cavity it mostly fixed my air supply problem, but now I can’t play a decent 2 draw. If I only play a 2 draw it normally is (just) okay. When I hit a 2 draw while playing a study song like Temperature. I get a really soft sound that sometimes is hard to hear. I think the tone is close, just no volume. I have no problem with the 1 or 3 draw which drives me nuts that the 2 draw is so much harder.
As I plug away at this I find that I play with my harmonica tilted up to help with the saliva problem, but if I bring the harmonica back down so that it is more inline with my mouth when I do a 2 draw I get a better and a little louder note. I still have a long way to go to conquer the 2 draw, but I’m getting closer. As I have experienced, there has been a progression of problems to be solved with the 2 draw.
Brian
Brian, changing the angling of the harmonica might change how your lips and/or tongue crowd the hole, and could partially explain what you're hearing. Essentially, you want the opening in your mouth to be much bigger than the hole to allow for free, unimpeded airflow.
The other part of what you describe might be what I spoke about in the previous reply. Again, freeing the airflow on the throat and oral cavity is the main solution.
Here are a couple of videos, made for my book Harmonica For Dummies, Second Edition where I demonstrate embouchure and show just how large the opening in the mouth really is:
You rightly point out that harmonica is unique in using the inahled breath to make sound.
When you breathe between phrases while speaking, singing, or playing other wind instruments, you inhale to refresh your air supply.
But with harmonica, you're much more likely to need to get rid of inhaled breath.
I use the term balancing the breath instead of taking a breath. Instead of taking a big inhaled breath before playing, start with a neutral air supply in your lungs, about half full and half empty. This gives you capacity to go in either direction, emptying out on echaled notes or filling up on inhaled notes.
However, if you know for sure that you're about to play a passage with a lot of blow notes or a lot of draw notes, you can go past the neutral point to either fill up for a long sequence of blow notes, or empty out for a long series of draw notes.
However, if you're having trouble getting Draw 2 to sound (and sometimes Draw 1 and 3), something else often comes into play.
Your oral cavity can be tuned to a specific note - this is how you bend notes. If there is any pressure or suction as air passes through your throat and oral cavity, this can drag pitch down and hinder reed response. The solution to this problem is easy to describe but may take time and practice to put into effect.
Open your throat like you're yawning.
Let your tongue lie on the floor of your mouth like a rug.
Listen to the sound of your breathing with the harmonica removed from your mouth. If you hear any sound, that's a narrowing of the airflow and that drag will pull pitch down. Work to have a completely slient, easy airflow through the throat and oral cavity, and reed response and pitch will improve.