Five hole frustration!
Hi David,
I am having problems with the five hole on my harmonica. It is fine playing scales etc but when I try and play the runs in some of your songs eg Walk with Me 1st line 3rd chorus or Feelin' for the Blues 1st/2nd lines 4th chorus the 5+ hardly ever sounds. It seems to stall. Is it a technique problem or a problem with the harmonica?
Really enjoying the lessons but this five hole is really starting to bug me!
Andy
Hi David. Playing softly does seem to get the 5 hole to sound but I have to play it a lot softer than the other holes. Once I'm up to speed on reed gaping I might have a try to adjust it and see if that helps. Thanks for your advice. Andy
I hope this may be of some help as I had the same problem. It is most likely the tongue. I recently missed 3 weeks of pratice and my tone was junk. David pointed out the cause, (although I pretty much knew), :) and once I stopped, took the time to analize it was my tongue as well as my embouchure. Try playing scale from 4 to 7 and pay attention to each note. When you hit a bad one stop and dissect where your tongue is, how your lips are placed, the angle etc. You'll soon be all set. My 2 cents, pratice the scale until you naturally get your chops.
Good afternoon Andy. The answer is unfortunately "maybe." Most issues of stalling is the player, but it can be the harmonica sometimes (gap of the 5+ reed too low). This is generally caused having the tongue humped up, essentially getting close to a bending embouchure, which will cause a reed to stall. Playing softer helps a lot as well (in both cases… you or the harmonica at fault). If it is gapping, you can adjust it by learning the technique in the Equipment lesson secretion with Kinya Pollard in the Harp Tech Series. Worse case, get another A Harmonica, we use it all the time, so it won't be wasted money (I keep one at home, my car and at my school :-). Best wishes on this.