new harp, don't want to ruin it!
A very kind person who knows I'm learning harmonica, bought me a Seydel Lightning recently. I've played with it a little and it feels and sounds great. However, the 3 draw bends seem a little harder than I'm used to, and I'm really struggling to stop at the half step bend, although I can get lower than that. It's in the key of 'D' and as I'm going through the LOA, I'm pretty much a 'key of A' guy at the moment.
I'm assuming that it's unlikely a problem with the harp because it seems quite a good one from what I can find online, athough I guess that's not impossible. From others' experience, is it possibly harder due to being in a higher key? Does it need just broken in more gently or should I just try and force the note? I'm on LOA 3 at the moment, so just finding my competence with bends and I think I've got holes 1-4 and 6 OK on my usual harp, which is a Seydel Session Steel.
I know this is quite a basic question, but it's such a kind gift that I don't want to damage it. It's also possible that I'm just not good enough to get the best out of this Lightning one!
thanks,
Graham
Thank you, that's great to know and something to practice on!
Graham
Jumping up from an A to a D is a big step. When I was first starting, my first D (after playing a C and an A) was so tight that I got frustrated and actually tore it apart and ripped the reeds out by hand!
The sweet spots for all the bends on a higher pitched harp will be farther forward and much narrower and harder to locate. You're not likely to ruin the harp as you learn to find those spots, unless you try to force matters by breathing too hard (or like my teenatge self, physically rip the harp to bits).
Some players do report steel reeds being more resistant. Using breath support can help with this. Breathe from your diaphragm, that big sheath of belly muscles that pull the lungs open and press them closed. When you do that, even gently, the mass of all that air in motion - about 3 gallons versus a tiny strip of metal - can exert all the influence you need to persuade the reed to change pitch.