NewBie
Hi David
I am a newbie to music learning and harmonica. Your lessons are quite helpful ... thank you :)
I am at Level 1 of your lessons and have a couple of queries i.e.1
1) while practicing playing I am facing an issue where my mouth dries up and I am having trouble 'sliding' the harmonica across my mouth.
related to this, I am also facing a 'stickiness/friction' with the top-bottom metal plates.
any suggestions on how do 'smooth sliding'
2) while putting the harp in the mouth and practicing tongue bending etc, where are teeth supposed to be in the whole process ? i.e. how deep should the harp go in - should it touch the teeth ?
3) before buying , I did some research and almost all sites said a C harmonica is the first one a beginner should buy. However your lessons are based on a A harmonica.
Question is till how many lessions will my current Special 20 C will work/ be relevant...
4) lastly my jaw (the temporomandibular joint ) kind of gets 'tired' after some time of practicing .... understand its part of the body getting used to the harp .... but are there are any tricks or best practices.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Rgds
Tarun
Hi David
Thanks for the prompt reply ... appreciate.
I have saliva but as I am practicing and breathing, it dries up and the sliding movement of lips across the plates is 'sticky'.
I have a new question ... while trying tongue bending, I am just totally at loss on how to position the tongue ! i start with presenting the harminica to just above the tip ....and very soon its the tip that starts getting used !! also the tongue just doesnt seem to be 'obeying' ....it seems to have a mind of its own.
Plus I am not sure how many holes etc I am blocking ....and the TBT sounds like a good tool but I am in india and its not availiable here .... any other alternatives or DIY suggestions you might have.
Rgds
Tarun
Hello Tarun. Your tongue position (the front of your tongue) and your lips do not change while bending. It's the middle-front (6 draw bend for example), middle (4 draw bend), middle-back (3 draw bend) and back (1 draw bend) that do all the work, humping up to create the bend. It takes a lot of experimenting over time to get this, be patient with it, it's not an easy skill set. Watch my Bending Study 1 over and over as you're working on this. I also recommend you read the MRI Bending study on that page, it has images that you might find useful. You can purchase the TBT here http://www.filiskostore.com/page/480389598 or follow the directions on how to build one for yourself on his site (there is a downloadable PDF). Keep at it, you WILL get it with time and experimentation.
Hello Tarun, welcome to the site. Answers below...
1) Most students have the issue of too much saliva, but every now and again a student like yourself has the challenge of not enough. The good thing about tongue blocking (unlike puckering), is that having your tongue on the face of the harmonica lubricates the harmonica as you play. Right now you're moving very slowly, and the saliva/lubrication dries quickly. As you advance, you'll play faster, so this issue will be less of an issue very soon. Until then, you can experiment with different types of lip balm, but keep in mind that you'll need to clean your harmonicas often so as to not allow the wax enter into the harmonica and cause problems with the vibration of the reeds
2) Your teeth do not touch the harmonica, but if you were to bite down, they would bite the cover plate, just past the front of the reed plate (around where the hole numbers are written)
3) The A harmonica is by far the most common harmonica used in blues. If you were to go to a jam session or sit in at a buddy’s gig, the harmonica you would throw in your pocket would no doubt be the A harmonica.
The harmonica that you first learn will be the key of harmonica you’ll be most comfortable playing for a while, so it’s beneficial to have your “go-to harp” be the common A harmonica.
It’s especially helpful to use the A harmonica when learning the important technique of bending. If students first learn how to bend on a high-keyed harmonica, such as the C harmonica, they often struggle when trying to play the more common lower-keyed harmonicas like G, A and Bb.
Your C Harmonica is just fine for the intro lesson, but once you're done with that you'll want to pick up an A Harmonica to continue
4) Relaxe. You're playing with too much tension. I know it's hard to relax when your trying to do something new, but your excess tension is what's causing this.