Ask Harmonica Expert Winslow Yerxa

I switch between TB and LP, and was playing around with LP the other day, when I noticed something.  I was getting a single note, but the adjacent holes on harp weren't covered.  Without moving the harp or my lips, I could move my tonge forward and feel holes 2 and 4 open next to the 3, but I wasn't getting any sound out of them.  Anybody else notice this?

Phil

Hi Winslow, continue reading...

Hi, continue reading...

Hey Winslow, brilliant interview with David. Your insights into the expansive harmonica world were unique and inspiring. Thanks so very much for sharing. 

Hi Winslow,

Watching many many u tube videos I would often hear Adam Gusso (and others) pick up a harp and say this one has a reed blown out or it has gone out of tune. 

I was glad that didn't happen to me. Until it did. 

I was working with my G blues Harp and all of a sudden hole 7 blow is a whole tone lower. I disassembled it thinking it was blocked or had debris on it. I plinked the reed and to my dismay it just lifted up and stayed. Oh no!!! So I gently pushed it back and it immediately travelled through the hole and stayed.  continue reading...

Hi,I'm starting playing chromatic harmonica (Super Chromonica 270 Deluxe) and I have problems with 1 and 2 draw if I try to do it without breathing through the nose too. Sound good when I take air through the nose at the same time, but then I have problems to play because immediatly I'm full of air! I have been trying breathing very slow a big mouth cavity etc, but nothing. From the 3 hole I don't have this problem.It is a normal problem when starting? could be a problem with these holes? Some advice to try to get a good sound without using my nose? continue reading...

Hi Winslow...Question: I just put new reed plates in my Lee Oskar Bb harp. It sounds great. The only problem is that the 1+ often fails to sound during play. If I let it rest for a few moments, or if I play a 1 draw first, it seems to reset it. My thought is that the vibrations of the reed are somehow making it stick. Have you ever experienced this and do you know a fix? Or, do I just need to break the new plates in by more play?

Thanks...Francis

Hi Winslow...Is it common for players to have a problem getting a nice round sound hitting a 3' with a D harp? I can hit it much of the time but it sounds like a sick cat! I can't imagine what an E harp, or high F for that matter, would sound like. Thanks...Francis

Hi Winslow...Sorry if it sounds like a dumb question, but, is it generally accepted that playing a chromatic harp is very different than playing a diantonic?  I am specifically referring to the amount of air required to get decent volume.  I recently purchased a Hohner 270 Deluxe, and after adjusting the the gap on holes one and two, I am still finding that it requires more air than a diatonic.  Before I adjusted the gap, I found holes one and two were choking on both blow and draw with a normal volume of air.

Homer.

Hi Winslow,

I'm looking to add some jazz to my solo repertoire and heard lee Oskar do a version of sentimental mood on a blues harmonica blow out session.

Do you know what tuning he was using for this? At the moment I'm using c and Ab harps to cover the positions

I guess chromatic would be another option but I'm not that familiar with it yet.

Thanks

G