Tongue Blocking on Draw Notes
Hi David,
Having been a member for 18 months already I've finally managed to get started on this - and I'm loving it :). Many thanks for creating the tuition, the site and giving us the opportunity to learn to play Blues Harmonica.
Perhaps a common question, however I couldn't find anything in the forum recently: Why do my draw notes sound like feeble air intake sounds when using tongue blocking?
For example, if I play and 4 blow while tongue blocking holes 1, 2 and 3, I get a perfect sound. However, without moving I play a draw and no sound comes from the harmonica, just a feeble noise like air coming out of a balloon!
I've tried many things but cannot seem to get this right, and it happens on any draw note I try to play.
I know it's technique, but how do I fix it?
Many thanks,
Gary C
Thank you David,
As a note, I was already doing the 'yawn' thing, however your advice led me to the problem.
Having checked tongue position etc. and looking in the mirror, I realised that I was not holding my harmonica 'straight' across my mouth when I insterted it after positioning with the 'yawn'.
As I was only holding the harmonica with my left hand Irealised I was holding the left side of the harmonica further in than the right, creating a bit of a gap between the right side of my mouth and the harmonice, so I was not 'sealing' the gap and air was rushing in.
I've got it now and the notes sound great.
Many thanks for the support and have a great day :).
Kind regards,
Gary C
Great to hear Gary, I'm glad that you figured it out.
Thank you Gary, I'm glad that you're enjoying the site.
There are commonly two causes of this...
1) Blow notes are not influenced (much) by tongue position. Draw notes are greatly influenced. When drawing, you could be humping your tongue, closing of the air cavity, thus creating a bend or choking of the reed. Make sure that your tongue is down in the middle and back (a slight yawn is perfect... slight dropping of the jaw, opening of the throat, and tongue lowered). Double check your tongue position in the mirror (with the harmonica out of your mouth of course).
2) When we blow, our mouth opens... everything moves apart. When we draw (suck), everything wants to close in. Make sure that you're not allowing everything (lips/mouth) to collapse when you blow.
Experiment with these and check back in.