Tongue Blocking Study 1
Hi David,
I just picked up my first harmonica like 3 weeks ago after seeing a guy play one in a band and being inspired to take it up. First of all, i'm really enjoying your course, planning to work my way through the LOA program.
One thing i'm struggling with is pretty specific, but i'm managing to play clean single notes pretty consistently, and can move between notes most of the time. But when i'm moving from the high notes to the low notes i find my tongue gets pulled towards the middle of my mouth more so i lose the single note. I've tried having a really light touch on the harmonica but i keep hearing air pass over the top of my tongue between it and the harmonica.
Any advice? Should the tip of my tongue be on the harmonica or should it be on the edge of my lips? i guess i feel like i'm just struggling to hold it firmly in place without pressing hard on the harp. I guess it's something that'll just come with practice?
Thanks in advance,
Ross
Hi david,
Just wanted to update that the advice worked great. thanks for taking the time to respond!
Hope you're keeping safe and well during the pandemic.
Regards
Ross
Great, thank you for checking in.
Thank you, you too Ross.
Welcome to the harmonica, and the site, Ross. I'm glad you're enjoying your studies.
Using more of the top of your tongue will most likely fix this issue (it sounds like the tip of your tongue is getting stuck in the holes). Place the harmonica a little bit deeper in your mouth, which will both give you better tone (the mouth is open more), and will give you access to the tongue a touch further back, which is wider.
I also tilt the face of my harmonica downwards, which matches the angle of the top of the tongue (you'll see this in my lesson videos).
Give this a try and report back after a week of experimenting/practice.