I have a question for all those that have really got the three step down. Do you play the first step with the K spot forward and the second a bit further back and the third as further back? Is this is the technique for hitting any of the three steps desired, especially when the note needs to be played quickly? I can get all three but am too slow to the desired note consistently and quickly.
Also anyone familiar with a Koch chromatic harp. I was given one and it plays but needs to be cleaned and a reed replaced. The harp I have was German made many years ago.
Thanks is this the only change? Do you start the first on closer to your teeth or keep the K spot constant. Another ? I play during the day when its dry and humidity low with no problem. At times it gets more humid and chilly out and this seems to make the harp much harder to play well. Its seems hate this weather and playing rich notes much more difficult. I took a hair drier and lightly ran it over the harp and it played well for a few minutes but the chilly weather took over after a few minutes. My harps are clean and during the day I can blow lightly in each side from about three inches away and the reeds respond, both draw and blow reeds. Not so when it is chilly. Point is the harps play well when the weather is warmer and humidity lower. I just put em down until the next day and the temperature warmer and the humidity much lower.
Think so if the K spot starts in the back and remains there. What gets the bends step is what you articulate to go from one to another. I am really working on the first two but if its to done right all three must be played consistently well. Is this it? Are you going to attend SPAH in 2025 in San Antonio?
I used to use vowels like @davidkachalon mentions, and taught that way, and had many people say they couldn’t get it and then those vowels helped them.
But now I like to think k-spot forward and back better because when I’m released for the fullest tone I don’t want to be in the “ee” shape necessarily, because it’s the brightest tone. It might sound better to be in “uh” in the released.
But having said that, David’s suggestion can be really helpful for people struggling to get it.
I agree. I strongly suspect that you are moving the K spot with David’s method. It seems the change from one step to the next is very slight. Same can be said for moving out of a bend position. I don’t know how long it took for me to break the habit of trying to use more force but now that I can at least activate bends easily. I try to play small riffs using only bends sliding the harp from one to the next and it does help. The two step on -2 seems much easier now.