I’m attempting for the 100th time to learn harmonica as an accompaniment to guitar and am determined to make it stick this year.
I’m struggling however with achieving a clean note on some of the lower draw holes. My Lee Oskar harp in G draws flat on hole 3 and sounds very muffled. Both my Lee Oskar and Marine Band harps in C draw sharp on hole 2. I have tried tuning the reeds with no success.
If this was one harp I might put it down to a bad reed, but the consistency strongly indicates user error. The issue isn’t so pronounced if I draw very softly or draw through the nose at the same time. This feels weirdly unnatural but perhaps that’s correct technique and my lack of experience?
Had pretty much the same question in regards to my harp & the lower notes:
And Luke was right - with practice, it got better. they just behave a tad differently and if you try em as you would, say, holes 5-6, then they will sound wobbly/rattly - instead, they require a “lighter touch”
@nevermore67 - Welcome to the forum! MOST IMPORTANTLY: just keep playing!
The more you play, the better it’s gonna get. Period.
How sharp is the -2 registering? A couple cents is no biggie.
Not drawing too hard is very good. Most beginners play way too hard. Breathing, not heaving is the maxim.
Drawing thru the nose is better to avoid, unless needing to equalize lung pressure.
But here’s the key: play with mouth positions, and specifically the back of the tongue going closer to the roof of the mouth, like “Kk” constant, and making it lower like yawning. See how that affects pitch. Notice also “ee” vowel shapes are brighter and “uh” or “oo” like “Book” are warmer/darker.
Sounds like you’re serious, so you might check out my Beginner to Boss course. Rock on!
Hi everyone and apologies for my tardy reply. I’ve been away for a couple of weeks with neither a harmonica or guitar within reach.
Thanks for your comments, I will certainly work on my technique. I figured that 4 out of 4 harps could not have the same fault in a similar place! I have a couple of tuition books and video packages but I really like the sound of your suggested package so I will check that out. I’ll report back in a few weeks by which time I hope to have improved!
