How to overblow?

1

How do I overblow? I have tried a more extreme blow bend on holes 6 and 4, and I can get the reeds to sqweak, but not produce a noticable different note…?

I am learning this on my C harp, A Seydel Session Steel if it matters - I am benching my Lee Oscar harps for this one.

1 Like
2

Luke Clebsch might be able to help you out. He posted a great lesson on blow bends, I’m sure he could help you out.
Blow Bends: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCrjA1MxncM

Good luck,
Don.

2 Likes
3

Hi, I pushed the reed upward on my Bb harp. Be careful not to bend the reed but it really helps my 6 blow bends much easier now. Hope this helps

2 Likes
4

Please be careful on those Seydels bit if an expensive harp to be trying that out, first of all most mid- range harps don’t over blow out of the box you have to gap them and set them up, you can however if you have the money buy a high end harp or a custom harp that automatically comes with overblows ( you still have to learn the technique though) open up the harp choose the reed you want to overblow and adjust the gap on the draw reed as small as humanly possible flip the harp over do the same on the blow reed. Do reeds 6, 5,4, you can do 7 but tbh it’s a real bugger to get. Now the technique is very similar to the blow bends on the higher end of the harp ( think Jimmy Reed) get your tongue closer to the harp drop it like your doing the bend go " ooooo -eeeee-oooo" you should get it it you may have to adjust your embrochre a bit like your whistling, you should have the odd feeling of the reed moving as the air passes over it and through the gap. If you want to master it pretty good practicing those Jimmy Reed style blow bends on the higher notes is a must. Because it is essentially the same technique. I can’t really play atm because I’m getting over this flu virus just haven’t got the energy. But as soon as I’m up and running again I’ll see if there’s anything I can add by playing, but I think I’ve been pretty thorough. I hope this helps

1 Like
5

Thank you for the advice!

1 Like
6

I use overblows constantly, and am skilled at doing so smoothly. My advice:

  • Do the “learn to overblow” stuff on an otherwise dead harp you gap for it. TONS of resources YouTube for this.
  • Once you can get the overblow, get a harp set up to overblow. That’s a JDR Assassin/Assassin Pro, Arika, or a harp customized for overblowing.

The reason for this: if you set up your own harps for overblowing, you’ll constantly be wondering if the difficulty is you, or if you didn’t set the harp up right.

From a learning perspective, that will slow you down.

2 Likes
7

@Dk360 I recommend buying a customized harp from Joe Spiers. I think they’re about $250.

As @Hogie.Harmonica said, you’ll just never know if it’s you are the harp if you don’t get a custom harp. Todd Parrott told me to get a Spiers harp, I did it, and I’ve never regretted it.

Have you already mastered all of our draw bends holes 1-6 and blow bends 8-10? I think time invested there is time better spent as the notes naturally sound much better. There is so much to learn before overblows, in my opinion.

2 Likes