Octave draws...Is there a trick?

Technique
1

When you do a draw octave, you typically need to tongue block 3 holes.

I can bend and overblow all day long…But I can’t seem to pull off a simple 3 hole tongue block octave. Is there something I am missing here?

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2

Well, using a C harp as my example, the low D - middle D octave uses the holes -1 and -4, whereby only 2 holes 2 & 3 need to be blocked … For the low B - middle B octave you use holes -3 and -7 and you are correct: 3 holes need to be blocked, as also for the other draw octaves.

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3

@Dk360 As @Carlos1 said you only need to block 2 holes in the lower half of the harmonica for “octaves.” These are called split-4’s because your mouth covers 4 holes, and tongue blocks 2.

14

-14

25

(Note the -25 is not actually an octave but a m7. This is an incredibly useful split-4 though, and very often use because it sound so fat.)

36

But then going up past this, on the draws you need to use split-5’s to access octaves, though the blows are still split 4’s like this:

-37 (split 5)

47 (split 4)

-48 (split 5)

58 (split 4)

-59 (split 5)

69 (split 4)

-710 (split 5)

710 (split 4)

Note that historically these are used infrequently compared to splits -14 through 36, but I think they’re worth exploring.

I explore them a lot, as well as split-3’s which I find to be really musically satisfying.

I think splits are a super underutilized technique in the world of harmonica, and am looking forward to using them more and more.

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4

@Luke

It seems my tongue isn’t wide enough for the 5 hole octave blocks. Do you normally tongue block with the side of your tongue to do this? It just feels awkward.

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5

I had “rash/unpleasant” sounds that I couldn’t figure out, especially where the hole 7 was involved in any way. Seems it’s about experimentation BUT ALSO: unlearn what you learnt about breathing. try being quieter/using less air, letting more air “bypass” the notes at the sides/below the harp/through your nose.

6

Hey @Dk360 the trick to playing the wider splits (split-5, split-6, and upward) you gotta just push it deeper into your mouth. The wider the split, the deeper in you gotta push it. Play with that and LMK!

Also, might go without saying, but the Tongue Block Trainer can be enormously helpful with this kind of effort!

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7

@Luke

Thanks! I was able to get is better, still needs a lot of practice. I feel like I am eating my harps!

What is the tongue block trainer?

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