Hello, I’m a beginner harmonica player, I own a Easttop t-008k.
Harp is great and I’m having fun, but I noticed something strange happening on my harmonica: holes 7-10 would usually play fine, but at times when I play and try to isolate single notes, I just get strange and weird sounds out of holes 7,8,9.
Now, you may think it may be due to:
Poor technique, which it could be, of course, but I can perfectly isolate holes 1-6,10 and I only have problems on those 3 holes…
Spit, and this might be a good take on the problem, but if for instance I try to isolate holes 7, 9 and just blow/draw on hole 8, it will work effortlessly. I only have problems once I try to isolate the note, like it only works at a specific angle which is different from the angle I use for the first six holes!
Again, this might be due to poor techinque, I’m not denying that, but it’s not always like that! Most of the times I’m able to play normally, but then 7, 8, 9 just get stuck for some reason and just sound weird/do not emit sound all togheter.
Please, give me some suggestions.
I’m really having fun with harmonica and Luke’s lessons really worked miracles these past two weeks to enhance my skills.
Thank you very much!
N.B: I try to have my lips as deep as possible on the harp and I also try not to tense them up too much, it’s just that it’s strange that what works for some holes does not for others…
I had the same thing when I started, it’s most likely to be technique, the high octave plays a bit different to lower end of the harp, I still find it “harder” than the low and middle but as I’ve played more I seem to have got them sounding a lot better.
Just practice, practice practice. You’ll get there.
I am a beginner as well and at times go through the same thing. Key is don’t draw or blow as hard, drop the tongue and open the throat up while playing those notes. Its def not easy to do for me at this point but when I do it makes those notes sound way better
I would check the reed gaps first. When I started playing the -8 was and I were not friends. I gap my reeds as close as possible and can sound them with a light blow into the harp from a couple of inches away from my mouth. I would start by seeing how little pressure you can use and sound the higher notes. I suspect you may be playing them too hard and the high notes don’t like this at all. Your reeds may well need some adjusting as well.
Luke mentioned try playing them as if you were blowing out a candle but not hard enough to do so, only make the flame flicker. It worked for me and now I do not have this problem any more. Practicing a tune with high end draw notes will help. Hang in there you will get it. The higher end takes more time but once you get gapping and blow and draw pressure right it will get much easier.
Most likely it’s your embouchure. Once you get to a certain point in note frequency the slightest movement will affect everything. I experienced this quite a bit when I got a Wilde tuned harp and a Powerbender. Those higher notes take way less air pressure and when it comes to bending them (draw or blow bends) it’s a different technique…. You ole it sort of in the front of your mouth and you raise your whole tongue to make the air passage smaller in the case of bending.
When playing a clean note my guess it either your mouth or tongue has moved ever so slightly OR it very well could be the harp.
I’ve never played an Easttop so I can’t speak to their playability. I will tell you I had the same issue with hole 7 on one of my Seydel 1847s and it turned out to be me.
Anymore the harp is the last thing I blame because almost everytime it’s been me when something wasn’t going right.
Combination poor technique, gapping, all my East Tops play great on the higher holes but only since I gapped them a little better… spit getting trapped in the reeds is another big issue try tilting your head back when you play
Thank you for your answer. Since I’m a complete noob, does changing the thightness of the reeds change their frequency? I mean, frequency should depend on the length of the reed, but I’m sooo scared of messing things up!
Gapping the reeds means the gap between the reed and the plate, the factory set up can be hit and miss on how these turned out on your harp so a lot of players will take the covers off and just gently bend the reeds to be spot on. That won’t affect the tuning but will improve the playability.
There’s lots of help online on how to do it.
@Ashen_One welcome to the forum. As others have said 99.9% sure it’s technique. RELAXATION is really the key, both in embouchure and in using a nice steady, gentle airflow. Rock on!
