Ok, lso let me preface this by saying I’m probably the only one who ever had this light bulb moment and everyone else here will probably say “well duh” because I am not the brightest bulb on the tree, the sharpest knife in the drawer or the shiniest penny in the cup holder.
I’ve been playing for something like 8-9 months, but I stopped really practicing for a couple months out of frustration. I could bend notes but not quickly or consistently. I could play all of the notes, but the tone just wasn’t great. It seemed I fought with my harps when I played. And let me emphasize that I have never felt really comfortable and my
Playing has never been consistent. My lips and tongue would feel fatigued after a long practice session. My shoulders would be aching. Sometimes the bends were real easy and sometimes I struggled.
I figured well, it’s just because I’m new… I’ll figure it out. Had I not took a hiatus for a couple months, I would’ve discovered this a while ago. I have even blamed my harps (I’m sure nobody else has done this 
). I just knew if I got a better harp the issue would go anway.
Are you ready? Here is my brilliant revelation:
I needed to relax and I needed to use less air and not blow/ draw so hard.
Like I said, you’re probably thinking, “James, haven’t you watched any of Luke’s lessons?” Yes, yes I have and I thought I WAS relaxing this whole time. I thought I was only playing hard enough to get a nice clear sound. I thought I was doing everything I’d been taught in every tutorial video and lesson I’ve seen. I wasn’t.
Today I started noodling with my Wilde tuned harmonica ( I’ve bugged @Luke with endless questions about these harps) and I’ve complained, thinking there was something wrong with certain holes and reeds. I even talked to the Seydel rep (shoutout to Rupert, great guy) and he was graciously willing to go through my harps for me for no charge. He was also wise enough (and direct enough) to tell me that most likely the reason I was struggling to play this harp and bend all the notes was because my technique was not up to where it needed to be to be able to smoothly bend and play the higher and smaller reeds. He also offered the same for my powerbender Seydels (both tunings are amazing as is the Seydel 1843 harps )
What do you know, Rupert was right!!! As I noodled suddenly I noticed the inside of my lips holding tension. I realized the sides of my tongue were tightened rather than relaxed and restring on the floor of my mouth. I even noticed my throat felt a little tight. I relaxed and my dad (whom I take care of and live with) says , “you sound like a different person playing. It’s so much more clear! Did you get a new harmonica?”
Being encouraged I began to play “when the saint go marching in”. I’d play single notes for the
Melody and in between melody notes, I’d play chords. It sounded pretty dang good to me… and I’m my biggest critic!
I know, you probably already know all this stuff. However, if you are struggling with any techniques, or if your tone isn’t pleasing to your ears… if you can bend the notes but just can’t quite get that last semi-tone on hole 3 or if the bends on hole 2 are giving you fits, I would just encourage you to take inventory of your mouth, tongue, throat and shoulders (holding tension in the shoulders affects us when playing music or singing).
Make sure to get the RELAXED in the deep relaxed position. This light bulb brightly illuminated in my mind today and it’s made all the difference.
