2 and 3 hole draw notes keep going flat
Fri, 06/15/2012 - 22:49
I have purchased a number of Big River and Special 20 harps and I am having trouble with the 2 and 3 hole draw notes going flat. I barely get a sound out of them. I have cleaned them without taking them apart, I have cleaned them with taking them apart, I have tried to adjust the reed gap distance and nothing seems to correct the problem. I slabber a lot and since 2 and 3 draw is a lot of what I play it it possible those reeds just go bad as a result?
Sun, 06/17/2012 - 16:50
#2
2 and 3 draw Notes Flat
Hello Kinya, I did try your suggestion and I am still having problems. I took a newer harmonica and with the same pucker method applied to each harp the new one sounds fine and the older ones are really flat, same result with the tongue blocking technique applied to each harp.
Hi Timmy T
Thank you for checking out our HarpTech forum.
As a result of teaching hundreds of students how to play and maintain their harmonicas, I'm fairly certain your issue is with your embouchure--specifically your tongue. It is humped up too much, causing the reeds to bend (flatten) down.
Try this:
Remove the harmonica from your mouth. Then do your best impersonation of Santa Claus by saying, "HO HO HO"! --really deep and loud. If done properly, you'll notice that your jaw has dropped and your tongue has flattened out to the bottom of your mouth. You should be able to feel your bottom molars with both sides of your tongue--right? Now do the HO HO HO thing one more time--keeping your tongue all the way down--then place the harmonica back in your mouth, and softly draw on the 2 and 3 reeds.
One more thing ... (relative to the C harmonica) your 2 draw is the G note--matching the G on your 3 blow reed. Use this as a reference tone and both reeds should sound virtually identical. If it doesn't, your tongue is still humped up too much on your 2 draw.
Let me know how this is working out for you.
Your Harpsmith,
Kinya