wa wa hand usage harmonica harp technique

The second most common error for new students when learning how to use the Wa Wa is to use dips with each Wa of the hand. The dip is a technique where you start by playing a note bent and then quickly raising it. For some reason, it's almost universal for students to want to do a dip with each Wa... as if there were a string attached from their hands to their tongue. Though this is a valid option to couple these two techniques, the tonal change of the Wa is much more pronounced without the additional pitch change of the dip.

It's common for students to hear a Wa Wa being played on one note and mistakenly think that a separate breath is used for each Wa. Though it can be done this way, the Wa effect is much more pronounced if you use one, even breath (no volume changes) and ONLY the hands to separate the notes (the hands are what create the Wa affect). Go to Solo Harmonica Study 4 and look at page two of the PDF transcription... first bar of the 4th Chorus. All seven of those 2 draws are played with one breath, using a Wa to give the sense that they are all separate. continue reading...