technique

To check if you're achieving the vibrato, open up HarpNinja. Play a tremolo (no pitch change) and you'll see the green light of the box for that hole flicker on and off. When performing the vibrato (pitch change) you'll see the readout alternating between that hole and its half step bend.

Let's now try to create the vibrato on an unbent note.

Play your 3 draw and prepare your mouth to bend, but don't bend... keep your tongue and throat relaxed. Your mouth should be tuned to the 3 draw and is ready to influence the pitch when the tremolo starts. Now play your 3 draw with your throat tremolo and the vibrato should be there.

If you're vibrato is not there, then either your muscles are too tense or you're not tuned to the 3 draw. continue reading...

Vibrato is change in pitch, and slightly in volume, and even more slightly in tone. As a technique, it's one of the most difficult skills to teach and learn. Here are the three important elements to producing this technique. Item 1 we've already discussed; we'll discuss items 2 and 3 over this week.

1) Throat tremolo is on

2) Mouth is tuned to the note you're playing

3) Tongue and pharynx are relaxed enough to be influenced by the throat tremolo

This is the harmonica player's standard way of performing a tremolo and is the basis for the vibrato that we'll cover later. This technique is produced at the vocal folds, where you open and close your airway. Performing a slight cough (without engaging your diaphragm) will give you the feeling of this technique. Your goal is to isolate your vocal folds so that the listener never hears a coughing sound (you are exhaling, but it's a smooth and even stream of air, not a burst of air from the diaphragm for each tremolo piece). continue reading...

The Exaggerated Hand Tremolo takes your same hand tremolo and exaggerates it by taking your right hand completely off of the harmonica (as far as timing allows). The farther your hand travels away from the harmonica the cooler the visual effect. This technique is great when you're really wailing on a 4/5 combo. This technique works just as well amplified as it does acoustically (of which the standard hand tremolo is generally rare). continue reading...

Cup your harmonica so that it's not squeezed airtight, but closed nonetheless. Most players hold the harmonica with their left hand and open/close their cupped hands using the wrist of their right hand at a speed slightly faster than a triplet (this depends on the tempo of a song, slower relative to fast tempos and faster relative to slow tempos). When your hands are closed, both the volume is soft and the tone is muted and bassy. When your hand open, the volume is loud and mid and high frequencies are back with a less tubby tone. Both volume and tone are changed in a hand tremolo. continue reading...

Using a tremolo or vibrato is one of the most important techniques for players of wind and string instruments to utilize to add soul to their playing (which is mimicking the human voice by the way, if you didn’t already figure that out). To start our series let’s first define that there are three components that make up this sound we call tremolo or vibrato. First, a definition... Tremolo is change in amplitude (volume) and vibrato is change in pitch. continue reading...

1) Play a Quick Chord - Playing multiple holes is a great way to clear spit. If you can incorporate this spit-clearing chord in the music, even better.

2) Quick Aggressive Tap on Leg - When the harmonica makes a dead-stop on your leg the spit keeps traveling and clears the reed slot.

3A) If not a memorized solo, avoid the stuck hole in your improvisation. continue reading...

The dip is a technique used often by harmonica players, but is a technique that sometimes draws confusion for new players. To define the dip... this is where we start a note bent and then release it quickly to the intended pitch. This is similar to a vocalist swooning into a note for dramatic effect. For example, a 4 draw can be presented by playing 4' D-flat and then quickly releasing up to its natural pitch 4 D. The dip is generally a fast technique, though it can be drawn out in a slow blues for a more dramatic, bluesy effect. continue reading...

A student came in last week asking about jaw movement after watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0fusOgxp_8. Here's what I told him...

"I tend not to focus on jaw movement anymore with students as a technique to study. In my experience, some techniques tend to show up in one's playing over time without having to focus on it, and this is one of them. To answer your question... when moving a hole to the right and coming back, you can use your jaw to make the quick motion away and back. The same applies for moving from one hole to the left and back. continue reading...