Get ready for the Pull-Slap (Part 6 - Slap & Pull Defined)

In our example slaps are on downbeats and pulls are on upbeats. Described carefully we get...

Slap =
1) Tongue starts off the harmonica
2) Start to breath = chord sounds
3) Tongue is placed on the three holes to the left, leaving the fourth hole to sound

Transition =
1) Tongue is on the harmonica now, sounding the hole to the right... it needs to be covered to do a pull. Stick out a bit more of your tongue to cover all the holes (I like to use more of the top of my tongue... it's wider). At this point all of the holes are covered and you're ready to perform the pull.

Pull =
1) Breath in very slightly. Since the tongue is covering the face of the harmonica (no holes are open), nothing will sound
2) Pull your tongue off... "plucking" all the reeds into vibration... now the chord sounds
3) Stop breathing... the reeds should dissipate their vibration very quickly
4) Your tongue is now off the harmonica, ready to perform a slap, if the passage calls for it

This is what happens when placing a slap on the downbeat and a pull on the upbeat... tomorrow we do the pull-slap!