Holding the harmonica
Fri, 02/08/2019 - 20:50
David, I'm right hand dominant. In the lesson "holding the harmonica" you say to hold with left hand..cup with right. when initially picked up the harmonica i used my right. years ago i toyed and most likely held with right probably why i do same now. do i need to switch it up and retrain or continue to hold right cup left? I have arthritis in both hands , my left 3rd fourth and 5th fingers seem more effected. thinking that cupping with left hand would be easier as i won't need to close that hand smaller. How would this be detrimental ? or not ? Also what if any is the difference between a harp and harmonica? harp is much quicker to type keyboarding. I'm a picking pecker ! thanks Rick Gillette
Hello Richard.
Harp is a slang for harmonica, so it's fine to use.
You do what works best for you in regards to holding. The reason why we commonly hold with the left hand, is so that we're cupping the bass notes... and we play these notes the most (holes 1-6). When holding a bullet mic, or creating hand techniques such as the Wa Wa, we also want these commonly-played notes to be in the cup. When holding with your right hand, you'll need to get creative on how to "capture" the sound of those lower notes.
Take a look at my lesson https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/cupping_hand_effects and experiment with the "two thumbs up" approach, you may find that the least intrusive on your hands.