Ask Harmonica Expert Winslow Yerxa

Hi Winslow, over the years, I have bought and played many chromatic harmonicas. In addition, I have toured both the Hohner factory in Trossingen, Germany, and the Suzuki harmonica factory in Hamamatsu, Japan. Witnessing their craftsman build chromatic harmonicas was nothing short of amazing. continue reading...

Hi Winslow,

What are your thoughts around the best harmonica for traditional melody playing? What I mean by this specifically is Irish and Scottish music and other styles you typically hear on pipes or fiddle. 

Chromatics come to mind first but i am also seeing Paddy Richter tuning on a diatonic mentioned frequently. 

it seems like Paddy Richter would leverage a foundation on the diatonic. do you see pros or cons to either approach? 

Thanks for for any feedback. 

Andrew

Hi Winslow

i was wondering if you could share any thoughts on the Key of F Harp. 

i have  noticed there are no Key of F studies on this site - other than Low F. I've seen many comments around usually like the "dreaded F Harp". I expect this is because it is so high And must grate on the ear for some.  Is it common to just substitute the Low F nowadays?  Any pros or cons with that approach?  Thanks for any thoughts...

Andrew

Greetings!

My name is Denis. I'm a professional guitar player, but I'm new here ) I started to play harmonica two weeks ago. I try to learn by myself with this site, but it isn't simple. We play a cover of Bon Jovi song "Wanted Dead Or Alive" and I want to play some solo on harmonica. Could you help me and tell what scale of harmonica I have use in this song and how to play this western sound in the intro of the song?

Thank you ! continue reading...

This is a continuation of the open pathway thread.

I followed your advice, but now another problem had arisen.

It seems that when i try to bend with just my tongue ( my throat open, jaw dropped) I have to much space between my tongue and roof mouth.   And the bend just doesn't want to happen.   It seems that if I raise my jaw up closer to normal resting position it is much easier to bend with just the tongue.  Ofcourse not without a sacrifice in sound/tone.  Any advice in this perticular area? 

  continue reading...

This is a continuation of the open pathway thread.

I followed your advice, but now another problem had arisen.

It seems that when i try to bend with just my tongue ( my throat open, jaw dropped) I have to much space between my tongue and roof mouth.   And the bend just doesn't want to happen.   It seems that if I raise my jaw up closer to normal resting position it is much easier to bend with just the tongue.  Ofcourse not without a sacrifice in sound/tone.  Any advice in this perticular area? 

  continue reading...

Hi Winslow continue reading...

Hi Winslow continue reading...

Hi Winslow continue reading...

Winslow I've heard you reference many times keeping an open pathway.   For example : 

"Valved harps will sound different from unvalved - the blow notes wil be louder, and may even bend when you don't mean them to , which is good for your bending control and for your tone, as it helps prevent you from closing up your oral cavity."

  continue reading...