Ask Harmonica Expert Winslow Yerxa

Winslow,
We spoke of the two different tunings available with the Fabulous ....Just and Equal.
I ordered the Just because my internet searching made me believe this tuning is best for playing Blues...
however...the 5 draw which is tuned flat....sounds hideous to my ears...Davids songs use lots of 5 draws too. A 4/5 trill sounds awful..

I guess the Promasters must be Equal tuned because they sound more like what David plays.... continue reading...

Hi, Winslow, I actually have two questions for you, how do you bend a five note octave? I have only heard George Smith and Kim Wilson do this, I am a TBer, and, assume you bend like a diatonic, that is, hump the tongue. My second quest

ion is, how do you call the band for a William Clarke style of groove? It is usually a 12 bar blues but, I think they leave out the 5 chord at the end and just stay on the one. Any example of his off the "Rockin' the boat" are good examples. Thank You. Pete Grissim

Hi Winslow,
I am playing 2 years now and for a couple of months I am a resident of this fantastic site. Due to Daves chromatic lessons I have been picking up my chromonica 270, after it has been lying collecting dust for some time, improved the mouthpiece with the rounded openings and cleaned the sticky valves. Although this is a almost awkward size compared with the snugly diatonics, this is big fun as the sound is so full and rich. and the instrument has such potentials. continue reading...

Winslow.
After our recent emails in which you mentioned Christelle Berthon (whom I had never before heard of) and her switching from the Seydel 1847 to Suzuki Fabulous and Manji. I checked her on Utube and was blown away by her rendition of Sonny Boys..Help Me.
I have been using Suzuki Promasters mostly until now..and I very much like the way the cover plates extend out all the way to the end of the comb...tongue switching is much easier on the 1 hole and just drawing/blowing seems to be easier on the bottom 3 holes with the extended surface...the MBs I seem to suck air. continue reading...

Natural and Harmonic minor, Melody Maker tunings continue reading...

Winslow, I tried to send you a private email about this, but couldn't find any contact info on the web, so I'll post it here.

I really want to thank you for convincing me to try the Seydel 1847. What a great harp! I am amazed at the tone and the volume of this thing. I am hooked. I've been placing orders left and right for different keys of these.

A good moral for this story would be: "Close mouth and open mind." I'm glad I didn't let my preconceived notions get in the way of listening to your advice.

It's wonderful to have such a great resource as you on this site.

What is the difference between the 270 Super and 270 Deluxe?

I've noticed that the high end on my Manji is very touchy to proper embouchure technique. Sometimes while going through David's "Rollin' Rhumba" lesson, the sound on the high end is very squeally on the blow side. Adjusting my embouchure (opening up and dropping my tongue) fixes the problem. I've noticed I can get this to happen on my Special 20s as well - although it is a little harder to do.

I can purposely make the sound happen. Sometimes it is preceded by a metallic popping sound.

My questions: continue reading...

Winslow,

I was given a harmonica today that had "been laying around for about 10 years collecting dust". It is a MS - series harp, has never been played, and L.L. Bean is printed on the top of the box (its a black plastic box). The same script L.L. Bean is printed on the upper cover plate. On the lower cover plate it says:

"Exclusively Made for L.L. Bean by
HOHNER
Made in Germany" continue reading...

Winslow, I got a new Crossover today and the 2 blow seems stuck. I've seen that on some other harps. It seems that sometimes I put air through the hole and I get nothing but air sound in return. It's like the reed is stuck. What causes this and what can I do to fix it?