harpdude61
30 posts
Mar 15, 2010
9:38 AM
|
I've been playing three years and mostly lip purse except for splits. (TB'ers need not respond).
I've not seen much written about it but I believe lip position and relaxation when playing single notes should stay the same no matter what single note you are playing.
I do an exercise where I go from 6 blow to 6 draw bent to 6 draw to 6 overblow and back and forth working on making it clean and in tune with minimal effort and embochure change.change is slight tongue and throat position, which affects the direction of air flow and mouth cavity shape.
I use the same deep relaxed embochure with the same position and relaxation level on my lips whether I'm playing 2 draw bent down one step, 6 overblow, seven overdraw, or 10 blow bend down a step....on all harps high and low.
I don't think players like Jason Ricci could do the fast stuff if lip pressure and position changed between each note. Throat, mouth cavity shape, and slight tongue movement enables me to play faster riffs cleaner. Lips and all face muscles stay relaxed.
Am I on track?
|
barbequebob
602 posts
Mar 15, 2010
9:43 AM
|
Well, as someone who uses both methods, relaxtion is VERY important for both techniques in order to do anything. If you do either method while you're tensed up and very physically uptight, then the technique for either method is completely wrong.
----------
Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Last Edited by on Mar 15, 2010 9:45 AM
|
The7thDave
61 posts
Mar 15, 2010
10:00 AM
|
At just over one year of playing, I'm still struggling with overblows--and I just can't get them (so far) without tensing my upper lip. I didn't know it was possible to do it without tensing the upper lip.
|
barbequebob
605 posts
Mar 15, 2010
10:06 AM
|
Playing while uptight, unfortunately, is a very typical newbie move that's caused by frustration at the inability to be able to get a technique down and trying to force it to happen, and that's a bad habit you need to break in a hurry or you'll wind up ruining harps at a pretty rapid rate.
----------
Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
|
harpdude61
31 posts
Mar 15, 2010
10:56 AM
|
Hang in there 7th Dave. If the harp is set up correctly you can play the overblow just as easily as the blow or draw on the same hole. I started overblowing near the end of my second year and over a year later I must say it has been a LOT of work....but well worth it. Getting the OB took a while, but getting the tone, pitch, learning to bend up, and using it musically took a bit longer.
|
