Greatest19
3 posts
Jul 29, 2011
12:45 PM
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Can one use to much pressure against the mouth with the harp to cause lip or mouth irritation?....I thought i had a canker sore but i have developed a callus below the inside of my lip from i guess to much pressure and too much practice...or is this normal from developing a better lip in playing the harp.....would appreciate any comments from members.........thank you
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jonlaing
299 posts
Jul 29, 2011
12:53 PM
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I think you might be playing just a tad too hard. You should make sure your harp is nice and deep in your mouth for good tone, but if your lips are starting to hurt and develop callouses, I would say you're going a little too far.
What kind of harp is it? Sometimes, on some harps, the reed plates stick out a little far and can cause irritation. If that's the case, I would say try to take the thing apart and scootch the reed plates so they're flush with the edge of the comb, and the coverplates.
Good luck.
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Greatest19
4 posts
Jul 29, 2011
1:39 PM
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Thank you jonlaing.............did some tongue blocking and octaves with lighter pressure and bent some notes...........right on the money with your comments...........just the one time practicing and my lip felt much better....i play a hohner special 20 most of the time..........very much appreciated!!!!
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nacoran
4401 posts
Jul 29, 2011
1:51 PM
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Make sure you clean your harp. Dead skin and other gunk builds up along the front edge of the cover and can make a harp a lot rougher. I use craft picks, which are just basically thicker toothpicks, to scrape the front of the harp clean occasionally. You want something that is harder than the gunk but softer than the cover plates so it doesn't scratch them. Then wipe them off with a soft cloth. (A polishing cloth works well, just make sure it's a chemical free one. Some polishing cloths come with chemical polishers put in and you don't want to ingest that.)
Like jonlaing said, some harps are tougher on the lips than others. Sometimes the combs on wooden harps swell up and can be kind of tough. Other harps have protruding reed plates and other sharp edges. There are different solutions for each, but basically it comes down to keeping the front of the harp clean and smooth.
There is also an outside chance of nickel allergies. Most harps have moved away from nickel covers but sometimes, particularly on an older harp, that can be an issue.
As for playing style, that can certainly be an issue too. Generally speaking, the deeper you put the harp in your mouth the less friction you'll get. For warbles, when you slide the harmonica back and forth real quickly, I discovered by accident that if you push the harp against your lower lip and let a little air escape you can dramatically reduce how much friction you get. The idea is that your lower lip will wiggle around instead of sliding, so there is no friction there, and the top lip will slide like an air hockey puck. I think you can also reduce some of the friction by making sure you are focusing on moving your hands instead of your head (unless you are playing in a rack). You learn little tricks like rocking the harmonica back and forth instead of sliding that save a lot of lip. Also try to stay hydrated. Nothing will make the harp scrape like being dehydrated.
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Nate
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Big Daddy Ray
51 posts
Jul 29, 2011
3:08 PM
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Don't eat it.Play it. Make sure you also drink plenty of water. Dry mouth doesn't help matters any.
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jonlaing
301 posts
Jul 29, 2011
4:57 PM
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As for cleaning, Jason Ricci also has a great video on how he cleans his harps. Some people advocate never cleaning your harp, but I find it essential, especially when you have a harp that's set up with tight tolerances.
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HarmonicaMick
258 posts
Jul 30, 2011
7:37 AM
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Just to add a word about what Nate said vis-a-vis warbles and playing style.
I know that some people play with the harp tilted up at the back. If you are one of them then doing warbles resting your top lip on the harp - without it moving - and just letting your lower lip move from side to side is a great way to do warbles. It's one of the ways that Barrett teaches on his DVD.
I, like Nate, found a relatively easy way to do warbles just by trial and error, or rather, it just sort of formed into a habit over time: I move the harp from side to side, but without either lip moving on the harp. Instead, they both rest on the cover plates, and it's the inner part of the pucker that seems to move from hole to hole. So far, I haven't found any drawbacks to doing it that way. Oh yeah, I'm not one of those who play with the harp tilted.
The other thing I would add is that if you're new to playing harp then tension can creep in, which may well affect certain things you do in ways that are hard to analyse. One of those ways could well be the drying out of your mouth, which plays havoc with how you move around on the instrument. Also, I find that certain beverages dry out my mouth more than others, e.g. red wine more so than beer.
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jbone
587 posts
Jul 30, 2011
9:23 PM
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kiss the harp. don't eat it! the least pressure on lips and mouth is the best. early on i had a similar problem until i got to know the harp better and relaxed some.
re: wood comb harps, i started out soaking my mb's since "the cool guys did that", for bigger tone. which was true for a short time. end result was shredded lips and ruined harps. the comb would warp pretty quickly. the protruding tines of the comb would take layers off my lips.
it has been a long time since i used an unsealed wood comb. and a long time since soaking a harp. and yes, i do clean my harps. either a gentle warm water rinse or a full disassembly and alcohol soak.
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WinslowYerxa
31 posts
Jul 30, 2011
10:20 PM
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Depth is one thing, pressure is another.
You can get the harp deep in your lips and still not have it pressing hard against the lips.
I mostly tongue block nowadays, but if I pucker a single note and then take the harp away from my mouth, the mouth opening looks impossibly large to isolate a single hole. But my lips are relaxed and the harp is not pressed hard against them.
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The Iceman
55 posts
Jul 30, 2011
11:00 PM
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I have shown students that I can balance the harmonica on my thumb (thumb underneath - without holding it down), put it up to my mouth and play single note, TB, octaves, rhythms - in fact, everything up to high note exhale bends without any pressing it into my mouth. Conclusion - to effectively and efficiently play, very little pressure against the lips is required.
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The Iceman
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MP
1791 posts
Aug 01, 2011
8:58 AM
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i'm with yerxa.
@ bigdaddyray. just yesterday i told member MojoKane to swallow the harp, not kiss it,-funny you should use those words :) i demonstrated to him just how deep the harp i put the harp in my mouth.
you get nice deep tone eating a lot of harp whether you LP or TB or what have you.
hey 19. aloha kakahiaka! it's me, mark prados. do i know you?
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MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
Last Edited by on Aug 01, 2011 9:05 AM
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jbone
590 posts
Aug 01, 2011
8:14 PM
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my point was a more intimate addressing of the harp as opposed to chowing down on it!
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