harpdude61
934 posts
Jul 26, 2011
7:01 AM
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"Working with a stock harp, working all your bends, forces you to develop great lip strength."
The above is kudzurunners quote from another thread. I agree..and I often think about muscle development as it pertains to harmonica.
I do some things that may seem silly to some but they work for me..or at least I think they do.
I'll take a G harp and overblow hole one trying to make it sound big and fat. This not will not come unless you do it correctly. The throat is big and air flow direction must be right on. I also take a high F# and overblow hole six. These two overblows are over two octaves apart but I figure if I can get these notes on stock harps, the useable notes in between come very nicely on my Buddha harps.
I relate it to putting the donut on the baseball bat.
I also do something similar with draw bends and blow bends as well as overdraws.
I try to never forget the basics of playing long single notes, listening, adjusting, and shaping the tone. If you do this on high and low, bent and unbent, etc..it surely helps with muscle development.
Bluegrass great Mike Stevens talks about throat development in one of his videos.
In my case the throat has developed more than any muscle relating to harp playing. No way could I bend with the throat or use throat vibrato when I started.
Interesting to hear some of your opinions on this.
I don't think steroids or eating a whole chicken a day would help?
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HarpNinja
1532 posts
Jul 26, 2011
7:28 AM
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I only practice scales and such on harps that are Low F or lower. That makes playing a G feel like a racecar, lol. I think it helps in a lot of aspects, such as you outlined.
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Mike
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
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groyster1
1214 posts
Jul 26, 2011
7:35 AM
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developing throat muscle seems pretty odd but it is what Im trying to do to develop an effective throat vibrato-getting your epiglottis to close when you are breathing in is unnatural
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Greyowlphotoart
685 posts
Jul 26, 2011
7:49 AM
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I do believe in this theory that working hard on stock harps develops your throat muscles. My original Echo Super Vampers were by and large as leaky as hell. Of course I would have preferred a nicely setup harp in those early learning days but the by-product and bonus was the development of throat power.
Even though I had given up playing for a long time that throat power hadn't diminished much.
Now that I'm setting my harps up playing is easier.
An interesting point here is that I recently started buying stock MB's and enjoyed their sound but they sure weren't as easy to play, I had to work harder and in a perverse kind of way I liked the workout. When I went back to my Suzukis it was so easy I had to back off!!
I play a lot in 2nd position which involves a lot of low end bends and this has strengthened my throat a lot. For a workout I'll take any given song and try and play it in 2nd postion and I have found it not only strengthens my throat but helps to improve the quality and pitch of the bent notes. This has also helped my vibrato to be strong. If there was any doubt in my mind if it is tongue or throat doing the lion's share of the work then my aching throat after a couple of hours of continuous play was the clincher.
Ummmmh Chicken with a side of Steroids. Does that come with fries?
Grey Owl YouTube
Grey Owl Abstract Photos
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Buzadero
800 posts
Jul 26, 2011
9:00 AM
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The late Monkey Fisted taskmaster Buddha Michaelek had me in pain one afternoon while I contorted my head and throat to work on sustaining an overblow on Hole 1 of a G. There was no popping into the OB. More like a forced slide into it.
Just the resonance alone was like a the foghorn of an oil tanker. Rough stuff. But, I'll be damned if it didn't work just like the "baseball bat and donut" analogy above.
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~Buzadero
Underwater Janitor, Patriot
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groyster1
1215 posts
Jul 26, 2011
9:26 AM
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@greyowl
all of my old marine band 1896 have been tweaked but yes I agree they have a great sound when playing blues-which harp has been used more to create the timeless blues that has been recorded?
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harpdude61
937 posts
Jul 26, 2011
1:10 PM
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I agree Buzadero....1 hole OB on a low harp, if hit correctly, seems to vibrate everything from the neck up.
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Buzadero
801 posts
Jul 26, 2011
2:24 PM
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Yup. My workshop torture at the hands of that Buddha was right around the time when he was arguing with someone online about the feasability of sustaining a Hole 1 OB. I was at his house and we started goofing around with it. I wasn't getting it and he told me to close my eyes and envision my sound chamber as holding a grapefruit while I tried it. Meanwhile, that fat faced bastard was holding a Hole 1 OB that seemed to go on forever. The dogs were leaving the room, the windows were vibrating, and my skeleton and skull started to get uncomfortable. Since that day, part of my so-called 'warmup' regimen includes making that Hole 1 rumble. Once that is done, the others seem easy.
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~Buzadero
Underwater Janitor, Patriot
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Greyowlphotoart
689 posts
Jul 26, 2011
2:29 PM
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@Groyster How do your old MB's compare with the new one's today?
@Budazero That's a good exercise. Just tried the 1 overblow on a low G and managed 35secs. Not feeling too good right now, going to have a lie down!
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Grey Owl YouTube
Grey Owl Abstract Photos
Last Edited by on Jul 26, 2011 2:31 PM
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Shajan
26 posts
Jul 27, 2011
5:21 PM
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How do a U-blocker, like myself, get stronger breaths then? I don't really use my lips for much. I've tried to tounge-block but it doesn't work, the air just seems to want to go right down the middle of my tounge.
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groyster1
1221 posts
Jul 27, 2011
10:48 PM
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@greyowl
the last mb I bought was a commemorative 1896-1996 100th birthday it was a total POS so I put it in the drawer then sent to harvey harp who made a great custom out of it last year I have played mainly sp20s but have gone back to wood combs with 3 manjis and a crossover
Last Edited by on Jul 27, 2011 10:48 PM
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harpdude61
2180 posts
Oct 06, 2014
7:56 AM
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THanks Buzadero!
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www.facebook.com/catfishfryeband
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groyster1
2690 posts
Oct 07, 2014
7:48 AM
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how the world has turned for me in the last 3 years....the best sounding harps I have now are mb1896...the mb deluxe and crossover great ootb but with the help of Harvey harp,arzajac,MP,mike peace and deak harp the mb 1896 rules....getting back to throat muscle development,yes it does exist....not there yet
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groyster1
2691 posts
Oct 07, 2014
7:48 AM
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how the world has turned for me in the last 3 years....the best sounding harps I have now are mb1896...the mb deluxe and crossover great ootb but with the help of Harvey harp,arzajac,MP,mike peace and deak harp the mb 1896 rules....getting back to throat muscle development,yes it does exist....not there yet
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