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adam1986
1 post
Oct 08, 2009
12:51 AM
hi guys and gals,just seeing if i cld get some wisdom off some fellow lefthand harp players,is there any out there?lol,is there such a thing of playing the harp lefthanded?,is there lefthanded harps?i know u righthanded players take the harmonica in your left hand,so would i take it in my right?,ive been doing this since i got my hohners blues harp(first),and turning the harp upsidedown so that the numbers r underneath.the reason for this is righthanded players have the notes going low to high,left to right.so being left handed should i have the notes goin low to high,right to left?.look im confused i just dont wanna learn the wrong way and make things more difficult then they need be.PLEASE HELP

adam
harmonicanick
411 posts
Oct 08, 2009
1:17 AM
@adam1986
Some players play with the harp 'upside down' here is one, even though he is right handed on guitar..
mikolune
9 posts
Oct 08, 2009
1:27 AM
hey adam1986 - my two yennies of wisdom:
I am left-handed, but play harp standard: numbers on top, holding the harp with the left hand and cupping with the right one. I don't see why this way of holding the harp or the opposite would be critically important... just hold it however you feel more comfortable, say I: numbers on top or below, holding with left or right hand ... this is not what's going to improve your playing as much as thousands of hours of practice.
ElkRiverHarmonicas
295 posts
Oct 08, 2009
5:50 AM
Here's one... Ernie Morris of Borrah Minnevitch's Harmonica Rascals. He's the black guy.

About 15 seconds in, I think Ernie is playing a chromatic upside down and looks like he's working the slide with his left hand, but it's kind of hard to tell. What's more clear is about 45 seconds in, he's playing a Polyphonia No. 7 upside down.



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www.elkriverharmonicas.com
Tryharp
249 posts
Oct 08, 2009
6:37 AM
Adam,

I am a lefty on harp.

If you feel comfortable gripping the harp in the right hand, I think it is important to point the numbers down so that your main cup is over the low notes, as you are normally doing the hand wah wah in this area of the harp.
Shredder
11 posts
Oct 08, 2009
6:56 AM
Adam, I've included this video of Terry McMillan playing amazing grace. If you look close you can see he's got the harp upside down.

My guess is when playing left handed it allows for his thumb to be a stopping point on the harp and also allows for the high notes to be accessed with out the thunb and forefinger of the holding hand getting in the way. That's the way it works for me except I play right handed.
I have studied his style since I found him on the tube.
Terry and I play the same style of harp. He's the one that turned me onto Golden Melody's. I wish he was still alive, I have a thousand questions I'd like to ask him. Maybe I'll see him some day on the other side and we can sit and play for a while.
If you get on amazon mp3 downloads Terry and Larry carlton did an album"Renagade Gentilmen" it's got some good harp in Terrys style on it, I really like "cold day in hell" man does he smoke the blues on this one.
Mike
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Last Edited by on Oct 08, 2009 7:15 AM
Randy G. Blues
94 posts
Oct 08, 2009
9:11 AM
Paul Butterfield played upside down.
There is no rule... left or right, play how it feels comfortable and sounds best... and not necessarily in that order. ;-)
snakes
367 posts
Oct 08, 2009
11:08 AM
Kim Field plays upside down or backwards if you will.
fishbone
16 posts
Oct 08, 2009
12:15 PM
I'm also a noobe to harp...Adam G's videos are what got me started in the right direction.
Using his embouchure instructions, deep in the lips, harp slight angle up, I can bend quite a few holes and 'honk' a few melodies.
I found using my left hand to hold the harp I move my head a lot, bleed into other holes etc. When I tried using my right hand I had more control, better dexterity, (numbers up) moved my head less, which keeps my embouchure but I try to stick with the basics before venturing into discovering my own 'style'.

I've also seen Christelle Berthon video play with the 'wrong' hand.
Sometimes with a mic she flaps with her left hand, gripping mic and harp with her right hand, harp angle up! Mostly she plays 'normal', on her YouTube site she plays a song with her holding with the right hand. Messed me all up! Most of videos she plays the other hand!

I'm kinda ambidextrous...play guitar, keys, other woodwind instruments right handed, can write with either hand, not very good with my left. Stick/mig/tig weld or use power tools with either hand.

Adam1986, as a noobe like you, I'm going to stick with what works and 'experiment' later.

If it works why fix it!
From the other posters, sounds like we can
'run what we brung'!

If you ask for embouchure, note bending, over-blow instruction, it might help to tell people the position your using. Numbers up, number down!
I've found mouth and tongue shape make a lot of 'tone', note bending etc.
bluemoose
74 posts
Oct 08, 2009
12:37 PM
Fishbone - I'm pretty sure Christelle recorded some vids with mirror image on (or off?) so it only looked like she was a lefty. She does play "normal", hold with the left, wrap right.
Shredder
16 posts
Oct 08, 2009
6:25 PM
I hold the harp with my left hand. After watching Terry I thought I'd try it just to see how it felt.
Damm it was tuff, I can do a lot of things left handed but playing the harp upside down and holding it with the right hand you can for get it. My mind and reflexes are already programed to play right handed with low notes to the left.
Mike
mickil
555 posts
Oct 09, 2009
4:13 AM
I'm left-handed, but I play 'normally', as it were.

Truth is, it doesn't matter a hoot which way you play it, as long as the cupping hand is still working on the lower holes. That's paramount.
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YouTube SlimHarpMick
spaz
5 posts
Jul 22, 2019
7:40 PM
shredder hi im a huge fan of the late great terry mcmillian....he is playing upside down....but he is playing it right handed.....holding in right flapping with left.....he sure was awesome
spaz
6 posts
Jul 22, 2019
7:48 PM
forgive me adam1896 but the harmonica is already a lefthanded instrument...and no there is no such thing as a right handed harmonica.....unless you count chromatics with the slider button moved to the opposite side.......btw ...just for clarity.....if you are playing your harmonica in your left hand.....wah wahs with your right....if its in your left hand being cupped.this is what left handed playing is no offence
LFLISBOA
52 posts
Jul 23, 2019
12:39 PM
I do play upside down, just like Butterfield, William Clarke, Sonny Terry, Johnny Puleo, Johnny Mars, Leo Diamond, Cham Ber Huang, Jerry Adler and some others. I'm in pretty good companion. I've heard that James Cotton could play using both sides. I saw Steve Guyger playing both sides and doing some joke just like Peg Leg Sam's video. You'll have some trouble if you'll play that old Harmonetta, for the other harmonica models you're safe.


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