Jim Rumbaugh
1077 posts
Jan 11, 2015
4:59 PM
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My 2 Hours with Walter Tore, lesson 2
How Walter holds a 10 hole harp for a big tone.
Just study the picture. Walter gets a wonderful acoustic tone. The way he holds the harp is similar to how Joe Filisko teaches. The hands are held close to the face to make a large tight cup.
I did ask him to let me compare my hand size to his. His fingers are about a half inch longer than mine. So far, I cannot get the same wrap and enclosure as he. My index fingers do not touch if I get a good seal with the back of my hands. I’m still working on it.
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Tuesday Jan 6, 2015 I visited from 7 pm to 9 pm with Walter Tore at his home in Granville, OH. Walter had just gotten over the flu and wasn’t in the mood to jam. We just talked about music in general. He pulled out a 10 hole and 14 hole diatonic and did 2 spontobeat tunes during our talk. I was impressed and honored as I realized very few people have heard Walter play acoustic. Most of his recordings are with playing harp in a rack. Walter makes great use of his hands and puts out a tone that reminded me of the playing of Phil Wiggins or Joe Filisko. I learned a few things that night.
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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
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CarlA
648 posts
Jan 11, 2015
6:37 PM
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Isn't this a relatively common way of holding the harp?
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Jim Rumbaugh
1078 posts
Jan 11, 2015
8:22 PM
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@Carla
maybe
this may be basic
I've played for 14 years and I still don't have it down.
I've been shown by the best (Filisko), But this is the first time I've had a good photo I could stare at for a long time and analyze details.
I consider this a good resource.
Do a Google search on "holding a harmonica" and look at the images. There's a lot of other ways being shown
All that being said... if you have a way that works, then keep it and use it. My experience has been, very few players get a good tight cup against their face.
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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
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Greg Heumann
2937 posts
Jan 12, 2015
9:50 AM
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The grip that's right for you may or may not be right for someone else. Depends on a lot of things including facial shape and whether you play amplified. I've coached a few players with this grip who have great acoustic tone but can't get a good cup on a mic this way. Others can.
The GOAL isn't HOW you hold your harp, but which way allows you to create the most airtight seal when desired. That's true for BOTH acoustic and amplified playing.
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/Greg
BlowsMeAway Productions
See my Customer Mics album on Facebook
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Little roger
55 posts
Jan 12, 2015
10:08 AM
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Agree with Greg here. Doesn't matter how you do it, just get the job done.
I find the hand position as shown above extremely cumbersome and wonder how you tongue block down the bottom of the harp as the fleshy inner part if your thumb is in the way. Same at the top but not so difficult. I guess you keep moving your thumbs to accommodate? And is it easy to hold a mic and harp with only your left hand?
R
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