ejakon
2 posts
Jun 07, 2017
7:44 PM
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So i blew out the 1 hole in my A, D and C harps and I'm just wondering if i need to get new harps? how important is the 1 hole for blues stuff?
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Mirco
477 posts
Jun 07, 2017
8:22 PM
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It's one of the six notes that makes up the blues scale. So it's pretty important.
You could substitute the 4+ in some licks, but there are a lot of times when the 4+ is too high. Guys like Junior Parker regularly go to the 1+ in the turnaround area (and the 4+ wouldn't capture the sound). You're giving up your ability to replicate blues scale lines in all octaves. You're also losing the ability to hit the 1+ 4+ octave.
No blanket answer, because it depends on your personal style and your playing, but I'd say it's a pretty important note.
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Marc Graci
YouTube Channel
Last Edited by Mirco on Jun 07, 2017 8:23 PM
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ejakon
3 posts
Jun 07, 2017
8:38 PM
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Well I mainly play slow blues and i rarely ever use octaves, il miss using the 1 hole for turnarounds but km getting by with the 2 draw
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slaphappy
282 posts
Jun 07, 2017
8:58 PM
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how the heck do you blow out the 1 hole? I have one harp out of over a dozen where it's slightly flat and I just need to tune it..
yes you need new harps or repairs, how would you play a turnaround in 2nd pos. without the 1 draw? it's critical, you can't play proper blues with ANY note missing in the first six holes IMO.
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4' 4+ 3' 2~~~
-Mike Ziemba
Harmonica is Life!
Last Edited by slaphappy on Jun 07, 2017 8:59 PM
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Todd Parrott
1395 posts
Jun 07, 2017
9:14 PM
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It must be pretty important if you've played it enough already to blow it out. :)
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Mirco
478 posts
Jun 07, 2017
10:51 PM
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oh...I misread the post. I thought you were missing just your 1 blow.
But if you're missing both the 1+ (blow) and the 1 (draw), that's huge. 1 draw is the root of the V. There are other notes you can play, but the root is an important note to have available. You're not playing jazz....
Don't "get by" with the 2 draw. Don't "get by". Play something inspired.
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Marc Graci
YouTube Channel
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SuperBee
4734 posts
Jun 08, 2017
3:08 AM
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How important?
How does one measure the importance of a note?
Is there a hierarchy of importance?
Maybe there is.
The most important note is probably the tonic.
For second position that's 2 draw/3blow.
Next most important is probably the 5th, which is 4 draw. But 1 draw is the 5th below the tonic, so that's right up there. It gets involved in plenty of I chord licks involving the 2 draw, 2 draw full-step bend (the flat 7th below) and 1 draw
1 draw is also the root of the V chord, and especially comes in for plenty of use in turnarounds.
So that's a pretty important note. For me it may be the 3rd most important reed in a harp, I don't know, it's definitely gonna be missed if it's not there.
1 blow is perhaps less significant but still mighty handy. I'd rather not play a harp where either reed was malfunctioning.
Are you sure it's broken though. As others have said, that's very unusual.
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Piro39
127 posts
Jun 08, 2017
3:10 AM
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It is hard to believe that you blew out hole one on 3 harps. Have you checked to see if they are blocked up with dried saliva. Try freeing the reeds with a toothpick. Of course you need that hole, it contains 3 important notes in the first octave.
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ejakon
4 posts
Jun 08, 2017
4:55 AM
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Yeah im sure i blew it out, the one draw workes now because i messed around with it, but its way too out of tune to play. im pretty sure its because i practiced octaves alot on them. The A harp still worke though.
Last Edited by ejakon on Jun 08, 2017 4:56 AM
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Baker
441 posts
Jun 08, 2017
5:35 AM
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The 1 hole is one of the most important holes in 2nd position.
In a blues context probably the top 3 most important notes are the 1st, 4th and 5th because they follow the chords.
1 hole draw = 5th
1 hole blow = 4th
It also forms part of the two most important chords: the root chord 1–3 draw, and the 4th chord 1–3 blow.
There's a useful bend in there too.
I think holes 1–3 are pretty much the most important ones in a 2nd position context.
I don't think I could get by with out the 1hole. I'd definitely recommend getting new harps, or fixing the ones you have.
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Goldbrick
1823 posts
Jun 08, 2017
5:54 AM
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Just buy 3 new harps and learn to control your breath
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dougharps
1457 posts
Jun 08, 2017
7:11 AM
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@Goldbrick
YES!!!!
@ejakon
For many years I abused my harps by playing too hard and often blew out 3 and 4 draws. I learned to control my breath somewhat better and now my destruction of reeds is very much reduced.
I have occasionally had to adjust tuning slightly on the one blow and draw after lots of loud octave slap playing. I have never, ever blown a 1 draw or blow.
I really encourage you to adjust your technique so you don't have to spend a lot for reed replacements or replacement of entire reed plates or to buy new harps.
I use octave all the time, love them, and still play fairly loudly, but project more through resonance than by moving too much air.
Good luck!
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Doug S.
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1847
4177 posts
Jun 08, 2017
7:45 AM
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there is a very simple solution... just get a few of
brenden powers lucky 13 harps.
that will pretty much guaranty you will "never' in a million years blow out the one draw or blow.
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Tiggertoo1962
158 posts
Jun 08, 2017
10:46 AM
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"Well I mainly play slow blues and i rarely ever use octaves"
"im pretty sure its because i practiced octaves alot on them"
So, which is it then??
I suspect you're really just a bored member of a kazoo forum who's trying to find out how patient blues musicians are with the intellectually challenged. Am I close?
I still read a lot on here, but rarely post, since I don't have the time I'd like to dedicate to the harp and, as a result, often don't have anything worthwhile to contribute. I suppose your original question has a certain amount of merit, if only you wouldn't pretend you have a harmonica... ;)
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One of the last of a dying breed.
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ejakon
5 posts
Jun 08, 2017
11:20 AM
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Maybe you need to try and be less snarky with new members because i have a issue with my grammar structuring and its hard for me to communicate with words. Yeah i play slow blues mostly but I was practicing my octaves as a side thing so i could get into rhythm but i probably breathed too hard so the 1 hole got blown out.
"intellectually challenged"
lol what kind of an asshole still uses an antiquated term like that anyways? maybe try using Neurodivergent instead? like im ND myself so i dont get why people still use ableist slurs like honestly.
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The Iceman
3127 posts
Jun 08, 2017
2:20 PM
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this is venturing way off topic, but I got intrigued and curious about ejakon...it's reads like two different people contributed to your last answer.
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The Iceman
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ejakon
6 posts
Jun 08, 2017
2:40 PM
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huh what does that mean?
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SuperBee
4735 posts
Jun 08, 2017
3:58 PM
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Yeah look that's kinda rough above but I understand why tigger found the posts dubious.
It's hard to imagine a person damaging the 1 slot reeds through playing octaves. I'd be taking the harps apart, and inspecting them before buying anything to replace them. Chances are they just need cleaning or gapping.
I have repaired hundreds of harps over the last few years, and some did have problems with the 1 slot. But only 2 actually needed new reeds in that slot.
The situation of 3 harps with non-working 1 slot reeds after playing octaves seems more likely theyd be clogged. The only way to know is take them apart and look. There isn't much to lose and potential to learn a fair bit.
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ejakon
7 posts
Jun 08, 2017
5:35 PM
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Il be honest and say that i bring them everywhere i go in my pocket, 3 harmonicas in one pocket without a case. thats probably why, that or im just a shitry breather lol
i did however fix the A harp with clogging but the rest of them are fucked bad
Last Edited by ejakon on Jun 08, 2017 5:37 PM
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hvyj
3301 posts
Jun 08, 2017
9:37 PM
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Ya know a reed can be slightly off center and sound out of tune as a result or jam and not sound at all or stall. You can re center the reed with the thinnest blade of a feeler gauge. Just run the blade carefully back and forth 2 or 3 times along each side of the length of the reed. This may also dislodge anything jamming the reed. FWIW.
Last Edited by hvyj on Jun 08, 2017 9:38 PM
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nacoran
9485 posts
Jun 09, 2017
10:51 PM
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What brand harmonica are they and how old are they? Are they under warranty?
It is strange to blow out the one on three harps. There are other reeds that tend to go first. (I think tiggertoo was trying to be funny, by the way).
There is a long string of followup questions... how long have you been playing? What symptoms are the holes exhibiting? Are they not sounding at all, sounding flat, is it the blow or draw note...
I've got two harps where the one hole is sometimes a problem. One is my low low f. If I don't store it right the reed can slide slightly out of alignment and jam. The other is a Turboslide that needs a little gapping (and I never seem to remember to fix it when I have my tools out).
It could be jammed reeds; it could be blown reeds; it could be misaligned reeds; it could be reeds that are gapped too tight...
In the long run, unless you want to develop a style of harmonica that doesn't use the 1 hole it's fairly important, although you can work around it on any given song. It's also important to figure out why you are blowing them out and what to do about it. You can fix them or replace them, but the best solution includes using a bit less breath force so they don't blow out so often. If you need to get volume, use a mic and an amp.
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Nate
Facebook
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First Post- May 8, 2009
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ejakon
8 posts
Jun 10, 2017
1:33 PM
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Marine bands 1896, C harp is 8 months old, D harp 3 and A harp works now. I always kept them in my pocket without a case so thats probably why the reed broke
the holes sound out, but very out of tune and extremely flat to the point of being a liability.
Their beyond repair cuz i thougut bending the reeds inside with a toothpick would fix it, my mistake ha.
Im buying a new set of Special 20 harmonicas which i never tried before because a set of Marine band 1896s are too expensive.
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shakeylee
657 posts
Jun 11, 2017
7:08 AM
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Both special 20's and marine bands are very good harps. They usually are priced about the same.
I think at rockin Ron's,they are exactly the same price.
You might also want to consider a cheap harp until you get your breath control down. A huang silvertone,Suzuki folkmaster,easttop, hohner big river.something like that.
So ,practice and go ahead and play hard on the cheap harp,and play gently on the premium harp.
But yes,the one hole is very important.
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www.shakeylee.com
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www.shakeylee.com
Last Edited by shakeylee on Jun 11, 2017 7:09 AM
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