I have been playing hohner GM and spl 20's. Recently was given a lo. So help me i can not play it. Have covered adjoining holes to play notes (which play ok) butit will not play for. Iam guessing it is a embrouchue issue. Any thoughs?
Was it a new L.O. or used. If used, take a tooth brush and some dish soap & warm water to it. And/or drop it in a glass of water with some denture cleaner tabs.
I found Lee's harps to be sort of tighter to play. I think his reeds are tighter gapped and his tuning is a bit higher than a lot of other harps. I do think too, you can get used to any harp if you work with it. ---------- Music and travel destroy prejudice.
Embouchure should not be an issue, but you may need to adjust your airway if the key of this harp is radically lower or higher than the other harps you are used to playing. You can actually stop a note from sounding if you shape the wrong note!
I played Lee Oskar harps for a number of years and they are decent harps. They are not my current favorite due to equal intonation tuning (I prefer compromise) and being less air tight than SP20s, MBDs, or Crossovers. However, they should play well enough and are pretty durable. A regular Lee Oskar major tuned harp should sound and play similarly to your Golden Melody. I have a set in my vehicle that are probably 20 years old, and they all still play OK when I need them.
So if you can play the notes on the Golden Melody and the SP20, you should be able to do it on the LO, too.
That means something is different about this harp that requires you to adjust your approach, or something is wrong with it.
1) Is the LO in a different key than the GM and SP20? There is a big difference in how you adjust and tune your airway when you play an F vs. a G diatonic, for example. Sometimes this difference between keys causes beginners to think something is wrong with the instrument when they just need to learn to adjust.
The 2 hole draw can be a problem for beginners sometimes. There are several videos easily searched that address this specific issue, if that is your problem note.
2) There could be a foreign object jamming a reed. Tap the harp a few times on your leg and try again. You can take off the covers and gently move or plink the reed to try to dislodge the obstruction. You can take the reed plates off and hold them up to the light to see if light shows around 3 sides of the reed. When you open a harp always do things GENTLY, or you could damage the instrument.
3)If it is leaking air a lot it could either have reed plates not properly seated (take off the covers, loosen and re-tighten the reed plate screws GENTLY), or there could be some holes with reed gaps way to big so air doesn't sound the reed. This can gently be adjusted with repeated small pressure moving the reed to a smaller gap. Gently!
I almost always loosen and re-tighten reed plate screws and adjust gaps on new harps unless everything sounds outstanding right out of the box.
4) If the reeds are gapped too close to the plates the reed chokes and will not sound. This also can gently be adjusted with repeated small pressure moving the reed to a larger gap. Gently!
If you give more explanation as to the keys of the harps, new or used, your experience level, and what specific hole(s) are not working right, then there are bound to be more suggestions. ----------
Without actually sitting down with you to determine where to start the correction, allow me to put forth a few suggestions.
1. It's not BLOW and SUCK/DRAW. It's INHALE and EXHALE. One breathes the harmonica. Most beginners (and plenty of int/adv) use too much force.
2. It's not PUCKER to get a single note. That suggests pursing your lips and reaching for the harmonica. When you take a sip of water, you bring the glass to your lower lip (which is totally relaxed) and then you tip up the glass. As you drink water, so should you play harmonica.
In other words, bring the harmonica to your relaxed lips, allow it to rest on the lower one and tip the harmonica up about 45 degrees. Let your upper lip rest over the top cover plate. If you do this, inhale and get more than one note, try adjusting the harmonica to the left or right and see if that centers you on just one note.
If this doesn't work, try moving the harmonica just a bit forward so it is not so deep in the mouth.
If none of this works, sit yourself down with a very qualified teacher who may help.
Remember - there are two simple levels of breath force - one when you whistle and one when you hum.
Whistle = force Humming = gentle finesse
Harmonica definitely responds best with finesse. ---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Oct 14, 2019 9:50 AM
This sounds more like a frequent problem with many self taught pucker players and that the harp is being held too far away from the lips to make proper contact and this is very common yet widely overlooked and any layers wind up playing needlessly too hard in order to compensate. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
My friend had a Lee Oskar problem, but I just fixed it, and tuned it.
In the process I checked out my Lee Oskar collection. I don’t have many keys unfortunately but I have some good harps among them. It’s a shame the combs show age a bit but still I think they are ideal harmonicas for several reasons. They’re easy to maintain, the tuning is straightforward, they generally play quite well, they’re very durable, they take adjustment quite easily and they’re not to expensive. The only downside is availability of replacement reeds but at least they’re obtainable in ssets and reusing reeds is quite feasible.
I think I’ll make a small project of restoring the best I have. I think I have A C D F and G so that’s a decent 5 pack for a beginner or as a backup kit, car kit or such
I’m just an intermediate player but I started back in January with my first harmonica being a lee Oskar in c. I played it and struggled to do anything but single notes. Very air sounded so I chalked it up to being a beginner. I then tried Suzuki Manjis. Hugh difference and I finally was able to get ok bends. I then moved onto the Hohner crossovers and man what a big difference. I can bend these babies and play single notes with ease. At this point I have improved a lot of course also but I find them so much easier than even the Suzuki’s and especially the lee Oskar. I’m now trying the Hohner Amp in green and I like it a lot. Also very easy to play with slight less tinny sounds. Just my experience. Lee Oskar is hard to play for some and not so hard for others. I prefer Hohners so far by far
There are a lot of variables here. The basic rules of thumb apply first of all, like how you address the harp when you play, how far you want to go with all the bends available harp to harp, key to key etc. What type of music are you after- acoustic, electric, what genre or sub genre like Delta, swing, blues rock etc. All acoustic? Living room or street? Amped, back porch or restaurant etc.? Rhythm or lead? Solo, duo, band?
For my purposes over the years I've tried a lot of different brands/models, amps, mics, etc etc. My needs have changed as my skills and style changed.
It's an ongoing experience which can keep you looking at new options as you go. It's a helluva ride.
