jim
372 posts
Oct 01, 2010
8:06 AM
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All I can say - you'll sound different, which may be good.
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www.truechromatic.com
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SuperBee
19 posts
Oct 01, 2010
8:15 AM
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tried the 2 thumbs up for a while...then went back to the old pinch. whatever you get comfortable with and gives you good function for what you want to do i think...when i get two thumbs up my hands dont want to work together so well...i have to let the left steer and the right do the fancy stuff...mainly it just wants to keep time i think...
i have a billy boy arnold video that looks to me as if he holds it upside down...but you know...i play tongue blocked thesedays...turning everything around would take some getting used to
but yeah,,to answer your question...i use the standard pinch, left hand, 1 hole to the left...it would make a big difference to me to change but i've been doing it that way since the first time i picked one up...i dont reckon theres a good reason you couldn't do it another way, so long as its comfortable fo you and you can get a good cup, seal it and open it up when you want to...
oh yeah..i have a 30 year old habit but that doesn't mean i know what i am talking about..i have been a very slow learner...
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HarmonicaMick
168 posts
Oct 01, 2010
8:18 AM
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Frank, whichever way round you hold your harp, 1 - 10 going left to right or vice versa, you should have the cup formed by your hands working on the lower holes.
That's where you're going to want to form a decent wah wah sound. Although there's no law against doing it the other way round, I've never seen anyone play it that way, and I can't see what the point would be.
Also, when cupping a mic, why would anyone want their cupped mic behind the high notes? No one plays that way.
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YouTube SlimHarpMick
Last Edited by on Oct 01, 2010 8:21 AM
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HarmonicaMick
169 posts
Oct 01, 2010
8:24 AM
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If you've never played amped harp, how do you know it's easier with a thumbs up grip?
It's perfectly easy to hold a mic with the standard grip. Having said that, some folks, myself included, prefer a smaller head, e.g. that on an SM57.
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YouTube SlimHarpMick
Last Edited by on Oct 01, 2010 8:25 AM
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HarmonicaMick
170 posts
Oct 01, 2010
9:00 AM
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If memory serves, he actually says it's easier for him. In any case, Adam's word in not the final word on all things harp; no one's is.
The longer you play, and the more methods you read about, see on YT, the more you'll come to learn that each of them can have their own advantages/disadvantages, and the more your own technique will adapt accordingly.
It would take too long to enumerate examples on here, but, trust me on this.
Anyway, you asked for peoples' opinions, and now you have mine. I'm not going to spend all my day arguing every bit of advice I give on here. I don't offer any advice unless it's something I've had a good deal of experience of.
Good luck with it, Frank.
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YouTube SlimHarpMick
Last Edited by on Oct 01, 2010 9:59 AM
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jonlaing
118 posts
Oct 01, 2010
10:19 AM
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Lee may be left handed... I don't know that for a fact. But when harp players are left handed, they often pinch the harp in their right hand upside down so that they still get the cup on the low end.
Also, I know some web cameras oddly enough flip the image... I'm not saying it's the case, but it happens.
I don't know about the other people here, but I very often switch my grip depending on what, and where on the harp I'm playing.
I do the two hand grip that Adam demonstrated very often, because I don't do much 2nd pos stuff anymore, and I work more of the middle of the harp than the low end. I can get a better cup on the middle like that.
I guess it doesn't matter that much, but if you're playing 2nd pos blues, I'd say just make sure you have a cup on the low end.
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barbequebob
1269 posts
Oct 01, 2010
10:26 AM
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There's no totally right or wrong way to hold a diatonic harmonica so long as you can get a good, tight cup and can make good use of your hands. However, with a chromatic, that is a different story because of the need to make sure you can not only use your hands to help shape the sounds, but also to have clear access to the slide button.
Again, the bottom line is that there really is no one single way that's right or wrong to do it.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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barbequebob
1270 posts
Oct 01, 2010
10:29 AM
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There's no totally right or wrong way to hold a diatonic harmonica so long as you can get a good, tight cup and can make good use of your hands. However, with a chromatic, that is a different story because of the need to make sure you can not only use your hands to help shape the sounds, but also to have clear access to the slide button.
Again, the bottom line is that there really is no one single way that's right or wrong to do it.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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nacoran
2852 posts
Oct 01, 2010
11:57 AM
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Hand size makes a difference. So does chin size! I can't get a good cup thumbs up style. It bothers my wrists too. It comes down to what fits you.
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Nate
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HarmonicaMick
171 posts
Oct 01, 2010
12:21 PM
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Nate,
I have exactly the same problem with the thumbs up grip. I thought it might just be me.
One thing I don't like about any of the methods I've read/seen is that they all seem to stipulate a particular approach to holding the harp, without actually telling you that that approach may not work for you, and why.
I expect I'm not alone in having wasted countless hours and suffered huge amounts of frustration because of this. Accordingly, I've even thought a great deal about authoring my own book on the subject, but I don't have a reputation to precede the book.
If I complete a text, I'll run it by the forum for those who care to offer a critique on it.
If anyone knows of such a book that exists already then let me know. By the way, I've got Gindick's, Barrett's, Yerxa's and that little book, 'How to Play The Pocket Harmonica' - is there another kind - by Sussman? and Someone?
They all tell you one way to hold the harp, as if it's the only way.
EDIT: That's not strictly true, but they don't tell you how holding it a certain way will make some techniques difficult if not impossible. I thought of doing it here, but felt it was a bit presumptuous.
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YouTube SlimHarpMick
Last Edited by on Oct 01, 2010 12:28 PM
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ridge
99 posts
Oct 01, 2010
12:32 PM
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On the left-handed hold tangent, I hold my harp in my left hand, upside-down and cup with my right. I end up cupping about the span of holes 1-6 on the back end of the harp. This leaves 7-10 exposed. Just thought I would confuse the issue further.
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Stickman
440 posts
Oct 01, 2010
12:42 PM
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Nobody has mentioned the "sandwich" style for acoustic playing You don't see that one very often but it is used. I have also seen it held to the side of the face "cheek blocking" style for an extremely tight cup.
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The Art Teacher Formally Known As scstrickland
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KevinS
5 posts
Oct 01, 2010
4:56 PM
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I posted a few weeks ago asking for commentary on this subject. I find it more natural and easier to control the harp playing "wrong handed". I didn't really notice the difference until I started fiddling with a microphone. It seems harder to get 2 and 3 hole bends if I hold the harmonica the "right" way, however cupping the mic is better. I'm currently trying to retrain to the conventional grip, but I must say I have little confidence that I'll make the transition.
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nacoran
2860 posts
Oct 01, 2010
5:16 PM
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TNFrank, just don't hold it the way NOD does.
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Nate
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nacoran
2862 posts
Oct 01, 2010
8:09 PM
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In the worst possible way! (Or at least close to it.) Actually, I don't know if that's him, but it's his post.
Practice Your Forum Skills Thread
(Second Post Down)
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Nate
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Sam Pai Kenpo
49 posts
Oct 01, 2010
11:34 PM
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My Dad taught me how to hold a harmonica and he wasn't a harmonica player. I never realized I was holding it incorrectly (in my right hand) until I played around with a Chromatic and had trouble with the slide button. It would be impossible for me to turn the harp upside down or hold it in my left hand.
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hvyj
666 posts
Oct 02, 2010
7:34 AM
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If one is playing electric with a cupped mic, how you hold the harp in relation to the mic and the kind of grip employed has a dramatic effect on the sound. For good electric tone, mic handling is an essential component--good acoustic tone alone is not sufficient.
So...an electric player needs to be able to vary grip depending on what sound the player is trying to achieve. I mean, there may be a basic grip the player prefers most of the time, but it is necessary to vary grip to get full potential of the available tonal textures when playing amplified.
A piano keyboard has the low notes on the left and that's how most players hold the harmonica. But if one is more comfortable holding the low notes to the right, that's okay, too. Sonny Terry and Paul Butterfield played that way.
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nacoran
2865 posts
Oct 02, 2010
11:43 AM
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Stick, yeah, if you can get the top holes up against your cheek you can get a cup that's so tight it feels like your putting out the harmonicas pilot light. You can get actually get the opposite high reeds to sound when you blow and draw on the low reeds. I've actually been thinking about picking up a guitar finger pick to block the different holes so I can play high notes along with low notes on my Seydel. I can block the 10 hole with my thumb and get the 9 to sound, but after that moving my thumb in pries the harp too far from my face to keep the seal.
The next time I have someone over who can operate my camera maybe I'll have them take pictures of the different ways you can hold the harmonica. (I can't operate the camera and hold the harp with both hands.) We could get a photo gallery going for different techniques.
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Nate
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dudegizmo
8 posts
Oct 02, 2010
6:26 PM
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I really like the Jason Ricci's wha wha sound which I cannot achieve using Adams way of holding the harp... for me it feels less air tight then the pinch holding...
For playing amped I bought a very thin mike which I copied from Jason... and then it is easy to hold the harp in the pinch style... I also like the fact that I can use my right hand when I want ;-)...
I do allot of car driving playing which really goes well with holding the harp on the left hand and the wheel on the right :-)...
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Guy Peled
Links:
- My harmonica Facebook page.
- My Youtube channel.
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HarmonicaMick
174 posts
Oct 03, 2010
5:28 AM
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@ Nate:
I also thought about your suggestion of having pictures of different techniques.
If you've got a webcam, I suppose you can do a short video and then use Windows Movie Maker, or similar, to isolate the relevant frames.
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YouTube SlimHarpMick
Last Edited by on Oct 03, 2010 5:30 AM
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