melody assistant harmonica tabs overblows

#MELODY ASSISTANT HARMONICA TABS OVERBLOWS HOW TO#

Learn to play the 7 overdraw and the 9 overdraw. Get the 6 overblow, then the 5, then the 4. I’m not a paid affiliate or anything, I’ve just learned a lot from him and think he’s the clearest, best authority out there on setting up your harp.

#MELODY ASSISTANT HARMONICA TABS OVERBLOWS HOW TO#

Richard Sleigh is a good resource for materials on how to set up harmonicas for overblows. Learn to do basic setup, though, and you can get good results from the standard models at half the cost. Off the top of my head, we’re talking about the Suzuki Firebreath, the Seydel 1847, and the Hohner Crossover. However, even these will probably require slightly tighter gapping. It also cost twice as much!īasically, the higher-end models from most brands will require less setup. It was noticeably more airtight and responsive than my Special 20s and Golden Melodies. I had a good experience with my Suzuki Firebreath in C.

That said, the ideal out-of-the-box harmonica for overblowing will come from the factory with close tolerances (ie slots and reeds well-fitted to each other) and close-ish gaps. With gapping and other setup techniques, you can overblow fluently on pretty much any harp.

In general, I think higher-pitched harmonicas like C and D will tend to be easier for beginners to learn to overblow on.Īs far as brand and model, I think with good technique, you can play limited overblows on almost any reasonaly well-made harp, out of the box. “Are any harps better for overblows than others?” You don’t want to breathe nail polish fumes. If using nail polish, LET IT DRY COMPLETELY. Consider putting a small amount of soft wax or a light dab of nail polish on the rivet head and base of reed. Shrill Ringing / Squealing: this is torsional vibration (think of that oldtimey video of the suspension bridge twisting). Take it back a step and spend more time learning to play normal blow bends on holes 8-10 on a low harp.ģ. Distorted sounds: if you get both reeds playing at the same time, you haven’t properly choked the blow reed. An overblow chokes, then produces a HIGHER pitch.Ģ. Lots of folks land accidentally on hole 7 and are amazed at their ability to “overblow,” when they’re actually just bending the 7 blow down slightly. Make sure you’re actually on hole 6 blow. The blow reed will choke, then you’ll hear a pitch that’s a step and a half (aka minor third) higher than the blow note.ġ. Adjust your reed gaps so they’re very close on 6 blow and draw, but just open enough so they don’t jam when you play at normal volume.Ħ. Switch to a higher harp, such as a C or D.Ĥ. It’s a good idea to practice blow bends on lower harps, like G and A.ģ. Learn to blow bend really well on holes 8-10. Make sure you have consistent, clear single notes.Ģ. Most blues-oriented players will, at minimum, be interested in the 6 overblow, since it gives you the minor 3rd in cross harp, a note you could previously only get on the low end.ġ. Other modern overblowers include Youtube favorites Adam Gussow and Jason Ricci. The techniques have been around at least since the 30s, but only became really popular after the pioneering work of Howard Levy in the 80s and 90s. Overblows and overdraws are bending techniques that give you those missing notes. There are lots of folk songs, anthems, fiddle tunes, and pop songs that are 90% fine in first position, but require a sharp 4th scale degree somewhere along the line. This note is available in the low octave using a draw bend, and it’s available in the high octave using a blow bend, but it’s missing in the middle octave, where most people prefer to play major key melodies in first position. That’s F# when the song is played in the key of C. However, the phrase “By the dawn’s early light” contains a “sharp 4th” scale degree. The melody to The Star-Spangled Banner mostly follows the major scale, which makes 1st position our preferred position. It’s true, you can get a super-high minor 3rd using the 10 blow bend, but there’s a whole middle octave that you miss out on without overblows. They can’t play 2nd position minor stuff up high, because normal bending won’t give you the minor 3rd or flat 5th of the scale. As soon as you cross over to hole 6 and higher, however, you’ll notice that traditional players switch to a MAJOR sound. In Cross Harp, you can bend the draw notes from holes 1-4 and get expressive, soulful MINOR sounds. There a few missing notes, however.Īre these missing notes needed? For me, yes. On a diatonic harmonica, you can get ALMOST all 12 chromatic notes using basic draw and blow bends.

Melody assistant harmonica tabs overblows