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In each chamber of a standard single reed diatonic harmonica, there are two reeds. During "normal" play, one of them responds to positive pressure (blowing) and one of them responds to negative pressure (drawing). However, the two reeds can be made to interact in very interesting (and useful) ways, the most well-known being the typical blues-style bend. In this, the higher pitched reed of the pair can be lowered in pitch to somewhere just above the lower pitched reed in the same hole. In the case of a draw bend, when the note is bent to its lowest pitch, most of the sound is coming from the blow reed, vibrating at slightly higher than its normal rate. In the case of a blow note being bent as far as possible, most of the sound is coming from the draw reed. This can be verified by playing the harp without covers and blocking the reeds with the fingertips. The reverse can also be made to happen, which results in an overblow or overdraw. In the case of the former, by blowing in a particular manner, the blow reed can be made to "stall" and the draw reed vibrate at a higher pitch. With overdraws, the draw reed is stalled and the blow reed is made to vibrate at a higher pitch. By use of this technique in addition to note bending, a complete chromatic scale can be played on the humble diatonic instrument. However, the challenge to the player is to make this all happen in a controlled and musical way - easier said than done.

One of the methods used to teach overblows is to play the harp without covers and stop the appropriate reed using the fingertips, then adjust your embouchure until you can get the opposite reed to sound. For example, when learning to play the overblow in hole 4, you would stop the 4 blow reed with your finger, or to play a hole 7 overdraw, you would stop the 7 draw reed. In fact, as well as helping to learn the technique, stopping the reeds with your fingers allows even an experienced player to do things that are difficult to do whilst playing the harp normally - bending the overblows upwards in pitch, adding vibrato, etc.

G6128T-GH George Harrison SIGNATURE Duo Jet™

Gretsch celebrates the legacy of George Harrison with the G6128T-GH George Harrison SIGNATURE Duo Jet® guitar, modeled on the instrument that the legendary guitarist often referred to as his “first real decent guitar.”Features include distinctive appointments and modifications found on Harrison’s original 1957 Gretsch Duo Jet, which he purchased secondhand in the very early 1960s. These include a lightweight mid-’50s-style chambered body, all-BLACK color scheme (arched maple top, mahogany back and sides, and back of the one-piece mahogany neck), Bigsby® B3C tailpiece with a black Phillips head tremolo arm pivot bolt, and an offset strap button on lower bout. Other features include three-ply body binding (white-black-white), single-ply white neck and headstock binding, 22-fret rosewood fingerboard with 12” radius and hump-block pearloid inlays, two single-coil DynaSonic™ pickups, vintage-style “rocking bar” bridge with rosewood base, silver plexi pickguard, chrome-plated Grover® V98CM Sta-Tite™ tuners, Gretsch “G” arrow control knobs, chrome-plated hardware, Harrison’s signature on the truss rod cover and a premium tweed case.

How to breathe when playing Harmonica

bring the harmonica to your mouth so that its holes push just past your lips and the outside of your mouth and are right in front of your teeth—don’t simply reach forward with your lips and put them around the holes. In proper position, your lips should rest on the cover plates and press up gently against the fingers of your left hand. In general, the deeper you can hold the harmonica in your mouth while still breathing comfortably, the better your tone will be. Make sure to maintain proper hand positioning, and keep your cup open about halfway.

Drop your lower jaw: Without changing the position of your mouth, lower your jaw slightly to expand the resonating space within your mouth. This will improve the tone of the notes you produce. Take a few breaths: With the harmonica properly positioned in your mouth, exhale and inhale as you normally would into the holes near the middle of the comb. Continue breathing until your blows and draws begin to feel natural.