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From: Mike Curtis
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 13:56:22 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: breathing

On Tue, 15 Oct 1996 JfGindi~ol.com wrote:

>> "But in general, I don't breathe through my nose at all while playing.
>>It is impossible to bend with a leaky nose."
>
> This seems to be one of those things where people differ. Although I don't
> sniff when I bend, I can. (Why one would want to is another question)
> Generally, my nose is open and I don't worry about it when I play. On the
> other hand, if I
> hold my nose closed with my fingers, I feel as though I'm going to sufficate.
> In addition, when my students have trouble with the 2 draw unbent, I ask them
> to take a little air through the nose as they draw. This releives the
> pressure, and frequently solves the problem of getting prebends when they
> don't want them.

I agree with much of this. I don't use ny nose while playing except to
allow a LOT of air to escape when needed, or to get a very thin sound from
my harp, or when I need to choke off a bend in a hurry. I found that
SLIGHTLY opening my nose while bending doesn't choke it off, but it was
quite hard for me because my nose-technique is "all or nothing".

I've found that a lot of my students can't bend because they're letting
air in through their nose. If I have them pinch their nose closed while
trying to bend, most often the bend happens. I'll have them hold their
finger under their nostrils to check for air flow. I don't doubt what you
say for you, but when I try it, my bend tends to get very thin and dies
out. However, when I try letting just a LITTLE air through my nose, it
seems like I can sustain a note already bent, even though the tone
becomes weak and wimpy.

Being a tone-freak, anything that adversely affects tone is an anathema to
me. But if my goal were to enable everyone to be able to play harmonica
regardless of ability and motivation (well, within limits I'm sure you'd
agree :-), this is one big shortcut that would open the way for a doggone
big chunk of folks!

I generally don't accept students who just want to learn "how to play
harmonica instantly and nothing else". I'm a perfectionist, and while I
appreciate the need for harmonica at all levels, I'm not well suited for
teaching those with minimal goals. I find myself teaching them things
they don't need (or want) for their goals. While not absolute, I tend to
attract students who can read music, and who play another instrument,
quite often a horn or similar, and who want to learn more of a melodic
style (like mine) rather than a more orthodox "blues-chord-chugging"
style.

Because of my teaching philosophy, I'm more concerned about developing
good tone in students than eliminating prebend as easily as possible. I
prefer to work more with mouth, tongue, etc., position. My reasoning is
that it's easier in the long run to "learn it right" the first time rather
than take a shortcut that will (in my experience) have to be unlearned
later. But in stubborn cases, breathing through the nose is the only way
the student is going to get past prebending and I sometimes have to give
in (albeit reluctantly) when it's the best thing IMHO for the student. A
good teacher will respect the student and respond to his/her needs, and a
student NEEDS encouragement and a feeling that they're progressing. Ten
weeks of lessons trying to force them to resonate properly is definitely
counterproductive. In cases like these, it will probably take a lot less
time later on to unlearn the bad habit (especially if you let them know in
advance :-)

So what I'm saying is that BOTH methods are correct and depend entirely
upon the teachers priorities and needs (which of course depends on the
student!) Jon, your methods have brought zillions of harmonica players
successfully into the fold, and I'd be an idiot to say there's anything
"wrong" with that - even if we might differ on opinion-based technique and
whether our immediate goal as teachers should be more short range or long
range in scope, and directed to the masses or to a much more select group.
IMHO there's a lot to be said for (and against) both.

BTW, Jon has excellent harp tone.


-- IronMan Mike Curtis
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