Slidemeister (Chromatic & related only - no Diatonic discussion) > Chromatic Playing Techniques

Discovered smooth in 22

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beads:
Looking back on this year, two things really stand out in my chromatic journey. One, I finally learned to play in 12 keys on a C harp. Not great, but well enough to make me happy. The second milestone made me even happier. I  struggled with valve noise in the low octave when switching breath direction. Turns out I was generating a lot of that with my technique. I had learned to play really fast bluegrass,  Irish,  and fiddle tunes on the suck harp and carried that technique over to the chromatic. In 2022 I learned that fast doesn't mean violent and smooth doesn't mean slow. The chromatic can be played fast AND smooth so that transitions in breath direction do not have to cause valve noise. It  requires learning some breath control. This revelation has greatly increased my joy in playing chromatic harmonica.

Age:
Yep! Smooth is where it's at! (It's probably all ~I~ ever really worked on)
"Clunky" and "forced" sound very mechanical, and "smooth" don't; It's as
simple as that.  Once you get your "smooth" nailed, even some of your
mistakes can sound good. ;D

I've found that playing smooth not only relaxes ~ME~ but has a
self-perpetuating effect.

Invest heavily in "smooth!" You can't go "rong."  8)

Keith:
Yeah, taking it casually, not forcing it, is my way, I guess that equals 'smooth'...... ;)

Ed McCullough:
I was having difficulty playing smoothly in one particular part of the harmonica's range. One E valve was sticking very slightly and I finally washed the valve. Wow! Suddenly I can play everything in that part of the range smoothly again.

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