Melodic Contrary Motion on Slide Harps?

[John Broecker]

Melodic Contrary Motion on Slide Harps?

I've wondered about this for a long time.

Do any of you perform 2 or more melodies
simultaneously on the slide harp, with the
notes going in opposite melodic scale
directions ("contrary motion")?

1. with the higher-pitched note going up the
    scale, and the harmony note going down
    the scale.

2. with the higher-pitched note going down
    the scale, and the harmony note going up
    the scale.

It's a guess that tongue blocking may be the
only way to achieve this. Is that correct?

In the tune, The Harmonica Player, by Guion,
John Sebastian, Sr. plays wide-spread double-
and even triple-stops. How does he do that?

It's a guess that the notes would have the same
exhale or same inhale breathing, and the tongue
blocking might be center-block, with the notes
being played from the corners of the lips.

Are my assumptions correct?

Thanks for your replies.

Best Regards, Stay Healthy

JB

[Grizzly]

Your analysis seems to be accurate.

Tom

[Gnarly He Man]

Bill Barrett does this very well.
I imagine Bonfiglio is also adept at this technique.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bonfiglio

[GregH]

I've been working on something like this. It's about Laurent Maur's suggestion to practice playing octaves up and down the harmonica. I figure that's a stepping stone to being able to play (& hear) any note in between as a double stop or chord. Or it could sound like a flock of geese descending on a school yard. There are a couple of tunes where I can find a contrary motion or a nice chord change, but it's hard to get right. All that tonguing.