How to Play Melodies With the Jaw Harp

[@AndrewMcMullen]

thanks for this .. such a good clean explanation of what’s going on . It’s really helping me learn this weird instrument

[@SoundAdventurer]

thank you so much! I wish you the best with your learning

[@handmadepsk5945]

Yes, this is a really cool activity! Good luck, Andrew!

[@iam1smiley1]

More of this please :)

[@handmadepsk5945]

Yes, this guy is pleasant not only to listen to, but also to watch! He`s brave & nice!

[@MrSYL12]

Well explained. Keep it coming. Thanks

[@dylanslattery1009]

Best video I’ve watched I can now make a solid sounding note, and now work on different pitches.

[@diganta2329]

For me the easiest way to control the adam’s apple is to imagine singing a low or high sound

[@Willdeas04]

Wow what a great tip. I been struggling with it. Thank u

[@ladypaprika627]

Edit: Posted before I got to the point where he explains the swallowing part, lol, but at least y'all have a fun fact now for other uses of this ability. Hey, I actually have a good way of explaining glottal close, because if I'm gathering it correctly, you're raising your larynx. So, this is actually something I have experience with because of speech therapy related to my gender transition. When you go to swallow, if you put your hand on your throat (lightly, don't choke yourself, lol), you can feel your throat rise up for a second before going back down. This is your larynx raising and then falling back down. So, what you're gonna want to do for practicing this is to try to swallow, but stop when your throat reaches that apex. If you practice by going 5 seconds raised, 5 seconds relaxed, 5 seconds raised, etc. for a few days, you should be able to get the hang of it. If you want to increase your length of time with it, then after about a week go 5 seconds raised, 5 seconds relaxed, 10 seconds raised, 5 seconds relaxed, 15 seconds raised, 10 seconds relaxed, and so on, increasing relax time by 5 seconds every increase of 15 seconds for raised time. And this ties back to my speech therapy, because if you can hold this position while speaking it will increase the pitch of your voice.

[@earthexperiments1947]

Oh, i can actually move the Adam's apple fairly consciously! I remember the first times i tried to do it, i think i was trying to copy others and i was fascinated to see proeminent Adam's apple in guys, so yeah! It's cool

[@dougcastellano]

Great explanation!! FYI, the adam’s apple is actually the thyroid cartilage

[@matteonow3862]

Excellent video! Thanks! :-)

[@DobryjRembat]

Not bad, thanks! In Russia, for example, there are different schools of academic melodical play on the jaw harp. They play by notes etc... Good luck!

[@SoundAdventurer]

That's so interesting! I'd love to learn more about different approaches. do you know of any resources?

[@DobryjRembat]

@@SoundAdventurer yes, sure! Personally, just now we start a free self-learning course of melodical playing of jaw harp for beginners from the best source we've been able to found: varganist.ru We don't think there is a version in English, but the most part of a course is a set of text articles that you'll be able to translate without problems by free online translators. And the additional set of youtube videos we hope you will be able to apprehend as a musician, that practice jaw harp, this great instrument. Now we'll give you a link on the set of the videos. You are pleasant to look at too)

[@DobryjRembat]

@@SoundAdventurer for example, this is one exibition of that teacher: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eH7Zgoauh5x2jMk Not bad, do you agree?

[@DobryjRembat]

@@SoundAdventurer and here is the set of additional videos to the mentioned course, to follow the teacher step by step: kzbin.info/aero/PLLnz-Ggx-LtAI1D59jk7LgK7DBHepZY-R

[@DobryjRembat]

@@SoundAdventurer that set of well-organized info about approaches to learn to play by notes is particularly important for it seems that teacher left us some months ago...

[@Jsjs-el2fw]

I really like the video you made It great. Keep on rocking! Darien. YAY!

[@Jsjs-el2fw]

Kk*juuuujujjjjhuh

[@tman7419]

Been playing the jaw harp for almost 3 years, and I'm starting to play the guitar part of songs, my favorite being Holy Water by We, the kingdom

[@caynyq]

Thanks, god clean explanation 👍😀

[@HauntingBull]

no one ever talks about breath and how it affects the sound...

[@madcatlady]

I have utterly no idea how I did it as it was 30+ years ago but a friend had a jaw harp and I definitely made melodies with it, doubt I could now though missing teeth 🤣

[@Thatguybob5]

I know how to control your Adams apple and it’s very simple to do. So first think about a frog sitting on a lily pad and imagine how that when it breaths the bottom of its chin inflates and deflates as its sitting there it is the same way with you mouth except with your tongue when you move your tongue forward and backward the motion controls it because when you push your tongue forward the back of your tongue raises your Adam’s apple. And backward cause your mouth to sink in and and lower it and I used frog cause when I first tried this I looked in the mirror and done this and the bottom of my chin kind of puffed out and I first thought of a frog

[@justaweeb9086]

The Adam's Apple is pretty easy controlling actually. You can just control it by singing

[@jemotorsports00e]

I have the exact same jaw harp you got. My friend has one too. Yours and his, sounds like it's tuned to a G. I have the same one as you and mine is really flat and sounds like an F#. But yea thanks for this tutorial

[@SoundAdventurer]

That's kind of a bummer. G is a lot easier to work with than f#. I know they can be tuned but I haven't done it before

[@Acoustic-Rabbit-Hole]

I wonder if a condenser mic would have recorded more of the harmonics from the harp. Not a complaint, though. It was a clear and concise video. I'm enthused to learn the jaw-harp!

[@SoundAdventurer]

thank you! i actually think it was a condenser mic. perhaps at a closer distance I could get some more color in the sound. also, some harps have incredible harmonics, like the Morchangs

[@Acoustic-Rabbit-Hole]

Ah, now that I think about it, I was using my old, crappy headphones because I couldn’t find my Sennheisers!@@SoundAdventurer

[@Walker-ie8dm]

should i be breathing when i do the -hmph- thing?

[@SoundAdventurer]

yes, breath is involved with the diaphragm pushes/pulls

[@lrgpanda9037]

Are you ever so lightily breathing out or in to the harp?

[@SoundAdventurer]

yep, breathing in and out is essential to creating a strong sound with the jaw harp.

[@lrgpanda9037]

@@SoundAdventurer ok iv been doing it right.thank you.

[@kinsora9662]

I can do the adams apple technique by pretending to "vomit" ahaha am I weird for that

[@SoundAdventurer]

Nope. The more practice you do you'll do it in a way that's less invasive. I think that's a good place to start.

[@Hadrada.]

Burp

[@stubbsmusic543]

Got through the whole thing didn’t hear a Melody.

[@stubbsmusic543]

@CoolGuitarGear Seriously, a person who knows what they’re doing can shape their mouth to produce melodies off of the overtones produced by the buzzing of the metal tine on jaw harp. Tuvan musicians can do the same with “throat singing” where they produce a low, buzzy, overtone-rich sound with their throat and then shape their mouth to pick out the upper overtones and create melodies. Look it up. It’s fascinating - if not particularly useful. Western music definitely did not go that way.

[@stubbsmusic543]

@CoolGuitarGear Here’s a guy playing “Turkey in the Straw” on a jaw harp. At around 1:10 he starts playing. kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXa9o5uPnJ2Clbc If you get yourself a jaw harp, be very careful to put it between, NOT in front, of your teeth. I had a music teacher, who had apparently not practiced what she was doing, put a jaw harp between her lips, pull back the spring and knock out her front teeth right in front of the whole class! You might want to avoid that same experience. Either way, what this guy is doing is what a jaw harp is supposed to be played like. It’s not just a bunch of buzzing noises - unless that’s what you want. Here’s an example from the Tuvan people of Mongolia who create a low, buzzy sound with their throat and pick the overtones off of it to play melodies in a similar fashion. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5eqaoZsjZ15eq8

[@stubbsmusic543]

@CoolGuitarGear Here’s Jacob Collier Demonstrating and talking about overtones.