Reply To: The Amazing Melodica! – Tutorial (fragments )

#2282
Alan Brinton
Participant

Thanks for the further installment, Jazzman, if I may take a break now from flying my M-32C to the Moon.

In “Melodica Playing Techniques” in the Melodica Technique Forum, Lowboy has discussed and demonstrated the results of some of his innovations that are relevant to this part of the tutorial.

I sometimes use a guitar strap with my Hammond 44. It’s set up for it, of course, and the size of the instrument makes it useful. The whole setup is rather encumbering, however. It’s also worth mentioning here that playing a small melodica such as the Yamaha P-25F or one of the small vintage Hohners encourages flexibility and innovation in how one holds the instrument, which is reflected in Lowboy’s focus on these instruments.

I know that some others do as I sometimes do and balance the spit valve end of the melodica in the palm of the left hand while holding it vertically. The mouth then holds it in balance. This works well with a 32 key melodica. This is part of the beauty of the melodica, that you can hold it however you like and see what feels comfortable at the moment and how the sound is affected or experienced as you play. We see this with Hermeto Pascoal, for whom everything is a serious musical instrument, even a glass of beer or the surface of a pond.

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