It hasn't until recently occurred to me that there was any other way of playing other than using my "mouth-shape" to play one note at a time. I'm never quite sure whether my technique should be called "lip-blocking," "puckering," or "U-blocking." The other widely-used technique (but not by me) is called "tongue-blocking." It does seem that you can use some devices, e.g. playing octaves, only with tongue-blocking. This is an area I am currently working on, though I'll take a bit of convincing that it would be better than what I do now for really fast melody-playing. I think I'll eventually discover that both techniques have their places.

ORNAMENTATION is tricky on the 10-hole. You are restricted, it is true, but there are some possibilities. A rapid flick of the jaw to one side can yield a nifty "grace-note" (possibly not quite the right term - "cut" may be better!), in the right place. You can "tongue" triplets on the same note, a bit like a tenor banjo player. If you've adopted my 2-draw tuning a fast triplet is possible on 3-blow, 2-draw, 3-draw. This is also possible an octave higher of course. Note-bending is a very useful skill to acquire. It is specially useful to be able to bend the higher blow notes. Judicious use of this technique can add real style and expression to your playing. It definitely pays to listen to how really accomplished musicians - not just harmonica players - use ornamentation. I've learned a lot from the recordings of the likes of Jackie Daly (button accordeon), Noel Hill (concertina) and Kevin Burke (fiddle), all brilliant with ornamentation but all very different in their approach. Listening to myself critically on home recordings, I can see that I've had two major problems with ornamentation. First, I've overdone it so that certain moves sound like cliches. Second, my "grace notes", instead of being ephemeral and fleeting, can sound loud and lumpen, almost equal to the main note. I think that playing that has a lot of this in it is tiresome to listen to. I am determined to practise this weak area of my playing. You can't do all the ornaments on a 10-hole diatonic that, say, a good fiddle player can achieve, but you can make up for this I feel by cultivating good rhythmic playing and a clean, expressive tone. Another skill that is essential in Irish music is the use of VARIATION. Put simply, this means changing notes or phrases of the tune upon playing the repeats that are integral in this music. Again, to get this under your skin and give you the confidence to try it you need to listen a lot to what accomplished players do to the tunes (whatever their instruments).

THE HARMONICA IS BY ITS VERY NATURE very close to the human voice and is capable of great expressiveness. This gives it a "personality" that is much harder to achieve in other free-reed instruments such as melodeons and accordions. This very individual sound, though, mustn't be allowed to become a drawback. In a good bout of session playing, the BLEND of sound produced by the different instruments is most evocative. The harmonica can contribute to this beautifully. On the other hand it can provide a very jarring note if excessive bending, wailing and wah-wah are employed. Solo playing or the playing of airs are perhaps the areas where this greater degree of expressiveness could be better employed. I'm not saying that the harmonica player must be anonymous within the group. I just think that we should exercise a bit of restraint in this area. As with everything else it's a personal view!