The Hand Vibrato
By using the right hand to form an enclosure around the left hand and the harmonica, an effect known as the hand vibrato is made possible by opening and closing the right hand. Harmonica players sometimes refer to this effect as the "wah wah" or "hand wah wah".
Hold the harmonica in the left hand as described at the beginning of Lesson Two, with the fingers of the left hand straight and pressed together, with no visible gaps between them. Place the heel of the right hand against the heel of the left hand, so that the flattened right palm covers the "cup" formed by the left hand as it holds the harmonica.
The hand position is somewhat like one that could be used to carry water in the absence of a glass, with the fingers of the left hand curled inside the fingers of the right, and the left pinky pushed against the right hand where the fingers join the palm.
The point of this hand position is to be able to block and unblock the flow of air through the harmonica. As hands come in varying shapes and sizes, experiment with the right hand position that will most comfortably block the air flow. It may be useful to look into a mirror, to see how well the right hand closes about the left.
Begin in closed hand position. Keeping the heels of the hands together, bend the right hand back from the wrist so that the "cup" opens, then close it. You need only open the "cup" an inch or less to change the sound. Experiment with both inhaled and exhaled single notes and chords, on the high, middle, and low parts of the harmonica. The lower or middle notes will generally produce a more pronounced wah wah, at first. Practice opening and closing the "cup" once per beat, as in this pattern.
Practice also opening and closing the cup in a smooth, fluttering motion, as swiftly as possible.
Using The Hand Vibrato
The hand vibrato can be used in many ways. Opening and closing once per note, on notes that are held for one beat, will emphasize the clarity of each note.
Doing a continuous fast (fluttering) hand vibrato throughout a song, or portion of a song, will provide a pleasant tonal effect that is easily over-used. You may wish to return to Oh When The Saints, and apply some hand vibrato to the notes that are held for multiple beats.
Apply a variety of hand vibrato effects to the following twelve bar structures, instead of using tongue or breath effects to break up the notes into pieces. Choose your own silent beats in which to breathe, without losing the beat or your place in the structure.
This twelve bar blues substitutes the use of the lower note 1e (C) for the 4e (C) used previously, and the lower note 1i (D) for the 4i (D). If you would like to know more about why these notes can be substituted for each other, please see page 97 in the appendices.
Add the following four and eight beat timings to the note sequences that you have been playing. These will become the basis for many fine second position Blues Scale "riffs", which are short musical phrases that are memorized for future use.
