How to Soak Harps

Whiskey is a favorite liquid for soaking harps.

Traditional blues harmonica ("harp") players occasionally soak their instruments before playing, but this practice has fallen out of favor. Soaking the harmonica swells the wooden body, making the harp more airtight. This airtightness allows the harmonica player to play louder and faster while using less air, and helps get those elusive bent notes that are so important in the blues. "Baptizing" the harmonica is a ritual among older bluesmen, and some swear by whiskey because it lends its taste to the instrument. Even though you may want to soak your harp like a real bluesman, the practice shortens the life of the harmonica and is not recommended.

Things You'll Need

• Harmonica
• Glass
• Liquid
• Bandanna

Instructions

1. Get a tall glass. A diatonic harmonica is four inches long, so you'll need a glass that is taller than that. If you're going to baptize the instrument, you will want to soak the whole thing evenly.

2. Pour your liquid of choice in the glass. Most blues players use water, but others may go with draft beer, vodka or whiskey.

3. Let the harmonica sit in the liquid for a few minutes.

4. Take the harmonica out of the glass slowly, letting the water drain back into the glass.

5. Shake the water out of the harmonica by tapping it against the bandanna, with the harmonica's mouthpiece striking the bandanna. Do this a few times to get most of the water out.

6. Play the harmonica gently, breathing in and out along its whole range. This should free up any reeds that are blocked by water droplets.

Tips & Warnings

• While pearwood is the material used in some harmonicas, more instruments are made with a plastic frame. Plastic does not swell when wet, so dunking it does those harmonicas neither harm nor good.

• Soaking may be needed before every gig, as the wood will shrink over time.

• Soaking the harmonica is not recommended as it shortens its life considerably. As the wood dries, it will eventually shrink back to a smaller size than it originally was, and make it less airtight until you soak it again.

• Repeated soakings will cause the wooden reed chamber dividers to poke out past the mouthpiece, making it a hazard to play.

• Frequent soaking will warp the wood and cause it to deteriorate. In addition, the cover plates and nails will rust.

References

• JT30: Care and Feeding of Harmonicas
• John Hastwell's House of Harmonica: Harp Tips
• Blues Harp; Tony Glover; 1965
• Rock n' Blues Harmonica; Jon Gindick; 1982