Posted Fri, 10/24/2014 - 08:15 by David Barrett Admin
I'm heading to the Harmonica Masters Workshops (http://www.harmonica-masters.de/en/) and will be out of communication for the next 10 days as I travel and become deeply immersed in teaching harmonica players from all around Europe (some of which are you, from this site!... very cool). My favorite thing to do on long flights is to bring a notepad and pen (one that won't explode at altitude!) and make note of my short, mid and long-term musical goals. Doing this helps to steer my ship towards areas of interest, growth and a more intelligent plan on how I'm spending my valuable time. continue reading...
Posted Fri, 08/22/2014 - 08:23 by David Barrett Admin
Grant Dermody is a harmonica player, singer, songwriter, and teacher from Seattle, Washington. Described as "an understated harmonica virtuoso and a vocalist of subtlety and warmth" by Don McLeese of No Depression magazine. Grant’s musical travels have seen him playing with many of America’s most beloved acoustic musicians. In 2010, he embarked on a successful international tour with guitarist Eric Bibb. Previous explorations saw him performing in a trio with Orville Johnson and John Miller, live and on their 2006 release Deceiving Blues. continue reading...
Posted Thu, 06/19/2014 - 07:53 by David Barrett Admin
In this Performance Training study I'll help prepare you for the process of joining an existing blues band or starting your own. No harmonicas are needed for this lesson, but download the PDF to reference as we go through the points in this lesson. This lesson is for all skill level players, but is generally focused towards upper-intermediate and advanced players. continue reading...
Posted Thu, 06/12/2014 - 08:08 by David Barrett Admin
Though not usually taught as a way to produce a tremolo, using the diaphragm in a panting-like movement creates an interesting version of it. Jason Ricci uses this and demonstrates it in his interview on the site http://www.bluesharmonica.com/jason_ricci. Why is this not taught?... it takes less effort to produce a tremolo from the throat (vocal folds opening and closing) and is easier to produce a vibrato by actuating it from the throat. With this said, Jason makes it sound pretty good, so it is a valid option.
Posted Tue, 06/10/2014 - 08:14 by David Barrett Admin
The most powerful vibrato/tremolo type I've heard came from the late-great William Clarke. He played an intense tremolo or vibrato (very fast tremolo or vibrato with large swing in pitch) and at the same time opened and closed his hands slower than the vibrato, creating a very cool and powerful oscillating effect. Take a listen to "Lonesome Bedroom Blues" from the Blowin' Like Hell release at 2:27. continue reading...
Posted Wed, 06/04/2014 - 07:20 by David Barrett Admin
The vibrato needs a bit of airflow to activate all of its moving parts, so it doesn't work at very low volumes. For this reason, practicing going from a low-volume tremolo into a vibrato is time well spent. The practice is straight forward, start playing a note as softly as possible, using a tremolo of course, and as the volume increases enough to use the vibrato, switch to a vibrato as smoothly as you can (not allowing the vibrato to kick start and start swing hard and fast... the goal is a smooth transition). continue reading...
Posted Tue, 06/03/2014 - 08:52 by David Barrett Admin
The throat vibrato is generally easier to produce at a faster speed. Though powerful... think Paul Butterfield... that intensity is not always appropriate. Gary Smith has a silky-smooth slow vibrato and I remember him saying to me at age 16 that slowing it down was really a challenge... and it was. It took me about a year to produce a good vibrato and another couple of years to slow it down.
The mouth and tongue (in their relaxed state) are influenced by the throat tremolo to produce the vibrato. What I feel when I slow my vibrato down is that I simply slow down my tremolo. continue reading...
Posted Mon, 06/02/2014 - 09:00 by David Barrett Admin
Now that you're working on the different vibrato types, it's time to match them all up. Play your throat vibrato on 1, 2 and 3 draw and then chewing vibrato on 3". Work on matching the depth (how low the note bends) and duration (the time between bends) of the chewing vibrato so that it matches that of the 1, 2 and 3. Do the same for your chewing vibrato on 7+, 8+, 9+ and 10+ to match the vibrato on your 4, 5 and 6 draw. You don't have to play them the same all the time (musical context will dictate this), but it's good technique to have an even approach across the range of the harmonica.