Beginning Studies - Your Help Please
My focus is on three very important subjects right now: improvising, theory and accompaniment playing. Once these are completed, my focus will be on adding material to the beginning section of the website where needed.
For those that have completed the beginning section of the site and are working on, or have completed, "Gary's Blues" (Tongue Blocking Study 3) and "The Strut" (Bending Study 3) please share with me...
1) Where you had the most technique DIFFICULTY in your studies on the site... this is technique focused and how well the study material/songs helped you.
2) Where you had the most CONFUSION in your studies on the site... this is not technique focused, but points at which the "this doesn't register light" came on, and stayed on for a while.
3) At which point(s) you could have used more filler material to keep you amused as you were working through the more technical sections of the site (bending for example).
Thank you very much for your time in advance!
Thank you, I appreciate your comments.
1) I find the slaps the hardest technique to use with TASTE.
The study material/song can hardly be better.
The site give an almost face to face teaching experience. If the students were allowed (even beeing charged a cost for that opportunity) at the End of each Level, before to move to the next (beginner-intermediate-advanced) to send a SINGLE and short mp3 or video to play/show just the ONE technique them are most troubled with, I hardly can see where that site will make regret the absence of alive lesson.
2) It is all very clear
3) There is more material I can make use of. To master D harp bending I find great to relearn old songs ("feeling for the blues" by istance). That confirms me which is the real strenght of that site: to have a teacher which is also an artist able to mask exercises into amusing tunes (kind of Bela Bartok). If something can be added in the beginning section I vote for a SIMPLE but complete tune for Solo Harmonica, Filisko points out how important is this approach, and to have a tune to work on will make it more amusing to practice then to go throught a series of exercises... alternatively I heartely second jodanchudan idea of a series "how to sound like" focused on prewar fox-train-chugging uncopyrighted "solo harp" material: I know is blues harp site, but to learn what went before the "blues" will make the whole study plan look even more complete, progressive and coherent then it already is... not to mention that having Joe Filisko among the contributors make me dream at his next submissions hopefully about special effects, will be great to work at them before to attend his workshops in order to maximize the few days of his tutoring going there somehow prepared.
Thanks for the opportunity to share our ideas.
1) In terms of technique I would say I had the most problems with "flutters" , "vibrato/tremolo", and "headshakes". I still practice my headshakes every time i pick up the harmonica as routine.
2) Confusion - I would say when I first joined your sight was probably the most confusing because of all the information. Eventually I found my way to the "Lessons" tab and got started, but as a new player I was like WOW so much information in one place and I was not sure if I should start my first lesson or watch videos. Which is a good thing I guess. What might help is a short video explaining how to use the site and maybe map out a time line on where the player could be if they put the time into practicing. Another confusing area for me is when you introduced your improvising lessons to the site. I was not sure when I should start this, but then I noticed you place some links after G.Blues and T.Strut. Maybe have a visual road map for new players would be helpful, so they see somethings they will need to study at the same time and what their skill level should be in order to start a particular area.
3) I found the jump from Beginner to Intermediate was (still is) a rather large leap. I think Garys Blues is great, just a little confusing with all the tongue slaps and pulls. It might be helpful for others to have an easier start when entering Intermediate level with a simpler song with maybe half the tongue slaps and pulls that you find in Garys Blues. Same for The Strut. Great song, just lots and lots of bending all at once.
Thank you very much for your input.
Hello David,
I have no answers to the first two questions because for me all the lessons were perfect. I would like to suggest to add some lessons to the Solo Harmonica Section, i.e., as jodanchudan already said, some train songs. Second, I still don't understand the context of the third part of the Solo Harmonica Section - are the exercises only a preparation for the "Quiet World" study song or can they be used in other contexts? Anyway, for me they are great exercises for pulls, bendings and speed playing.
Best regards
Jens
Thank you. Solo Harmonica Study 3 is a more advanced version of Solo Harmonica Study 2. Each example can be made into its own song... fun stuff.
I've racked my brain in trying to come up with some ideas in answer to your questions David and this is the best I can come up with.
1) Probably switching from lip purse to tongue block and then bending in TB position. I don't think I appreciated how much time it would take to incorporate it into my playing. (I rarely if ever lip purse now) I guess maybe repeating the time it will take might help.
The tip of getting the feel for blow bends by going to a lower key harp made a HUGE difference for me.
The whole issue of breath control was one of the toughest things. Two tips helped me through that one (although it is an on going work) - marking up the music as to where to breathe and learning to close my nose on draws and breathe out my nose on blows. I'm not sure if these tips came from the lessons or forum questions but this could be incorporated into 2nd and 3rd position lessons.
2) I fell into the trap of wanting to "do it all at once" and often got frustrated with trying to work on 2, 3, or 4 sections/lessons at a time. This was even more so as I had to give some songs extended practice (eg Quiet World). The suggested lesson plans for the three levels might be reinforced more so starting players at whatever level are directed more to follow that until they gain confidence with the site and lessons???? And the only "doesn't register" thing would have been my inability to do the technique. I found all of the instructions and videos well explained.
3) Mygawd!!! There is so much filler material (not too much) The videos from your Contributors, Experts and Interviews are outstanding, useful and entertaining. The number of times I see the videos repeated on other sites is a commentary on how good they are.
The only two points that for me personally would be some kind of a 'check list' or chart that I could use to keep track of my progress. It would also help me see where I am going. I have developed a very crude one but it's not proving to be very useful.
Second would be the whole iPhone, iPad vs Flash video thing. It would be so nice to be able to view the videos when I'm on the road. I know some sites have a work around. This may be a difficult thing but.......
Thanks for what you have produced David. This is an absolutely great teaching/learning site.
Thank you Hank. We're working on the Apple products right now... have been for a while... it will happen... it's just very time-consuming. I agree with the check list as well... that's a little bit tougher, but we're working on it as well. Thanks!!!
For me it's been so hard to start a lesson and finish it cause then I see something else for ex your artist studies and i want to get started with that.I have no problem with the site it's awesome it's just alot of information at once.THANKS
I think it's all great. Metronome markings at the top of the study song notations might be nice. It only takes a few seconds with a metronome to figure out the speed, but it might be a nice touch if it were in the score already.
I realize I can practice with the slowed down tracks, but sometimes I like to also practice a difficult passage with the metronome, starting at a slow tempo (half speed usually) and working up very slowly, one notch on the metronome at a time, several repetitions each, making sure not to go to the next higher speed until I can play it several times in a row perfectly. It sounds time consuming but for me this is the quickest way to learn a tricky passage.
Steve
This is a bit off topic, but I'm really interested in the accompaniment stuff. I'm most interested in accompanying singers, doing the fill or 'response' part of the call and response, when they're not singing. Prime examples for me are the stuff Little Walter and James Cotton did with Muddy Waters. Guitar and piano are great at laying down chords and such. But when I hear LW wail out a great response to a Muddy line, well, no instrument is better than harp at that.
I want to play in a really good band, and I think bands (and singers) appreciate a good accompanist even more than a great soloist (of course you can be both). A harp will never be as versatile as a guitar or piano when it comes to chord voicings, etc. But it can do that vocal call and response thing better than anything.
Steve
Being in my first year of playing, I don't have access to any other musicians or a band. I found it very nice to be able to play the solo harmonica pieces. I imagined myself playing on the street corner on public square with my hat on the ground and people throwing money in there. Yay, I'm self-employed! It would be nice to be able to have some longer bginning/intermediate solo harp pieces though. I still find it difficult to add more measures to the solo pieces. So perhaps more longer pieces of solo harp like the new "Sonny's Bird" but in a G score? I've been playing that one in G until I can get more people to throw money into my hat and buy the Low F harp.
One thing that I saw in other places were some nice beginning to intermediate level Sonny Terry type pieces. My first two "WOW" moments in looking at harp players were with Sonny Boy Williamson's "Bye Bye Bird" (still going wow) and Sonny Terry's Hootin' the Blues http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkBlFdf77c0 maybe without the hoots at first since my singing stinks.
Another cool thing for beginners would be something like a front porch solo slow blues piece for beginners. Maybe not so much a focus on technique as it is a focus on putting some feeling behind it. Something that you don't have to keep such a fast beat to. Would be nice for a change of pace. Something really sad sounding.
That being said, the songs in the tongue blocking and bending sections are excellent. I especially like the sound of the D harp in "The Strut", it really wails. The low harps are nice and meaty, but the higher ones really wail in my opinion.
So, I guess more solo harp pieces would be a lot of fun for the beginners. My hat's still empty, but I'm working on that! :)
Thank you for all your comments... I'm listening. By the way... accompaniment playing is planned for the site.
I agree with the Sonny Terry recommendation.
I love that we have Solo Studies but I really would dig some call and response accompaniment lessons a la a Sonny/Brownie, Muddy/Little Walter, Buddy/Junior Study. I have a lot of buddies that play guitar and I would love to be able to whip out a harp and jam with them "back porch style" when I'm at their houses and they pull out their acoustic.
It would also be cool to have some lead guitar tracks on a study with spaces that you could jump into and respond to, do backing, etc.
The site and material is already fantastic. Just ideas.
-Taylor
David, as an educator, what I appreciate the most is that you offer a "curriculum," a plan of study. So many of the web resources and for that matter face to face instructors, just don't have a clue on how to provide the scaffolding required to develop progress in a new harp player.
Having attending 2 of your workshops over the years, I came in knowing the bends and slaps but still found the beginning strand every valuable to help me develop better habits. I appreciate the push to get folks to try tongue blocking. While it slowed me down on material that I otherwise would have moved through more quickly, I have seen a drastic improvement in my tongue blocking skills. I am about to finish Gary's Blues assignment and can play all of it in tongue blocking mode.
I am not suggesting this as a change, but I'll note that I never found myself using the slower mp3 versions. The video portion of each lesson illustrated clearly the notes and phrasing and I found it better for me to just keep hitting the choruses at full speed until I could do it cleanly.
I have found the interviews and other background material to be great. I am not sure I would have put the Rhumba assignment in the beginning strand. I think it is appropriate by skill level, but it took me several weeks and I felt frustrated in finding myself not working on more traditional 12 bar blues. it was fun and certainly needs to be in the curriculum.
If I have felt any confusion is has had to do with articulation. I find myself playing the right notes, slaps, pulls, phrasing etc. but still not getting the same sound you are getting. In fact, I am assuming that will come with playing the songs over and over until I discover "internal" methods of improving the quality of the sound. But maybe adding even more discussion of articulation would be useful to speed up this process. Tips like " I am beginning this note with a "ta" movement of my tongue."
I look forward to seeing new developments, but can see there is enough in the curriculum already to keep me busy for a long time!
Thank you very much for your insights.
I'd like to second what Taylor said regarding a track with spaces you could fill. I don't know if this is even possible, but two versions of the same song with a lead vocalist, one with harp and one without, would be fantastic. Imagine two versions of say a Muddy track, one with Little Walter's part and one without. OK, that's not possible, but something like that. You could try to play along with the harp part, and then try to record your own version, overdubbing the harp part. Just like we can do with a solo study or jam track, but doing the fills instead of the lead.
Like I said that's probably not practical - but it would be cool!
Steve
John Gindick did something like that on his CD that came with his book. He had the backup coming through the left speaker and the harp coming through the right speaker so you could just adjust the fade accordingly.
Yes, that's old school. I did that 20 years ago on my first book tapes, now CDs. We stopped doing that when stereo systems stopped commonly having the pan controls... the all-in-one systems. There's still the issue today... look at iTunes, I just looked for ten minutes and couldn't find the pan control.
Yeah. I think it's nicer to just have separate tracks like you do anyways.
I was playing for around a year before subscribing to your website when it started up & was pucker playing & hadnt even heard of tongue blocking so really was a beginner!! The first lesson i did was The Strut I think & was playing that by pursing.
My first thing to get my head around was tongue blocking & it was tricky to start but your instruction was spot on & the tongue blocking just keeps improving with practice all the time.
I also like that the website has a structure as sometimes I felt a bit lost and didn't know where to go next but would go back to the recommendations & pick up from there.
My hardest things were,as you know, tremolo and vibrato which still seems to come and go as it pleases-its a hard thing to convey I suppose when you cant see what the pupil is doing wrong-also my articulation is something I struggle with & not sure if the light has quite come on yet.
I really happy with all the material-a lick library might be good-I LOVE the artists studies.There is so much here my main trouble is getting time to look at most of it but for a beginner its just great!!!
Thank you for your input, it really helps.
1) When I first started on the site I had most difficulty with switching to tongue blocking from puckering, but time spent on the study songs definitely helped with that. After that I had major problems playing a D harp after spending time on lower keyed harps - I struggled to bend it all and found intonation very tough (I still find high harps a lot harder to play than low ones), so The Strut was a huge struggle. Having said that, I don't think there's any quick fix for it - it just takes time and reps.
2) I was confused about how to improvise but the new lessons have definitely helped take care of that (but again, I know it's going to take time to be able to do it well and to figure out how to develop a melodic idea throughout a solo or instrumental). I was confused by a lot of the subtelties I heard in harp recordings and videos: I saw players playing through bullet mics sometimes cupped, sometimes opening the cup and couldn't figure out the effect (still not totally clear about this - Dennis Gruenling seems to do it a lot and it really colours his playing). Same goes with acoustic playing - I spent ages trying to figure out how Joe Filisko got a particular sound and eventually realised he was playing through a glass! So subtelties like these confuse me when I hear them. The way I seem to learn them is by accident: I'll accidentally acheive a particular sound then keep practicing till I can make it on purpose. As I'm working through the lessons I'm finding that you are teaching these subtelties, but they're in the context of the study songs and, on balance, I think that's best: you learn them when you're ready to learn them.
3) I think a 'lick vocabulary' section would be a great filler, especially now that the chorus form lessons are up so thay can be put into context. I'm thinking of something similar to the V-IV-I, turnaround and ending licks videos, but containing licks for the I chord and IV chord - perhaps organised by focus notes so that we can steadily build up a vocabulary of classic blues licks in addition to the ones contained in the study songs. Other random ideas for the wish-list: a train song section, and maybe a section focussed on the different harp styles of the classic blues players (a non-copyright-infringing series called something like 'how to sound like SBWI', 'how to sound like Sonny Terry', 'how to sound like Big walter', etc., that gives a few brief pointers about key features of their style without going through particular songs note-for-note.)
Hope this helps!