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David's Tip of the Day: Creativity, Part 3 (NPR: TED Radio Hour Podcast)

Posted Thu, 10/09/2014 - 06:33 by David Barrett Admin

Released this past week, featuring Sting and noted jazz improviser David Werner...

The Source Of Creativity
We want to be creative but channeling our creative impulses is no small feat. Is creativity something we are born with or can we learn it? In this hour, TED speakers examine the mystery of creativity.
http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/

David's Tip of the Day: Creativity, Part 2 (The Gift)

Posted Wed, 10/08/2014 - 07:33 by David Barrett Admin

The key word yesterday was "gift," to "gift myself enough time to get bored." Our daily lives are full with responsibilities, so we naturally have to allot specific times for our various activities, with our practice sessions commonly starting and ending at prescribed times. This scheduling is part of what makes us successful, but some practice sessions should give you hours instead of minutes. When I was a teenager that was easy to do, I had hours on hours of time to do as I pleased. continue reading...

David's Tip of the Day: Creativity

Posted Tue, 10/07/2014 - 07:58 by David Barrett Admin

My most creative ideas come from moments where I gift myself enough time to get bored.

David's Tip of the Day: Chorus Forms & Tempo

Posted Mon, 10/06/2014 - 06:49 by David Barrett Admin

The faster the tempo of the backing (swing for example), the more repetitive Chorus Forms you'll use, AAA and AAB for example (listen to William Clarke's "Blowin' the Family Jewels," it's all AAA and AAB). The slower the backing, the more active Chorus Forms you'll use (listen to Little Walter's "Blue Midnight," the A B/A C Chorus Form is king in slow blues). So, the general guideline you can give yourself is that if the backing is active, you don't need to be. If the backing is slow and sparse, up your activity. As you can infer, it's about balance.

David's Tip of the Day: Where there are pulls, there are slaps

Posted Sat, 10/04/2014 - 12:02 by David Barrett Admin

Translation...

When students start working on pulls (found on the upbeat), they forget to slap their other notes (found on the downbeat). This sounds strange... don't do this. The main reason why we tongue block is to use the slap technique, so make it your default... you should have a reason why you're not slapping. Next, when using other techniques, like the pull, don't forget to record yourself and listen back so you can make sure you're not forgetting to use your other techniques, like slaps, dips, flutters, tremolo/vibrato and dynamics. continue reading...

David's Tip of the Day: Using a Cup for Bullet Mic Practice

Posted Thu, 10/02/2014 - 07:12 by David Barrett Admin

Most bullet mics are between 2-1/4" and 2-1/2" in diameter (the round holes in harp cases are 2-1/2"). Many of the cups and glasses in your house are this diameter, including standard 16oz water bottles. If you're new to playing a bullet mic, time spent with it in your hands is needed to gain a comfort level. You can of course play with the mic plugged into your amp, or unplugged (with cable disconnected if it's detachable) or even a household cup to create a mic analog. Either way, you're getting used to having that bullet shape be part of your harmonica hold.

David's Tip of the Day: Hands for Tonal Change while Chugging

Posted Wed, 10/01/2014 - 07:19 by David Barrett Admin

Here's a simplistic, but effective way to incorporate your hands while playing. Go to http://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/solo_harmonica_study_2 and study Ex. 1.5. While playing single notes, open your hands. When playing chords, close your hands (cupped). Playing this way emphasizes the melody (louder and brighter in tone) and de-emphasizes the chording (softer and more muted/bassy). This accentuates the impression that two harmonica players are playing.

What's New: Masco Chronicles Submission #5 - Speakers & Cabinets

Posted Tue, 09/30/2014 - 13:59 by David Barrett Admin

In our last installment of the Masco Chronicles Mark Overman and I talk and demonstrate speaker and cabinet options. Thanks to Mark Overman and all the others that helped to make this the fun and informative series it turned out to be!

Videos Include:
Submission #5 – Speakers, Part 1
Submission #5 – Speakers, Part 2
Submission #5 – Cabinets, Part 1
Submission #5 – Cabinets, Part 2
Submission #5 – Cabinets, Part 3
Submission #5 – Breaking in Speakers
Submission #5 – Cabinet Sizes
Submission #5 – Playing the Cabinets
Submission #5 – Closing to Masco Chronicles Series

David's Tip of the Day: Tremolo Muscle for Articulation

Posted Tue, 09/30/2014 - 10:23 by David Barrett Admin

Tremolo is created at the vocal folds, opening and closing in a rhythmic fashion. This controlled muscle is also often used for articulation. In fact, it's the primary articulation (think slight cough) used for blow notes in post war Chicago blues (except for chugging, where the "T" and "K" articulations are more common). Though not common for draw notes, you can use it as well, especial for fast passages when tongue blocking (a lick in Little Walter's "Evan's Shuffle" comes to mind where I consciously used it, the 5 draw at 1:04).

David's Tip of the Day: Improvising - Tremolo/Vibrato, Part 3 (Choice)

Posted Mon, 09/29/2014 - 07:00 by David Barrett Admin

Current blues harmonica players that can perform the vibrato well (Kim Wilson for example), choose not to use it to sound more classic. Since players like Little Walter, Big Walter Horton and George "Harmonica" Smith used tremolo, if a player is inspired by those players, they'll commonly choose to use their approach to tremolo as well.

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