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David's Tip of the Day: Hearing Modes & Positions via the Major Scale - Part 6 (All Scales on One Harmonica)

Posted Thu, 11/14/2013 - 08:02 by David Barrett Admin
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Now experiment with playing on the same harmonica, the C Harmonica in this case, in the four modes/positions that we've already experimented with.

Grab your C Harmonica and play to the following...

1) Jam Track in the Key of C - Play the scale from 4+ to 7+ and then improvise a bit, focusing on 4+ as being your home base. Note the very Major sound. This is the Major Mode, 1st Position. continue reading...

David's Tip of the Day: Impressions of the World Harmonica Festival 2013

Posted Wed, 11/13/2013 - 08:40 by David Barrett Admin
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This video just released this morning on the World Harmonica Festival 2013. This event happens in Trossingen, Germany every four years. Steve Baker's Harmonica Masters Workshop will be held in the same location in October of next year.

Impressions of the World Harmonica Festival 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r95floV79dk

David's Tip of the Day: Hearing Modes & Positions via the Major Scale - Part 5 (All Modes)

Posted Tue, 11/12/2013 - 08:32 by David Barrett Admin
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Now line up your harmonicas and play the scales one after another. In this way you'll really hear what each position sounds like relative to each other in their natural state (before we add bending and such to make the licks associated with each position).

1st = C Harmonica, 4+ to 10+
2nd = Low-F Harmonica, 6+ to 9+
3rd = B-flat Harmonica, 4 to 8
4th = E-flat Harmonica, 3" to 6

David's Tip of the Day: Hearing Modes & Positions via the Major Scale - Part 4 (C Minor, 4th Position)

Posted Mon, 11/11/2013 - 08:16 by David Barrett Admin
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Grab your C Harmonica again and play the C Major Scale from 4+ (C) to 7+ (C). This is the home scale for 1st Position. Now grab your E-flat harmonica and play the same scale, but starting from 3" and ending on 6. You're now playing in 4th Position, specifically the C Minor Scale. Note that all of the pitches are the same, except for the 3rd, 6th and 7th notes of the scale... they're lower, or minor sounding. This is the natural sound of 4th Position.

What's New: Accompaniment Study 9

Posted Sun, 11/10/2013 - 21:44 by David Barrett Admin
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Join me for Accompaniment Study 9 where we work the art of duo playing with three song examples from guitarist and singer John Garcia.

Videos Include: continue reading...

What's New: Intermediate Student Ryan Walker, Lesson 22

Posted Fri, 11/08/2013 - 22:24 by David Barrett Admin
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In this lesson Ryan and I spend time on Music Theory Study 3 (chords), Improvising Study 4 (V-IV-I Transitions), Accompaniment Study 3 (Hole Changes) and Solo Harmonica Study 3.

Videos Include:
Lesson 22 - Intro & Dealing with Stuck Reeds
Lesson 22 - Improvising Study 4: Memorizing Chord Tones
Lesson 22 - Improvising Study 4: V-IV-I Chord Review
Lesson 22 - Improvising Study 4: Section 3 Licks, Part 1
Lesson 22 - Improvising Study 4: Section 3 Licks, Part 2
Lesson 22 - Accompaniment Study 3: Hole 1 Review
Lesson 22 - Accompaniment Study 3: Hole 2 Review continue reading...

David's Tip of the Day: Hearing Modes & Positions via the Major Scale - Part 3 (C Dorian, 3rd Position)

Posted Fri, 11/08/2013 - 07:49 by David Barrett Admin
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Grab your C Harmonica again and play the C Major Scale from 4+ (C) to 7+ (C). This is the home scale for 1st Position. Now grab your B-flat harmonica and play the same scale, but starting from 4 and ending on 8. You're now playing in 3rd Position, specifically the C Dorian Scale. Note that all of the pitches are the same, except for the 3rd and 7th notes of the scale... they're lower, or bluesy sounding. This is the natural sound of 3rd Position.

David's Tip of the Day: Hearing Modes & Positions via the Major Scale - Part 2 (C Mixolydian, 2nd Position)

Posted Thu, 11/07/2013 - 07:34 by David Barrett Admin
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Grab your C Harmonica again and play the C Major Scale from 4+ (C) to 7+ (C). This is the home scale for 1st Position. Now grab your Low-F harmonica and play the same scale, but starting from 6+ and ending on 9+. If you don't have a Low-F, but do have a standard F, you can play the same pitches from 2 to 6+. You're now playing in 2nd Position, specifically the C Mixolydian Scale. Note that all of the pitches are the same as the 1st Position scale on the C Harmonica, except for the 7th note of the scale... it's lower, or bluesy sounding. This is the natural sound of 2nd Position.

David's Tip of the Day: Hearing Modes & Positions via the Major Scale - Part 1 (C Major, 1st Position)

Posted Wed, 11/06/2013 - 07:56 by David Barrett Admin
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Go to the lesson "Movement Exercises Study 2 - Essential Scales" and use the C Harmonica to play the C Major Scale from 4+ (C) to 10+ (C), with the 10'+ (B) omitted. Play this enough times that you can hear the quality of the scale. Tomorrow we'll experiment with this scale to help you understand modes and positions better.

David's Tip of the Day: Reincoding Recordings for Smaller File Size

Posted Tue, 11/05/2013 - 07:05 by David Barrett Admin
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For those of you looking to decrease the file size of your MP3s for submission to me on the site, or change your recorded file types to MP3 from your recording software's default (.wav or .aif for example, are way too large for submitting), then the following programs can help.

If you don't mind paying, Adobe Media Encoder is an industry standard:

Adobe Media Encoder
http://www.adobe.com/products/mediaencoder.html?promoid=JNUAM continue reading...