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David's Tip of the Day: Rocker, Chorus 1 (AAA Chorus Form) by Little Walter

Posted Tue, 04/02/2013 - 06:30 by David Barrett Admin
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Each day I’ll talk about one chorus of Rocker. This opening chorus (head) is what really brings the listener into the instrumental. Using an AAA Chorus Form helps to solidify the theme in the listener’s mind. The upbeat pulls (many fail to notice them at this speed) and 2 draw bends will take some time to play at this tempo. Though Little Walter tongue blocked this chorus, if you’re a pucker player you can play this passage using the “pucker-pull” for the upbeat chords. continue reading...

David's Tip of the Day: "Rocker" Transcription (Little Walter Instrumental)

Posted Mon, 04/01/2013 - 06:31 by David Barrett Admin
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Now that you've had some time to dig into the multiple versions of "Rocker," here's the transcription of the original by Little Walter for you. Enjoy your time studying this, it's a fantastic example of his rhythmic work on the lower holes of the harmonica. File: http://www.bluesharmonica.com/sites/bluesharmonica.com/files/rocker_-_li...

What's New: Accompaniment Study 4

Posted Thu, 03/28/2013 - 17:38 by David Barrett Admin
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In this lesson we dig into how to play fills between vocal phrases, as well as more dynamic ideas to play under vocals and instrumentalist solos. "I Want You With Me" is again our study song, but written in a more advanced way… the way a pro player would approach this song. The solos will apply choruses from your Tongue Blocking Study 3 study song, "Gary’s Blues." This intermediate skill level players, though bending is moderate (if you’ve finished Bending Study 3, then you’re ready to take on this challenge). You'll need an A Harmonica for this study. continue reading...

David's Tip of the Day: Changing from the Chromatic to the Diatonic in the Middle of a Song - Part 2

Posted Thu, 03/28/2013 - 07:07 by David Barrett Admin
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Simply put... bending! Once you've presented the big sound of the chromatic with the use of octaves, fake octaves, slaps, pulls, flutters, two-note textures, shakes, etc., when switching to the diatonic focus on the use of bluesy single-note bending. Though the diatonic can present the same heavy textures as the chromatic, what the chromatic doesn't have (beyond basic dips and cuts) is bending, so making a point to focus on bending is a wise choice for contrast in your song. Listen to the two recordings again that I mentioned yesterday and you'll hear this approach.

David's Tip of the Day: Changing from the Chromatic to the Diatonic in the Middle of a Song - Part 1

Posted Wed, 03/27/2013 - 07:20 by David Barrett Admin
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Our most famous version of this is in the instrumental by George "Harmonica" Smith titled "Blues for Reverend King." In this he starts on the chromatic and then switches to the diatonic (C Chromatic in 3rd to the G Diatonic in 2nd Position). Listen to this track, along with my instrumental influenced by George titled "Dark Night" that I just posted on the BluesHarmonica.com Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/bluesharmonica). We're not just switching to the diatonic and playing... what are we focusing on?

West Coast Down Home Harmonica - 60's Harmonica continue reading...

David's Tip of the Day: Video Record Jam Sessions, Rehearsals & Shows

Posted Tue, 03/26/2013 - 08:06 by David Barrett Admin
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The video recorder is your absolute best friend for bettering your skill set. After each jam session, rehearsal or show sit down and study what you hear and see on recording and make notes of how you can better yourself. Audio recording is fine, though sometimes without a visual reference it can be mysterious why something happened the way it did. In many cases, signals/cues... or lack there of... cause issues on the bandstand... and thus in the music; this can be seen and analyzed from the video recording. So, the tip... continue reading...

David's Tip of the Day: Practice those Endings!

Posted Mon, 03/25/2013 - 07:15 by David Barrett Admin
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Yesterday was the School of the Blues Student Concert. Though students did many things right, ending signals were more wrong then they were correct. Here are some tips...

1) Looking back at the band (and scanning all of the musicians as you nod your head) around bars 9-10 works well. You can also say, "Here we go." This works very well, though most students don't feel comfortable making a quick break in their playing to do this (for harp players and vocalists that is). What's good about these two are that the band will play an ending with you, circumventing the issue of #2 below. continue reading...

What's New: What's New: Ryan Walker Lesson #16 (Intermediate Student)

Posted Sun, 03/24/2013 - 08:51 by David Barrett Admin
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Join Ryan Walker and I for his latest lesson. We continue his theory studies; start developing his mental model (http://brainstruments.com); listen to his progress on "Easy Baby"; listen to his rehearsal for the upcoming School of the Blues Student Concert (http://www.schooloftheblues.com); continue our work on "Walker's Shuffle"; and finally Ryan is gifted pro gear!... bullet mic from Mr. continue reading...

David's Tip of the Day: Volume for Bends

Posted Fri, 03/22/2013 - 08:10 by David Barrett Admin
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Building on our conversation from yesterday... listening to your recording you probably also noticed your bends were louder in volume than your non-bent notes. Players still developing their bending skills tend to perform their bends with more volume, thinking that this will help them to achieve a deeper bend. Knowing that this is not the case, make a point to perform your bends at a softer volume in order to help them to balance with your other notes. Again, record and adjust... recording is the key.

David's Tip of the Day: Timing for Bends - Part 2 (Adjusting)

Posted Thu, 03/21/2013 - 07:13 by David Barrett Admin
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Most likely you noticed a slight hesitation for the start of your bent notes when listening to your recording, causing you to play the bends slightly out of time... late. Now practice the scale and play your bends a split second early, counteracting the time it takes to set up for the bending process. The better you get, the less of an adjustment is needed, but this will help your playing to stay in time. Record yourself and listen to how much of an adjustment is needed. Recording is the key.