notation

Pretty cool editing software recommended by fellow student Sandor. He states, "It's not for live music, but for studio recording... fixing vocals, and works very well with harmonica. Harmonica caused headaches for other software." He also uses this software to convert what he played from audio to midi so that the midi can be imported into notation software to notate in standard music notation what he played. Thanks Sandor.

In Hob's first lesson we cover holding the harmonica; cupping a bullet mic; throat tremolo; importance of playing softly; playing with a relaxed embouchure; closing the nose for breath control; Solo Harmonica Study 1, examples 1.2 and 1.4; Tongue Block Study 1, example 1.2 and Walk With Me Study song, Chorus 1; Music Theory Study 1, Section 1; and bonus footage on the definition of tone in music, and how to create big tone on the harmonica. http://www.bluesharmonica.com/contributor/hob_bosold

And finally here's the fist line of "Rocker" using standard music notation: https://www.facebook.com/bluesharmonica

In our last handwritten TAB example I add standard rhythm notation. Most of the time this isn’t needed while learning by ear, but if you’re having difficulty with the rhythm of a particular passage it’s beneficial to take the time to figure it out (better to spend the time to own a rhythm than cower from it when it comes up in the music). Note that I’ve also changed the 1 and 2 draw chords found on upbeats to a “P,” which indicates the technique Walter is using to sound those chords, the tongue block Pull.

Visit https://www.facebook.com/bluesharmonica for this handwritten transcription.

I hope you enjoyed the challenge of the first part of our transcription process. Here are the answers to Friday's questions...

1) Harmonica Key: A

2) Key you and the band are playing in: E

3) Where he starts in time: The 2" is on the "and" of 4, with the 2 draw on the downbeat of the next bar. So, he's playing a 1/2 beat pickup to Bar 1. continue reading...

This is my process...

1) Transcribe everything at full tempo, without picking up the harmonica.

2) Slow the music down moderately (around 15-20%) and proofread my transcription carefully as I listen. This is very handy, I'll inevitably find little fixes (such as dips, slurs, pulls that were very soft, etc.).

3) If it's a very fast song, I'll do this again at around 40% slow. continue reading...

This is pretty simple… you don’t know how to play something and you take the time to learn it and write it down as you go. There’s nothing wrong with learning solos by memory, but the added value of writing them down is that you have something that can be edited over time and is a reference when you want to revisit the song (it’s common to work on a song for a while and then move on to other material, which makes it a high probability that you’ll forget most of what you’ve memorized if you don’t play the song regularly). continue reading...

I realized that I just jumped into transcribing tips and that it would be a good idea to define what transcribing is in detail for everyone. Transcribing is simply listening to what someone else has played on recording and writing down what they did. In its most basic form you write down the hole numbers that they played (blows, draws and bends) and any treatments such as tongue blocking techniques or articulations they used. continue reading...