Posted Mon, 10/10/2011 - 07:27 by David Barrett Admin
“’Do you always know what you’re gonna say before you start taking?’ No. ‘And does that stop you from talking.?’ Not usually. ‘Okay, then play!’” Pg 30, The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music, by Victor L. Wooten
Posted Sun, 10/09/2011 - 08:33 by David Barrett Admin
The more airtight your cup is, the more muted your sound is. The more muted your sound is, the darker your amplified tone is and the stronger the difference between your closed and open cup for the Wa Wa and hand tremolo effects. continue reading...
Posted Thu, 10/06/2011 - 09:48 by David Barrett Admin
“Everyone starts out in music as a listener. As young children, we hear music with freshness and delight. We fall in love with it and are entranced by the simplest song. But when we start practicing an instrument, we stop listening intently. We become so involved with producing sound that we forget to take it in.” Pg 12, The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music From the Heart by Madeline Bruser
Posted Tue, 10/04/2011 - 07:28 by David Barrett Admin
Which embouchure is fastest... Pucker or Tongue Block? There's no difference... they both can play as fast as the other, BUT, Pucker can play faster articulations due to the back AND front of the tongue is free to articulate (in Tongue Blocking the tip is on the face of the harmonica)... think Ta Ka Ta Ka Ta Ka... etc. So, in the end, we all need to know how to do both to be a well-rounded harmonica player.
Posted Sun, 09/25/2011 - 07:19 by David Barrett Admin
Now play the same note you played from the last tip... starting as softly as you can... and I mean softly... making it slowly sound from nothing, raising in volume slowly... until it's very loud!
This is two levels of volume and is more desirable than one (which means NO dynamics)
Now do the same in reverse... loud to soft.
Now improvise, making every lick start at one volume and ending at the another. More tomorrow on this.
Posted Wed, 09/21/2011 - 22:40 by David Barrett Admin
For those of you using an iPad or iPod and want to watch lesson videos on BluesHarmonica,com, the Puffin Web Browser App By CloudMosa, Inc is a good solution. We're in the process of encoding videos to be iPod and iPad friendly at BluesHarmonica.com, but it's still going to be some time (working on it every night), and this is a good solution until then.
Posted Mon, 09/19/2011 - 07:26 by David Barrett Admin
The bulk of technique performed on the harmonica is hidden from view. You can't see what I'm doing and I can't see what you're doing...YOU can't see what you're doing! The tongue is responsible for all good and evil on the harmonica. If your tone is thin... a note bends, squeals or stalls unintentionally... or a bend goes too far or not far enough... your tongue is in the wrong spot. If your tone is good and you're able to control bends at the correct pitch... your tongue is in the right spot. Get to know your tongue. continue reading...