learn blues harmonica

I'll be there... hope to see you there too. For more information visit: http://spah.org/content.asp?pl=20&contentid=20

Apply the licks you learn into the Chorus Form system. Chorus Forms are the study of how great players and song writers use repetition to create memorable solos and songs that stand the test of time. Simply stated, students that do this develop their improvising skills exponentially faster that those that don't. For more information on this subject dig into the Improvising Study 1 lesson on the site.

Play them... often. Most of us don't have bands. The nice thing about having a band is that you have context for the songs you've studied. You also get to play these songs, at the very least, on a monthly basis to ensure retention. Mimic having a band. Make a playlist and once a week (if you don't have many songs at this point) or once a month (if you do have a lot of songs under your belt) hit play and don't stop until the playlist is complete. In the beginning I recommend you have the first track be the original and then the second track be the jam track for each song. continue reading...

If you're not interested in participating in something someone else is doing, then create something yourself. Do you like history? Are you mechanically inclined? Do you like working with databases? Do you like design?

Most likely you didn't have anything to list when I asked you what you were doing for the harmonica community yesterday. Let's look at three paths of thinking though... supporting, helping and creating... you're surely doing one of these?

Supporting continue reading...

What are you doing for the harmonica community?

It's true that the harmonica is a blind person's instrumental, though we do have our hands. Your lips, jaw and cheek touch your hands while playing the harmonica, giving you a tactile reference. Experiment by playing across the range of your harmonica and noting where your face is in relation to your hands; you may find this helpful when working on new passages that require large leaps. As you practice those challenging passages, over time your muscle memory will take over and you won't need that tactile reference, but it can be helpful at first.

Have you heard of the 10,000 hours rule to mastery? Chapter two of Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers" does a good job of covering it. Dan Levitin's book "This is Your Brain on Music" also speaks of it in reference to the musical mind. Joshua Foer's "Moonwalking with Einstein" covers the subject in reference to skills development for his memory project. K. Anders Ericsson, the leading expert on skills acquisition, coined the phrase and is the source quoted in all of these texts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Ericsson). Fascinating stuff. continue reading...

Here's a quote on accompaniment playing from Steve Czarnecki, keyboard instructor at School of the Blues.

"We’re not always the center of attention in music or in life, and there are times when it pays to play the background role graciously—learning to be a member of the musical boiler room propelling the great ship of song. You can become a very popular musician by being a good accompanist."