harmonica lessons lesson harp instruction teaching teach student

This journey of a musician in an improvised music style is very representative of the levels of awareness students go through in their path to mastery of the blues harmonica. I love the metaphor, "When you do, come back again. We'll be around.” The idea that the music will be there for the student to play once they’ve matured enough to approach it is wonderful. Not only do I see my students' journey in this story, I see mine. continue reading...

Continuing in from yesterday...

13. “on top of the music”… where most new improvisers spend their time.

14. “inside the music”… awareness of all levels within music.

15. “what to say in the music”… final level of musicianship—a personal voice.

16. “full or rage—raw and ugly”… use of dissonance for emotional purposes (outside tones… such as those used within the Blues Scale)

17. “triumphant notes”… understanding of the power of chord tones

18. “happy notes”… Major Pentatonic for example continue reading...

Continuing in from yesterday...

8. “When you do, come back again. We'll be around” is a metaphor for the journey of musical discovery—the music will be there for the student to play once they’ve matured enough to approach it.

9. “listen to jazz records”, listening being the key element here.

10. “but you don't know how to play with people (he had been listening only to the trumpet player, and not to what the other musicians were doing)”… once a musician moves beyond their instrument, they’re ready to become musicians, not just operators of their machine. continue reading...

I'll now spend some time on the areas I footnoted.

1. “three to six every afternoon” represents the average amount of daily practice time for the serious student of music. Dr. Anders Ericsson, expert in skills acquisition, states that it takes commonly ten thousand hours to reach a basic level of mastery.

2. “scales” represent where a music student’s study begins, preparing them for muscle memory on their instrument of the patterns needed for playing songs and the basic ear training required for tune recognition and ultimately creation. continue reading...

Join Intermediate student Ryan Walker for his latest lesson with me. In this lesson we cover...

Checking In - Between Lessons #1 and #2
Lesson 2 - Intro
Lesson 2 - Ryan plays Take it Easy Now and David's Comments
Lesson 2 - Cupping and Wa Wa
Lesson 2 - How to play Take It Easy Now with a Band, Part 1
Lesson 2 - How to play Take It Easy Now with a Band, Part 2
Lesson 2 - How to play Take It Easy Now with a Band, Part 3
Lesson 2 - Solo Harmonica Study 1, Examples 1.13 through 1.15
Lesson 2 - Solo Harmonica Study 1, Examples 2.1 to End
Lesson 2 - Gary's Blues, Choruses 1 through 3 continue reading...