Breathing and notation
Hello again David
Reading "The Musician's Way" (great recommendation, by the way!) and the tips for preparing new materials, I've taken a step back to combine those tips, with the tips/tricks in your Breathing class (Ex.1.2 specifically) and the notation on my current study songs - to try and better prepare my practice sessions and avoid developing bad habits. ( I hadn't previously notated where I could breathe in/out and hence tend to forget until it's too late).
On Level 2 - Temperature - I replaced the 2 with a 3+ on one particular chorus (the 5th), but left it as was for the rest of the song. That worked fine.
Now on Level 3 - most of all in "Blues Creepin' Over Me" - measures 8-12 of Verse 2 have a whole string of 2s and barely a chance to empty the lungs. I could just go ahead and swap some of them out for 3+, but I'm now second guessing whether I should really do that, hence the big question:
Why is the 2 used so much when it could be replaced by the 3+ and give the player a chance to swap out the air? I suspect that further on in my studies I'll discover why and apologize for jumping the gun (maybe for easier slides, dips etc.), but ask in order to avoid developing a habit of swapping these out for ease now only to find myself slamming into a brick wall later on. Even the blues break drops to a 2 when it could easily be a 3+ and balance out the lung usage.
Thanks David
Thanks for taking the time to clarify that for me David. Now I don't feel so bad about switching a 2 out for a 3+ now and again, but I'll only do that when absolutely necessary and when not preceeded or followed by a bend.
Yesterday I finished the Breathing section and saw you mention your regular use of the nose push. I've been using it on longer notes, trying to find the balance that doesn't affect the pitch/volume, but haven't been using it as much as you mention, so thanks for that, I'll spend some time on that and see where it takes me.
I'm fully in tune with your "process, not product" mindset, so I'm not planning on rushing it. Here's a link that fully fits that philosophy, a poem I've carried in my head since I was a teenage literature student, in case you've never come across it.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51296/ithaka-56d22eef917ec
An excerpt:
"Keep Ithaka always in your mind.Arriving there is what you’re destined for.But don’t hurry the journey at all.Better if it lasts for years,so you’re old by the time you reach the island,wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,not expecting Ithaka to make you rich." Thanks again Joel
Perfect. Thanks for the quote Joel.
Great, I'm glad you liked the book.
Smart change with Temperature.
In "Blues Creepin' Over Me" I recommend you open your nose on the blow notes, that will make all the difference.
You can basically use 2 draw or 3+ anywhere you want, but as you mentioned, down the road, when you're using more bending, you may tend to use the 2 draw more often, since it's common to precede the 2 with a 2 draw bend (2") or follow the 2 with a 2". Since a lot of players love to bend a lot for the bluesy effect it gives, the 2 draw tends to be used more.
With this said, the 3+ is great for breath balance and the chord of the slap is a little bit bigger, so a lot of the classic blues guys used the 3+ more than one may guess.
So, in the end, it's your choice, you're not going to develop any bad habits.