CD VS. WEBSITE LEARNING RESULTS
David,
I was already a very big fan of your teaching methods about a year and a half prior to your website. Prior to this website, I have really enjoyed your book/CD/DVD method. Now that I am a subscriber to your website (I have been since day 1) I am even more impressed with what you have to offer and intend on staying a subscriber until time indefinite.
Since I am halfway through (almost completed level 2 series) your book/CD method, I have a few sincere questions:
Can I get just as much training, education, and experience out of the intermediate/advanced level lesson plans on this website as I would by continuing through level 3 book series? Or is there still a benefit of both taking the time to learn the website songs/instrumentals and supplementing them with the book method? ( In the meantime I am really enjoying the interviews, contributors columns, and of course the fact that I can ask you or anybody else any number of harmonica related questions!)
Finally, the concepts from your books such as Improvising the Blues, and Accompaniment playing seem to be ingeniously woven into many of the harmonica instrumental learning structures from beginning to advanced. Does this mean purchasing these books may not be as critical as spending a few years completing all the lesson plans on the website, or do they still have a great resource value?
Please answer as if I was coming to your school in San Jose and you had accepted me as one of your one to one students and you were deciding on a training syllabus with the knowledge that I probably only had about 2 hours or less per day to practice, but took that practice time/study time very seriously, and was at the mid-intermediate level of harmonica playing.
Your answer will dictate how quickly and efficiently I continue to progress.
Thanks in advance David for taking the time ( I cannot even begin to imagine your daily workload at this point) to address this.
I have a stack of David's books in the corner of my office - almost a complete set of the Harmonica Masterclass series. I've been wondering the same thing. The problem I had with the books was I couldn't really bring myself to sit and go through them with any dedication or commitment. Plus, I couldn't hear and see the right way to do it like I can on this site. I like this system MUCH better, but I hate to waste the investment that I made in the books. I've picked one or two up during my online training sessions, but I can't really figure out what book goes with what spot I'm in with the online lessons.
Dave's books are the only ones I've kept. That caveman book by the other guy is long since in the trash. Still, I'd like to use the Masterclass books somehow...
Thank you for your kind words. The simple answer is if you're working on the harp, and the technique taught is solid, you can't go wrong. I personally use the bluesharmonica.com lesson material with almost all my students. The books I do use as well are the Exploring Series books and "Improvising Blues Harmonica" and "Blues Harmonica Accompaniment Playing." Again, if you have the harp in your mouth, and you're following some formal system and jamming a lot (with the Chorus Form concept to jam tracks), you're going to be a dangerous player! Don't be in a hurry... to play the harmonica well is a long, wonderfully fun journey! :-)
P.S., most my private students practice ~30m a day... with 2 hours a day you're going to kick some but! ;-)