Effective Lick Practice (Part 3)

Why?

1) Listen - No playing... no humming... just listen.

Why: Just appreciate the lick for what it has to offer... what is its essence.

2) Hum - This personalizes/internalizes the lick... learning the rhythm and contour of the lick before you pick up your machine (the harmonica).

Why: If you play ON TOP of the music right away it will take longer and be less accurate... it's like the saying, "How can you listen if you're talking?"

3) Practice - Stop the loop and practice. Using your provided music work on the blows, draws, bends, movement... everything related to performing that lick on your machine. Do this until you can get close to the rhythm of the lick in your memory.

Why: Again, separate the learning process. Now you're working on your machine, to later produce the "music."

4) Listen Once, Play Once - You ARE practicing when you're listening. Though I and others like to use the phrase "muscle memory," it's really your brain controlling and firing the proper nerve pathways that fire the muscles needed to perform this action. You WILL learn FASTER and more ACCURATELY by Listening Once, Playing Once. Once you feel that you have the lick, don't stop the Listening Once, Playing Once practice. Now you can focus on often-missed dynamics, tremolo/vibrato, articulation, tone, etc.

Why: Your main goal now is to get the rhythm and performance elements dialed in. Again, you can't REALLY get the nuances of the rhythm down if you're playing on top of it. Most non-professionals lack the discipline to DEEPLY listen to the music enough times to hear ALL of the elements... pitch, duration, articulation, dynamics (volume), tone, tremolo/vibrato, hand usage, etc. This is your chance to listen and try.