Newbie with a few questions
Hi, I joined last weekend and am really enjoying the site. I started on harp at the beginning of January just as a fun hobby... something different to learn… and I got hooked. Aside from a handful of keyboard lessons when I was 14 I never learned any instrument, although I have always loved music and listen to a ton of it. I am mainly a rocker girl, but I also like blues and have been discovering a lot more of it since taking up this new hobby. Funny, I am noticing that many of my all-time favorite songs have harmonica in them and I never realized it before.
So in these past couple months I had gotten pretty good with lip-blocking single notes and playing simple "campfire" songs. My main challenges so far have been dry mouth issues and memorization. The playing part is just a matter of practice. Since I work at home I am able to get a lot of practice time in (avoiding work--haha!). I had been working on bending with the lip-blocked embouchure and was able to bend holes 1-4, but not with any real control.
Now I am starting your lessons and learning the tongue-blocking method. It's going pretty well. I can play Chorus 1 of Walk With Me pretty well already. Blocking that #2 hole is very awkward for me, so chorus 2 of Walk with me and Solo 1 exercise 1.5 are taking more time to conquer.
Some questions:
Dry mouth - I have read that this eventually resolves itself with your body automatically catching up to your increased saliva needs. Any idea how long until that occurs? I have cut back on my sodium and I drink only water, except maybe 1-2 caffeinated beverages a day. I do think it's easier to slide on the harp with TB compared to lip-blocking, but I still have issues with the corners of my mouth drying up and sticking.
Bending - Since I had already started practicing bending with lip blocking, should I continue that practice while I am also learning tongue blocking, or should I put it aside for now and just work it back in when I get to those lessons on BluesHarmonica.com?
Interviews - Are there any well-known female harmonica players you could interview for the site? I know gender doesn't matter as far as technique and all, but it would be cool.
Something for the FAQ - Most harmonica lessons and books have you start with a key of C harmonica, but you start with A and G. Why?
Thanks,
Sue
Thanks for the tips and the lead on Annie Raines, I will look her up. My Rhapsody music subscription is getting a workout these days. It is so cool to be able to hear a name of a song or player mentioned and be listening to it within seconds!
I prefer practicing with the lower key harps. It's less grating to the ears. :-)
Regarding the hole 2 problems I've been having... One thing I noticed while I was practicing yesterday is that the left corner of my lips tends to go off the end of the harp when I tongue block the 2, and then when I slide back to the higher holes it's kind of caught there. I guess now that I am conscious of it, that is something I will have to work to avoid.
Hi Sue, welcome to the site! I've been playing awhile but only recently joined and committed myself to switch from pucker to TB and now can comfortably bend both ways, though still working on a few holes. I can say with my experience, I wish I had learned TB from the start as it would've saved me some headaches and I could've avoided some bad habits, so you're well to keep at it with TB. I still will occasionally do a pucker for hole 2, especially if I need a deep bend.
David, glad to hear you are hoping to line up an interview with Annie Raines. I just started getting into her music and she's pretty amazing.
There's another female harmonica player I found recently, though I don't know her work much: Rachelle Plas
Here's a youtube of her doing Mellow Down Easy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwXt3Tj377A&feature=related
Dennis
Thank you Dennis
Thanks for the encouragement, Dennis! I came across Rachelle Plas when I was looking up Annie Raines on YouTube... good stuff!
I'm still plugging away on "Walk with Me" but sticking to the tongue blocking exclusively now. And I do mean "sticking"! Arg... this dry mouth stage is so frustrating!
...Ran into Cheryl Arena in Clarksdale, Mississippi a few years back...She is a fairly good player!!!
Let's not forget Big Mama Thorton: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsG4RwBwBeA. This is a cool video. Walter Horton is my favorite but Big Mama more than holds her own.
Of course Dave can't interview her for the site, as she's blowing harp on the other side of the pond now.
Although not known as blues or diatonic player, Hermine Deurloo is a fine jazz chromatic player: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsjKLfBIUWY.
Welcome to the site Sue!
When tongue blocking hole 2, aim for the wood on the left the harp... not even aiming to block hole 1. Block the wood to the left of hole 1 and the curvature of the tongue will take care of covering the 1... it's a cool fix.
Tongue blocking does tend to be better in terms of not drying up... the tongue self lubricating the harmonica while playing. The big help is to use a light touch... both with the lips and tongue... this solves as much of the issue. To a certain degree you're dealing with genetics, but with a light touch and time (about a year) it takes care of most of the issue.
Bend in a tongue block... tongue blocking should be your primary embouchure... for many reasons this is superior.
There is one woman harmonica player of high note, Annie Raines. She is a real fine player and a pleasure to work with. The next time she's in my area or I'm in hers I will sure ask.
There is only one reason authors use the C Harmonica for most books... convenience of not having to go into much theory to explain what sharps and flats are all about. My first couple of books I used the D Harmonica and then I too found it easier to use the C Harmonica as the foundation of most of my beginning methods due to the challenge of spending too much time with students on theory. The challenge of this is that the majority of blues harmonica songs use the lower harps, G, A and Bb... we prefer the lower sound... bigger tone. So, I start you with the A because it IS the most common harp used in blues... I then incorporate other keys as you travel through the study songs. The added advantage of the site is that if you want to dig into theory, there's a resource for it (I'm writing it right now).
Best wishes on your studies rocker girl!