Non-blues teachers?
Are there any sites for harmonica in a genre other than blues? I play a lot of country and bluegrass and it seems like there's nothing out there. I retune all of my harps to paddy richter because country required a lot more melody...and I thought I was pretty much committing a sin until I learned that Charlie McCoy does the same thing sometimes although his standard is country tuning. I have a full blues set and don't plan on giving that up, but there are better tunings for the type of music I'm interested in and very little instruction on playing it. I've figured most of it out watching Tomlin Leckie and David Barrett and just making adjustments but if there is anyone who teaches that type of music I'd sure like to take some lessons. David's site is an extremely good value and I don't plan on leaving...the interviews alone are worth the price of admission. Just curious
Howard Levy (artistworks) has a "Folk/Irish/Bluegrass" section of lessons. I don't recall that his lessons require overblows, but he might say something like "if you can overblow the 5, then you can ..."
Another idea is get some slow down software (Audacity, Amazing Slow Downer, Transcribe!) and transcribe tunes you want to play (e.g., your favorite Charlie McCoy). Carlos del Junco has one or two youtube vides on how he uses Transcribe! with his students.
I teach non-blues styles, though I don't have web-based materials. I've studied a ot of country artists and played a lot of Celtic music on harmonica, with a little bluegrass. My book Harmonica For Dummies, Second Edition, goes into some old-time/bluegrass tunes, and I've taught players who focus on that group of styles. I'm conversant with several tunings, including Paddy.
if this sounds interesting, look me up; I'm easy to find.
Thanks Winslow! I've actually sent you an email before on Paddy tuning and appreciated your response! I also own your book and frequently read your comments on the Harmonica Lessons forum. I may be interested in looking you up soon.
And the interview with Charlie McCoy was awesome!