The Process - Uwe Pfennig

Part of the Level 10 testing process is to share with the other students their personal journey. Here is Uwe's. Congratulations again Uwe!

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I was in my twenties when I held a Harp in my hands for the first time. It was a Hohner Blues
Harp in E. I wanted to play all these great songs and do all these gorgeous sounds that I heard on my Blues
records. But no plan, no Idea how to do it! So I ended up learning an easy tongue block version from
“When the saints go marchin in”. But, nothing was marching for me. My harp career ended fast.
About 10 years later another try. I refreshed my ‘When the saints go marchin in’ and got myself a
book “How to play the Blues Harp” and started again. It ended like the first time.

Another ten years later I found my first Blues Harp hidden in one of my old boxes in the attic.
Believe it or not I came up to play “When the saints…” again. But this time it was different. There was
something called the Internet and Youtube. It was a whole lot easier to get information on how
to start playing and e.g. knowing about and using second position. Even better, after a while I found the
most exciting and well-organized Homepage for learning the Bluesharp. www.bluesharmonica.com

Looking at the Videos and listening to David´s explanations I got highly motivated to work on
my skills and I even wanted to master the Level of Achievements.

I started as a pucker player but I wanted to change my style of playing to tongue blocking. It made level
one and two quite a hassle, but it was worth it. Believe me!

Due to my musical education background, music theory was nothing I had to focus on, so I could
concentrate on playing and learning new harp skills. I completed Level 3 and moved quickly to the
intermediate level. Level 1 to 3 were fun to start with, learning easy blues melodies and skills.
They were my real first steps playing the Bluesharp and I already got into the groove.

It got a little harder when I started the intermediate level 4. In my opinion the change from 3 to
4 was a bigger step than the ones before. I can not explain it but it took me a little while to get into it.
But as usual… practice, practice, practice…

A lot of fun was the challenge to write my own blues songs. Taking the construction kit and
creating something new. Until today I still play these songs. Much better now and with a lot more
variations.

Beside learning skills I started to play in public. I joined jam sessions and performed with a lot of different
people. It was very hard in the beginning. I went up on stage with an idea how to use my prepared licks.
I came down and was wondering what went wrong during the last twenty minutes. Nothing I played
came close to the idea I had before. But it all changed with the experience I gained. Today there is still
a fist in my stomach, but now I am able to cope with it, even when I have the feeling it is not running
well.

After a while I managed the intermediate level and moved on to the advanced level. The step
from 6 to 7 was also a challenge. The song “Half stepping” is a great song and I was very happy and
proud when I mastered it.

Right now, I am at the verge of completing Level 10. And there is be a big question: What
happens after Level 10? Well, I can tell you what I will do. I will start all over again. No kidding! At every
level I was focusing on managing the necessary exercises, so that in consequence I think I missed a lot
of licks, cool videos and great conversations with the masters of harp playing, and I bet I will learn more
and more on how to manage this great instrument.

Hopefully I will pass the level 10 exam soon. I thank David for his patience and his great work!

Regards

Uwe