scales and arpeggios
Hi Winslow,
I am playing 2 years now and for a couple of months I am a resident of this fantastic site. Due to Daves chromatic lessons I have been picking up my chromonica 270, after it has been lying collecting dust for some time, improved the mouthpiece with the rounded openings and cleaned the sticky valves. Although this is a almost awkward size compared with the snugly diatonics, this is big fun as the sound is so full and rich. and the instrument has such potentials.
My musical interest is very broad from classical to jazz and world music, everything what touches the soul and of course blues which is the basis for my harmonica tuition.
I have a bit of a soft spot for the old fashioned harmonica ensembles you do not find much anymore (enjoyed your youtubes) and I read somewhere (kim Wilson probably) that in order to get the hang of the chromatic nature, musicians have been playing arpeggios on a regular basis (no pain no gain)
A extensive google search did not bring much apart from Dutch Tinus Koorn who plays chromatic arpeggios on his C diatonic.
I copied this and wrote them out in tabs for the 12 keys and practice every day, although I can not grasp the logic up to now. And this is major only.
Do you know a source for arpeggios I can use for practicing my chromatic harmonica skills?
best wishes Izaak
Jason Ricci has an excellent discussion on the importance of learning scales in David's interview on this site. In addition to Winslow's comments above, I think scale and arpeggio education is important to help one acquire the speed and articulation that is so necessary for jazz and rock playing - two areas where Jason really excels. Another nice example of scale and arpeggio use in rock would be to listen to John Popper of Blues Traveler. His entire solo repertoire is mostly made up of scales and arpeggios.
Hi Winslow,
thanks for the info. I am going to inquire if harmonicaeducator can send to Holland.
Izaak -
One source for arpeggios specifically for chromatic harmonica is available from The Harmonica Educator The book is called "Scales, Intervals, Rhythms, Arpeggios (with Chord Symbols), and Exercises for Chromatic and Bass Harmonicas". You can find more information about Harmonica Educator products at http://www.harmonicaeducator.slidemeister.com/
Other sources of arpeggios (and scales) can be found in books either written for other instruments (such as flute or clarinet) or books that are not written for any specific instrument, such as the various jazz exercise books, like "Patterns for Jazz."
Arpeggios are helpful for a variety of reasons:
-- Melodies consist mostly of note sequences that either move up and down a scale or jump from one chord note to another - arpeggios. By practicing scales and arpeggios, you learn the moves used in most melodies and thus gain fluency. Also, anything you play helps develop your ear so that you can more easily identify what you hear.
-- If you're improvising, you need to understand the chords going on in the background. You'll either
-- play the notes of the chord or move between chord notes and non-chord notes, which will either create
tension by contrasting with chord notes, which you'll then want to resolve;
-- or extend and color the feeling of the chord.
The more you know what the notes of the chord are, the more you can work with these effects to play creatively with the harmonic materials of the song.