Scales and mental model
Hi David
Perhaps its old age but learning scales across all octives up and down is one of the hardest things Ive ever stepped up to. Ive been stalled on this for a very long time. After nearly 5 years in your program I often feel I should be farther ahead.
At first I tried just memorizing by mustle memory and got frustrated as it was a slippery way to learn. Nothing was sustained.
Then I began to make progress by verbally repeating the notes out loud and trying to play it.
Now Im making more progress by watching Harp Ninja as I practice them while using the visual feedback and to create the mental model. This seems to be a better approach.
Any other hints?
Finally Ive been working on scales and exerecises up to Level 5 and have gotten out of working on a study song while Im developing scales. Can you recommend another to work on? I can my My Blues now. I would say my bending skills are good and technique fair but I am zero on improvisation. Hence the interest in scales.
Gary
Yes your idea of focusing on licks is moving me ahead. I am actually starting to develop some of my own....somehow.
Are these lickes ever written down somehow or just played enough that they stick in your vocabulary?
Dont I need to be concerned about transposing a lick I start on the I chord to the IV chord?
Gary
That's great news Gary.
You can write them down if you want. Some students have a binder, organized by which hole the licks start on (reference the Focus Notes study from Improvising Study 2).
Take a look at Improvising Study 1 for the answer to your last question. Sequencing is one of the seven Chorus Form (phrasing) options.
Hello Gary. Scales are just one tool for helping you learn. If you need to spend an inordinate amount of time on scales, I recommend you dump that part of your study. We all learn, retain, and grow differently. If you don't find the scales helpful, or in this case, a time hindrance, then don't focus on them... they're really not that important (just one tool of many). For some people, scales are helpful, so they focus on them. To each their own. The tradition of learning blues harmonica has not included scales... it has been a process of listen, copy, use. I recommend that you go into your study songs, and anything that you hear in your collection of music that you think you can copy by ear. Have a voracious appetite for learning songs and licks, and use the Chorus Form process of using/retaining licks (that I teach in the Improvising lessons) to make sure they stick with you for use when you improvise. You will become a great player with this. This is my recommendation for you.