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David's Tip of the Day: Tapping your Foot

Posted Thu, 03/01/2012 - 08:48 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

You've most likely heard that tapping your foot is a good idea while you play. You've also probably noticed that it can be hard to do, especially along to new licks that you're studying.

Give yourself a test... continue reading...

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David's Tip of the Day: Soloing Vocabulary - What to do with Memorized Licks

Posted Wed, 02/29/2012 - 10:00 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

Apply the licks you learn into the Chorus Form system. Chorus Forms are the study of how great players and song writers use repetition to create memorable solos and songs that stand the test of time. Simply stated, students that do this develop their improvising skills exponentially faster that those that don't. For more information on this subject dig into the Improvising Study 1 lesson on the site.

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David's Tip of the Day: Soloing Vocabulary - What to do with Memorized Solos or Songs

Posted Tue, 02/28/2012 - 09:18 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

Play them... often. Most of us don't have bands. The nice thing about having a band is that you have context for the songs you've studied. You also get to play these songs, at the very least, on a monthly basis to ensure retention. Mimic having a band. Make a playlist and once a week (if you don't have many songs at this point) or once a month (if you do have a lot of songs under your belt) hit play and don't stop until the playlist is complete. In the beginning I recommend you have the first track be the original and then the second track be the jam track for each song. continue reading...

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David's Tip of the Day: Harmonica Community - Creating, Part 2

Posted Wed, 02/22/2012 - 09:05 by David Barrett Admin
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Some subjects that I write about I'm an expert... something I have taught many times in many situations... the focus is to just write it down. Other areas I write on I am not an expert, and the research I do helps to educate me AND others. You don't have to be an expert to help the harmonica community by creating something new. Get started today on a project that excites you (and doesn't take away too much practice time... I'm dead serious about this).

Here are some Ideas for you:
- Create a listing
- Catalog something
- Gather historical data on an artist or artists that interest you continue reading...

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David's Tip of the Day: Harmonica Community - Creating, Part 1

Posted Tue, 02/21/2012 - 09:36 by David Barrett Admin
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If you're not interested in participating in something someone else is doing, then create something yourself. Do you like history? Are you mechanically inclined? Do you like working with databases? Do you like design?

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David's Tip of the Day: Harmonica Community - Help

Posted Fri, 02/17/2012 - 13:19 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

What does it mean to "help" the harmonica community?

Here are some examples...

1) Ask the leader of the local jam session you frequent if there's anything you can help with. Aspects of running or setting up for the jam... getting the word out via social media or flyers in the local area...

2) Get the word out about products or services you feel strongly about in your social circles... local and your social media (Facebook, blog, etc.). Possibly write a review. continue reading...

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David's Tip of the Day: Harmonica Community - Support

Posted Thu, 02/16/2012 - 10:05 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

Most likely you didn't have anything to list when I asked you what you were doing for the harmonica community yesterday. Let's look at three paths of thinking though... supporting, helping and creating... you're surely doing one of these?

Supporting continue reading...

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David's Tip of the Day: Harmonica Community

Posted Wed, 02/15/2012 - 08:38 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

What are you doing for the harmonica community?

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David's Tip of the Day: Knowing Where You Are - Tactile Reference

Posted Tue, 02/14/2012 - 09:14 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

It's true that the harmonica is a blind person's instrumental, though we do have our hands. Your lips, jaw and cheek touch your hands while playing the harmonica, giving you a tactile reference. Experiment by playing across the range of your harmonica and noting where your face is in relation to your hands; you may find this helpful when working on new passages that require large leaps. As you practice those challenging passages, over time your muscle memory will take over and you won't need that tactile reference, but it can be helpful at first.

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David's Tip of the Day: 10,000 Hours to Mastery

Posted Mon, 02/13/2012 - 08:45 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

Have you heard of the 10,000 hours rule to mastery? Chapter two of Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers" does a good job of covering it. Dan Levitin's book "This is Your Brain on Music" also speaks of it in reference to the musical mind. Joshua Foer's "Moonwalking with Einstein" covers the subject in reference to skills development for his memory project. K. Anders Ericsson, the leading expert on skills acquisition, coined the phrase and is the source quoted in all of these texts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Ericsson). Fascinating stuff. continue reading...

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