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Harmonica player Will Scarlett has been described as outstanding, original, cosmic, visionary, unconventional and pioneering. Since the mid-1960s, Will Scarlett has played with a wide range of musicians and in a host of different musical styles. He collaborated regularly with guitar virtuoso Steve Mann and toured with folk blues master Brownie McGhee. continue reading...

Here's a little known fact...

If you play 2 draw and 5 draw at the same time (blocking holes 3 and 4 with your tongue... a standard octave embouchure size) you get G on the bottom (2 draw) and F on the top (5 draw). This creates a great bluesy dissonance that's used often by players.

You probably already knew this, BUT, did you know you can bend the 2 draw G down to F, without affecting the 5 draw F, creating an F octave? continue reading...

I didn't know our accordion brother (also a reed instrument, commonly made in the same factory as the harmonica) can bend notes as well. Take a listen to this interesting NPR interview... the portion on note bending is at 5:52.

Accordionist Interprets French Waltz Tradition In 'Musette Explosion'
http://www.npr.org/2014/11/10/363051645/accordionist-interprets-french-w...

A student asked how I would structure an 8 hour a day practice routine. I thought you would appreciate seeing this...

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Assuming I was where you're at right now, this is how I would structure my practice day...

1) 15m - Warm up playing scales: Major Pentatonic and Blues Scale for each chord of the three positions (C, G, D, A) across the entire range of the harmonica.

2) 15m - Arpeggios: Major, Minor and 7th Chords from of all the chords based on the home scale in three positions (C, G and D scales) continue reading...