Posted Tue, 06/10/2014 - 08:14 by David Barrett Admin
The most powerful vibrato/tremolo type I've heard came from the late-great William Clarke. He played an intense tremolo or vibrato (very fast tremolo or vibrato with large swing in pitch) and at the same time opened and closed his hands slower than the vibrato, creating a very cool and powerful oscillating effect. Take a listen to "Lonesome Bedroom Blues" from the Blowin' Like Hell release at 2:27. continue reading...
Posted Mon, 06/09/2014 - 11:21 by David Barrett Admin
With all vibratos your mouth needs to be tuned to the reed you're playing, and with this type of vibrato you move your tongue in a Ya Ya Ya-like motion to change the pitch (jaw is stationary, only the tongue moves). This is similar to the idea of the Chewing Vibrato in the way that the throat is not used at all. continue reading...
Posted Wed, 06/04/2014 - 07:20 by David Barrett Admin
The vibrato needs a bit of airflow to activate all of its moving parts, so it doesn't work at very low volumes. For this reason, practicing going from a low-volume tremolo into a vibrato is time well spent. The practice is straight forward, start playing a note as softly as possible, using a tremolo of course, and as the volume increases enough to use the vibrato, switch to a vibrato as smoothly as you can (not allowing the vibrato to kick start and start swing hard and fast... the goal is a smooth transition). continue reading...
Posted Tue, 06/03/2014 - 08:52 by David Barrett Admin
The throat vibrato is generally easier to produce at a faster speed. Though powerful... think Paul Butterfield... that intensity is not always appropriate. Gary Smith has a silky-smooth slow vibrato and I remember him saying to me at age 16 that slowing it down was really a challenge... and it was. It took me about a year to produce a good vibrato and another couple of years to slow it down.
The mouth and tongue (in their relaxed state) are influenced by the throat tremolo to produce the vibrato. What I feel when I slow my vibrato down is that I simply slow down my tremolo. continue reading...
Posted Mon, 06/02/2014 - 09:00 by David Barrett Admin
Now that you're working on the different vibrato types, it's time to match them all up. Play your throat vibrato on 1, 2 and 3 draw and then chewing vibrato on 3". Work on matching the depth (how low the note bends) and duration (the time between bends) of the chewing vibrato so that it matches that of the 1, 2 and 3. Do the same for your chewing vibrato on 7+, 8+, 9+ and 10+ to match the vibrato on your 4, 5 and 6 draw. You don't have to play them the same all the time (musical context will dictate this), but it's good technique to have an even approach across the range of the harmonica.
Posted Wed, 05/28/2014 - 07:48 by David Barrett Admin
To check if you're achieving the vibrato, open up HarpNinja. Play a tremolo (no pitch change) and you'll see the green light of the box for that hole flicker on and off. When performing the vibrato (pitch change) you'll see the readout alternating between that hole and its half step bend.
Posted Tue, 05/27/2014 - 07:53 by David Barrett Admin
Let's now try to create the vibrato on an unbent note.
Play your 3 draw and prepare your mouth to bend, but don't bend... keep your tongue and throat relaxed. Your mouth should be tuned to the 3 draw and is ready to influence the pitch when the tremolo starts. Now play your 3 draw with your throat tremolo and the vibrato should be there.
If you're vibrato is not there, then either your muscles are too tense or you're not tuned to the 3 draw. continue reading...
Posted Fri, 05/23/2014 - 07:52 by David Barrett Admin
Play a 3' and turn on your tremolo... for most players a vibrato will be produced. As the throat opens it bends the 3' a little more and as the throat closes the bend releases a little bit.
Posted Thu, 05/22/2014 - 07:40 by David Barrett Admin
Item three of our three elements needed to produce a vibrato on the harmonica was, "Tongue and pharynx are relaxed enough to be influenced by the throat tremolo." continue reading...
Posted Tue, 05/20/2014 - 07:06 by David Barrett Admin
Vibrato is change in pitch, and slightly in volume, and even more slightly in tone. As a technique, it's one of the most difficult skills to teach and learn. Here are the three important elements to producing this technique. Item 1 we've already discussed; we'll discuss items 2 and 3 over this week.
1) Throat tremolo is on
2) Mouth is tuned to the note you're playing
3) Tongue and pharynx are relaxed enough to be influenced by the throat tremolo