Posted Fri, 05/22/2015 - 18:58 by David Barrett Admin
New videos have been added to the popular Minor Playing lesson. In Sections 2 and 3 of the lesson I've teamed up with Richard Sleigh and asked him to write a study song using the Minor Pentatonic Scale (same as the Blues Scale, minus the flat-5) to write a head that uses the same notes in four positions... 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th so that you can see how a melody can be directly transposed to one of these minor-friendly positions. I also requested that he solo two choruses in each of these examples so that you can hear the cool things that are unique to each of these positions. continue reading...
Posted Thu, 05/21/2015 - 07:29 by David Barrett Admin
Use a slight yawn… this drops your jaw slightly (opens your mouth cavity), drops the middle/back part of your tongue (most important... this the #1 cause of poor tone, even if everything else is in alignment), raises your soft palate (so that no air goes through your nasal cavity) and opens your throat (gives you a larger tone... noticeably more bass).
The Harmonica Masters Workshops have been taking place in Trossingen since 2003. Initiated by musical director Steve Baker, with world-class instructors and a full supporting program of sessions and concerts, they are now regarded as the leading educational event for blues harmonica in Europe. continue reading...
Posted Mon, 05/11/2015 - 08:41 by David Barrett Admin
Kinya Pollard (the HarpSmith) has provided a lot of very good instruction on harmonica repair, upgrades, and upkeep on the website. Please make note that for repairing and modifying harmonicas that you have to look at and adjust a lot of reeds to be able to do a professional job. continue reading...
Posted Fri, 05/08/2015 - 08:56 by David Barrett Admin
I mentioned some benefits of playing softly. One of the key benefits is the longevity of your harps. However, a major epiphany for me as a player was when I realized just how softly and relaxed Big Walter was playing (he’s my favorite classic player). Everyone recognizes Big Walter’s tone as being fantastic. Both Big and Little Walter played softly for the majority of what they played, giving them great dynamic range for when they wanted to “hit it hard.” continue reading...
Posted Wed, 05/06/2015 - 08:54 by David Barrett Admin
Harmonica customizer Jon Harl and I often discuss issues commonly experienced by my students and his customers… most often being focused on playability, tone and most commonly longevity. He works on some of my student’s harps and it’s common for me to receive a note from him like, “Please nudge your student to play softer, he’s killing his harps!” I asked him to write some Tips of the Day. Hearing from a person that works on harmonicas daily brings an interesting insight into proper technique. Thanks Jon!
Posted Wed, 05/06/2015 - 08:50 by David Barrett Admin
In these two videos we record the slow blues instrumental heavily influenced by George "Harmonica" Smith titled "Dark Night." Pianist Steve Lucky joins the recording crew for this and two more songs.