Dynamic Variety Tonal and Textural Variety Exciting Music Harp Harmonica Blues

Play a 4 draw. Now play a 4 draw with a little bit of 5 draw... your ear still hears the 4 draw as the main note, the 5 draw is just there for texture. Play a 4/5 shake... again you still hear the 4 draw as the main note. When playing adjacent notes, the ear hears the bottom note of the harmony.

Now play a 1 draw-4 draw octave. In this case the ear hears the upper octave... the 4 draw. When playing an octave (or other type of split), the ear hears the top note.

This is great to know when you're exploring different textural options in your writing.

I just posted a YouTube video sample from our upcoming Music Theory Study 6 (releasing in September) where I open by playing with John Garcia. Notice how I change my volume from chord change to chord change, from lick to lick and within each lick. Note how I hold the 4 draw in the 3rd Chorus (around 1:00 in) clean, with no tremolo... then add vibrato... then some 5 draw for a thicker, more bluesy texture... then move my tongue forward to rob my mouth of the deep, resonant tone chamber I usually use to make the tone present with more bite... then open my hands to further brighten the tone... continue reading...