band

I had a couple of students ask where on the site they can study bass lines. Here they are...

Solo Harmonica Study 1 - Section 2
http://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/solo_study_1

Solo Harmonica Study 2 - Section 2
http://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/solo_harmonica_study_2

Solo Harmonica Study 3 - Section 2
http://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/solo_harmonica_study_3

Accompaniment Study 7 - Bass Lines
http://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/accompaniment_study_7

Accompaniment Study 8 - Hooks (which are also commonly played by the bass) continue reading...

Students were naturally nervous to play at the evening jam sessions, especially with all the great talent and the video cameras rolling. We all have aversion to putting ourselves into situations where we may embarrass ourselves publicly. The key point I like to remind students of is that a jam session is not a concert. A jam sessions is an opportunity to explore new ideas and to allow the moment of collective vulnerability (for the band as well) to create new and exciting music that could only come from that dynamic moment.

A new house band rotation is starting at School of the Blues in a couple of weeks and in their prep email they're asked to watch this video. This work provides a great perspective for new players getting ready to play with others. Below is an annotated transcript for your reference.

"Journey Into Jazz" by Gunther Schuller, Narrated by Leonard Bernstien (1962)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x15bpi_leonard-bernstein-journey-into-j... continue reading...

In jam situations sometimes songs are called quickly and the person counting in looks to you to solo in the intro. You may not know where in the form the song is starting, nor the feel of the song (even if they call a "Shuffle," there are many types of shuffles). You could just start blowin' riffs, but an even better approach is to play a long-held note (with vibrato would be a good idea) for about two bars... and then continue playing. continue reading...

The first value of having a recorder around you is to capture the cool ideas that come to you. These moments of inspiration can come when...

1) Playing to a jam track and you play a cool idea that you want to remember

2) Listening to a song and a cool lick comes up that you want in your vocabulary

3) A catchy melody jumps into your mind that you sing into the recorder for later decoding on the harmonica

Join bandleader Frank De Rose as he discusses the important areas of focus in creating a successful blues band. His videos can be found in Section 4 of the "Performance Training Study 5 - Joining or Starting a Blues Band" lesson at BluesHarmonica.com.

In this Performance Training study I'll help prepare you for the process of joining an existing blues band or starting your own. No harmonicas are needed for this lesson, but download the PDF to reference as we go through the points in this lesson. This lesson is for all skill level players, but is generally focused towards upper-intermediate and advanced players. continue reading...

Dave has some great tips for you today on preparing for a jam session. You can see these new videos in the "Performance Training Study 4" lesson, in "Section 4."

In this Performance Training lesson I'll help prepare you for success at a Jam Session. Jam sessions can be very challenging, but they provide a valuable opportunity to gain stage experience, meet like-minded musicians and try new material. No harmonicas are needed for this lesson, but download the PDF to reference as we go through the points in this lesson. This lesson is for all skill level players, but is generally focused on intermediate players. continue reading...

Excessive volume from the band is an extremely common problem for harmonica players. We have issues hearing ourselves (which causes feedback problems trying to raise above the volume of the band) and all ideas of musicality and dynamics are thrown out the window. Here are some tools you can use to help combat this... continue reading...