Skip to main content
Blues Harmonica logo

User Account

Username:*
Password:*
Forgot Your Password?

Visitor Menu

  • Sign Up
  • Sample Lesson #1
  • Sample Lesson #2
  • Student Recordings
  • Forums

time

David's Tip of the Day: Tempos Differing - Playing a Song Slower or Faster

Posted Wed, 04/13/2016 - 08:13 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

A common question I get asked is how fast 4/4 time is. The 4/4 at the beginning of a line of music doesn't indicate the tempo of a song, it indicates how many beats are in a bar (4 in this case) and which note value receives the beat (quarter note in this case). This 4/4 is what's known as the Time Signature.

Tempo is up to the player, even when playing a known song. continue reading...

  • tempo
  • ,
  • time
  • ,
  • signature
  • ,
  • value
  • ,
  • song
  • ,
  • performance

David's Tip of the Day: Playing In Time = Listening

Posted Wed, 03/09/2016 - 10:57 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

It’s challenging to perform a piece of music. There are techniques (precise bending, tongue blocking, articulation, etc.), movement (conjunct and disjunct), dynamics (volume and tonal), rhythm (individual licks and their chaining together into phrases) and everything else involved in playing a particular piece of music well. continue reading...

  • time
  • ,
  • rhythm
  • ,
  • playing
  • ,
  • timing
  • ,
  • harp
  • ,
  • harmonica
  • ,
  • music

David's Tip of the Day: 8 Hours a Day Practice

Posted Tue, 11/18/2014 - 08:57 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

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

---

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...

  • practice
  • ,
  • harmonica
  • ,
  • performance
  • ,
  • work
  • ,
  • time
  • ,
  • schedule
  • ,
  • harp

David's Tip of the Day: Creativity, Part 2 (The Gift)

Posted Wed, 10/08/2014 - 08:33 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

The key word yesterday was "gift," to "gift myself enough time to get bored." Our daily lives are full with responsibilities, so we naturally have to allot specific times for our various activities, with our practice sessions commonly starting and ending at prescribed times. This scheduling is part of what makes us successful, but some practice sessions should give you hours instead of minutes. When I was a teenager that was easy to do, I had hours on hours of time to do as I pleased. continue reading...

  • time
  • ,
  • practice
  • ,
  • regimine
  • ,
  • harp
  • ,
  • harmonica

David's Tip of the Day: Moving out of Time in Performance - Strategies, Part 3

Posted Wed, 01/15/2014 - 09:35 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

Space... it's the most simple and effective way to stay in time. Leave more space in your playing. This is accomplished in two ways...

1) Space in the form of rest between phrases, where you're not playing.

2) Space in the form of long holds, where you play a note for a bar or longer.

Both types of space give you the opportunity to listen to where you are in the form and make micro-adjustments between phrases.

  • band
  • ,
  • training
  • ,
  • time
  • ,
  • moving out of
  • ,
  • performance
  • ,
  • harp
  • ,
  • harmonica
  • ,
  • blues

David's Tip of the Day: Moving out of Time in Performance - Strategies, Part 1

Posted Mon, 01/13/2014 - 09:04 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

It can be challenging at times to anticipate when chord change is going to happen in a song. Maybe the tune has very smooth transitions between chords (no telegraphing) or the volume mix of the instruments on stage is such that it makes it hard to hear the collective chord change. continue reading...

  • time
  • ,
  • timing
  • ,
  • playing
  • ,
  • performance
  • ,
  • practtice
  • ,
  • strategies
  • ,
  • harp
  • ,
  • harmonica

Sign me up!

The low monthly subscription of $16.95 gives you full access! We accept major credit cards and PayPal.

Subscribe

Free Sample Lessons

After watching the BluesHarmonica.com overview video, try one of the lessons below to experience a lesson at BluesHarmonica.com.

  • Tongue Blocking Study 2 – This study is for the newer player or the player new to tongue blocking
  • Bending Study 5 – This is for the advanced player looking to improve their bending skills

Contributors

  • Aki Kumar
  • Joe Tartaglia
  • Gary Smith
  • Mark Hummel
  • Joe Filisko

Site Links

  • About David Barrett
  • Accredited Instructors
  • Links
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact Us
Hohner
© 2009 - 2022 David Barrett and the Harmonica Masterclass Co. for Bluesharmonica.comSyndicate content