General Discussion

I am finding the shake to be a weak point in my technique. Looking for tips to improve it. I find that when it does go well for me, it's almost as if my lips are sticking to the harp a bit, but if I do the shake at the end of a longer lick, the harp is pretty slick, and the shake often sounds...wan, for lack of a better term.

If you don't know about Andy Santana, start with David's interview at https://www.bluesharmonica.com/andy_santana . Then check Andy out at https://westcoastplayboys.com/home .

And now the really important part: Andy is suffering from very serious health problems. There's a GoFundMe site organized by Mark Hummel, and Mark's also organized some benefit concerts for Andy. E.g., if you're in NorCal, the next opportunity is in Vallejo, October 9th. See https://markhummel.com/tour-dates continue reading...

I just wanted to say how much fun this (deceptively simple) study is!

Great work David

cheers

Adam

Rumor has it that UK-based Neil Warren's Harmonica Happy Hour podcast interview of David will be dropping soon. On a podcast source near you. If you're already a follower of Neil's great podcast, you'll know when it drops. If not, check out Neil's site at https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com/ You'll be glad you did!

Hi,

I am looking at the way that exercise 1.7 is played, which is with a triplet at the end of the first bar. The swing makes it a standard of the kind that is often heard, yet I have been playing it also without the swing. I am considering the several ways in which the triplet is to be played. One is to play it with equal time for each of the three (+2, +3, +2). Tell me whether there are other ways.

Regards,

Hitesh

I have trouble blocking 3 holes simultaneously. Is it ok to blow/draw a 3 note chord and just block 2 holes?

Aside from harmonica, one of my loves is Shakespeare. From Dame Judi Dench's book with Brendan O'Hea, Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent (St. Martin's Press 2023), O'Hea describes his drama teacher Rudi Shelley, who used to say, "I can't teach you how to act; all I can do is teach you how to learn how to act."

Remind you of any harmonica teachers you know?

I know of no teacher in any field who has spent more time than David studying how to teach and how we humans learn. And along the way, with his guidance, he really does teach players how to learn how to play.

I haven't seen anybody post about this yet. It seems that the dates for the Hohner World Harmonica Festival are set for Oct 29 to Nov 2 2025 in Trossingen Germany (home to Hohner).

Website - https://www.world-harmonica-festival.de/

This will be my first time to go. I've booked a place to stay but some that I tried were already full.

Hello,

I´m looking for a music theory book that I could bring everywhere in my backpack and that would summaries all the music theory usefull for harmonica players, would you have any idea ?

Thank you

Was thinking the other day about the quote attributed to Mark Twain, but actually first written by author Fred Rindge some years after Twain's death:

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years." continue reading...