General Discussion

Discussion with members pertaining to blues harmonica. Question to head instructor David Barrett should go to "Ask Instructor David Barrett" below

Livin' in the cone of death

Posted Tue, 10/04/2016 - 18:57 by Mark Vincent

That's the name of my new original 2nd position song for LOA. Inspired by the news channels here in South Florida. Bad Hurricane destind for us in one form or another for those not local and don't see our weather.

common keys

Posted Mon, 10/03/2016 - 22:17 by Ken Carter

i see a post on the common keys for guitar. Do you have any comment on the common keys for ukulele and the circle of fifths?

Ken

1 comment

Sonny Terry Technique - Did he combine blocking and pucker?

Posted Sat, 10/01/2016 - 10:48 by ChuiChui

In Level 1 of the Levels of Achievement Dave emphasizes angling the harp slightly downward to get a good position on the blade of the tongue just past the tip. That seems to be working fine for me. But I became interested in harmonica after watching Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee videos on Youtube. One of my goals is to be able to play some of the Sonny Terry standards like "Hootin' the Blues". In the following clip I noticed that at the 2:07 mark Sonny seems to be angling his harp upward, not downward. It's not possible to tongue block with the harp at that angle is it? continue reading...

2 comments

David's Corner

Posted Wed, 09/28/2016 - 15:12 by Dave Blue

Bit worried about David's Corner. No-one has been round with a vacuum cleaner or dusted it for 2 months now at least.

Common harps, the circle of fifths, guitar strings and conspiracies

Posted Sun, 09/25/2016 - 00:33 by Sean Crawford

Has anyone else noticed that, what David Barrett points out are the 6 most common keys of harp (A, D, G, C, LF, Bb), happen to also be contiguous in the circle of fifths? Also, when playing crossharp, the roots of these keys are all on the open or 3rd fret of each of the lowest 3 strings on a guitar or bass (standard tuning) - that'd be the keys of E, A, D, G, C, F. Conincidence? Conspiracy? Some deeper hidden order of the universe?

1 comment

Can bending break reeds?

Posted Thu, 09/08/2016 - 16:55 by lkeeley

So I'm a new player trying to start getting into bending and I wonder if it's possible to over-do bending to the point that it makes the reeds go flat or eventually break? I've done most of my bending work on a C harmonica and now my 2 draw is slightly flat and that's probably the hole i was trying to bend on the most. It's bad enough that sometimes it bends without me even trying. I assume all harps should be capable of bending out of the box but would a flat/sharp reed make bending easier and is there anything I should do to bend safely so I don't ruin any harps?

1 comment

Hello, not sure this is the right place but still here's my introduction.

Posted Fri, 08/26/2016 - 03:35 by Kamoun

Hi, my name is Alex and i have been into playing the blues since roughly 2000 when i stayed in NOLA for a few months and got the blues staying there. I ignored things for a while, thinking i had a better shot at making it as an author, but still the blues lived in me a little. So that when i did buy some harps some years ago, I was liked due to have that basis in the delta blues i picked up. I started taking things weriously when I bought a set of 7 hohners and played them wherever i went. Starting with playing them walking the dog with some headphones on and my mp3 player on full blast. continue reading...