General Discussion

Great article by Bruce Weinstein in the latest Harmonica Happenings quarterly (Fall 2023). Bruce is one of David's students, and an eithics consultant regularly published in financial and business news, including Forbes. He uses a conversation with Jason Ricci to talk about eight life lessons "learned the hard way." Thought-provoking stuff not only re music, but about life in general. continue reading...

What are some of your favorite blues-flavored holiday tunes that you like to perform, whether on stage or just for family and friends around the Yule Log? Whether or not the original is harmonica based. continue reading...

Does anybody have any advice for me on the level 5 instrumental assignment. Im just so bad at improvising and I dont know how to make my fills sound good with the licks I have chosen. Also I cant find a head lick. I was hoping for something super catchy but nothing stands out. I have about 5 licks all with different focus notes. 

To tell the truth I also haven't put a lot of time into it because it kind of feels daunting the task. I do put a lot of time into chorus form improve but like I said my fills suck.

I feel like I'm stuck

Hi everyone.

I've been frustrated for a long time by the "muted" sound of bends.

They sound very different than clean notes, and all the advice I could get on the internet was to keep practicing. But I'm not sure that's the problem (maybe just a part of it).

For example, Amazing Grace, which featuers extensive 3 hole full-step bends. continue reading...

G'day

In one of the 1st pos tutorial videos, David says he was making a specific video on using blow bends in 2nd position. I can't seem to find this - did it get made?

cheers

Adam

Hello Fellow students! Would anyone happen to have a backing track to "Have a good time" by big Walter, and be willing to share it? Thanks!

Anyone out there have a copy of Phil Duncan's Mel Bay Presents Blues Harp for Diatonic and Chromatic Harmonica?

Was sorting out stuff on a shelf and found a copy I must have purchased when I first bought a harmonica, going on 8-9 years ago. Copyrighted 1982.

Now, Phil Duncan is a well-respected player, author of many books, and an interesting interviewee of David's on this site.

But I gotta' wonder about things like:

"To produce a single tone for blues, tongue blocking should be avoided." (p. 4) continue reading...

Over the decades I've dealt with some really nice people at places like Guitar Center, Sweetwater, etc. And I suppose there are a couple of nice folks at Amazon. But ... I've always favored spending my money where I know it's going to someone who works hard, rather than to an overpaid CEO somewhere.

So, in no particular order, here are some individuals from whom over the years I've purchased goods (harmonicas, amps, etc.) and services (repairs, lessons, etc.). And in my experience each and every one of them goes beyond the call of duty when it comes to customer service. continue reading...

During the height of the pandemic, SPAH canceled their live face-to-face conference and met through online tools. I volunteered to develop an overview of how I was using software to help me master new songs for both diatonic and chromatic.  I have that material online now at:

https://www.keithmitchell.photography/blog-post/software-tools-for-the-beginning-harmonica-player continue reading...

Hello everyone 

This is my first post 

So I've been learning from another online course before finding this one and have gotten used to pucker method. So - this is almost learning from scratch for me again.

Im learning on a Seydel A harp and trying to find the right position through practice to get h4-6 consistent - but my biggest struggle is as I try to slide along the holes, my tongue gets dragged back a bit and I lose my embouchre.  continue reading...