General Discussion

Im trying to finish up solo study 2 but I am always running out of breath. I exhale all I can before starting and the farthest I ever got was to the last three 1 draws which I had to use my cheeks to suck in and unavoidably bent the notes. Any tips?

Hello to all you harmonica players that have been doing it for years. I want to get the benefit of your experience from those first months of your learning...

I have been doing Levels of Achievement Level 1 now for about 7 months (about half an hour each day). I can see minor improvements from week to week but hate the repetition. I know how necessary the repetition is because all the techniques need to go into unconscious memory but it makes practising so incredibly boring! I also want to move on more quickly. continue reading...

Neither David nor his student Bruce Weinstein ("The Ethics Guy" in NYC) are very good at tooting their own horns, so I had no forewarning about the great article in the Spring 2023 issue of SPAH's Harmonica Happenings magazine. Check it out! "David Barrett on the Art of Practicing."  Well done, both David and Bruce!

And if you're not a member of SPAH, you'll definitely want to join. Not only to support its mission of preserving and advancing harmonica, but also so you can get great articles like this one. www.spah.org

Hi David, do you have any hints on improving side flutter to obtain a fuller sound? Have you a tutorial or student i/v with teacher input?Thanks Mac

Hello everyone,

I have been learning to play the blues harp for 3 years now on this website. Now, I started playing along with some friends that play the guitar and we were wondering if there is any good rock classics songbook for harp so that we have some variety apart from playing blues.Is there any good recommendation?

Thank you for your help!

Many greetings from Germany,

Adriana

I just wanted to give a shout out to Rockin Rons (rockinronsmusicsd.com) regarding their customer service. I ordered a Golden Melody on Tuesday and received a shipping email  the same day. I've been checking the tracking and Ive been getting a message that the label was created but USPS did not have it yet. I reached out via email and received a call within minutes. Turns out the link for the tracking was wrong in the email but the tracking on their page for my order showed correct. continue reading...

Good morning,

Apologies for the daft lad query but..... is there a mechanism whereby I can download some of the Lesson Study videos so I can view them offline?

Reason being, I am on the road much of the time and so I'm not always able to obtain internet connectivty. Would be really useful to be able to download a chunk of the videos when online and then view them when on the road.

Any advice would be most welcome.

VBR

Peter

 Scholarships for young harmonica players (21 and under). 

Apply for a scholarship to attend the 2023 SPAH convention for learning, jamming, and concerts. 

Deadline to apply is May 28, 2023. 

The convention will be August 15-20, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri.

For more info and to apply, please visit https://spahstore.org/youth-scholarships/

Hello All, the HARPSMITH store is open for business!

Why it Matters | many followers of the HARPSMITH tutorials and forum have asked me over the years if I would consider selling the customized harmonicas that I featured on this site. 

Available now is a limited supply of HARPSMITH enhanced Hohner Special 20 and Hohner Marine Band Deluxe harmonicas with Brendan Power's amazing Overblow Booster MK2 components installed, calibrated and tested.  continue reading...

Good day to everyone. I have just signed up and know this question has probably been asked and answered already. As I was looking to sign up I noticed almost all the online courses use a C harmonica. What is the advantage to using the A harmonica in this course? I thought it might be that an A is better for learning the blues. Thanks again.