What's New!

The latest installment of my interview with Sharon is up on the site. In this segment I speak of my early years of teaching private lessons. You can watch the new video here https://www.bluesharmonica.com/david_barrett_0

Sharon thought that the students of BluesHarmonica.com would be interested in hearing about my history as an artist and teacher. In this interview series (updated weekly) Sharon asks me about my early years, my approach to playing the harmonica, and opens the floor to questions from the students. You can start watching the series here https://www.bluesharmonica.com/david_barrett_0

In this series (updated over time), I'll show you my collection of vintage tube PA heads, as well as share my journey into learning more about them.

When an amplifier is called a "combo amp," the head (what provides the amplification of your harmonica mic signal) and speaker cabinet, are combined into one unit (think Fender Bassman). When using a head, the amplifier is a stand-alone unit, and can be plugged into any speaker cabinet of your choosing (commonly with a 1x10" speaker, 2x10", 2x12", or 4x10"), which makes it very versatile. continue reading...

The first step to jamming along with a song is to figure out the key of the song so that you know which harmonica to use. In this lesson you'll learn different methods of how to figure out the key of a song by ear. You'll need your entire set of harmonicas (whichever harmonicas you own), but we'll mostly me using the C Harmonica. This lesson is for all skill level players. Go here to begin this study https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/ear_training_study_1_figuring_out...

In this Artist Study, we dig into a shuffle written using Big Walter Horton’s coolest shuffle licks. If you’re looking for a song to study that will give you a lot of great licks for your improvising vocabulary, this is the song. This study is for players that have completed Bending Study 4 and Tongue Blocking Study 3. To see this lesson go to https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/artist_study_big_walter_horton

Fellow BluesHarmonica.com student, Marek Prokop, has designed an online harmonica notation layout app. On this page http://marekp.cz/harmonica/ you can select the key of the harmonica to be displayed, as well as a combination of scales and chords. I asked him why he delveoped this tool and he stated... continue reading...

A note from Paul, developer of HarpNinja...

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I have an early access version of a new web based version of HarpNinja I’d like to invite you to test.
It’s currently free to use, but the proviso is data/logins may be deleted/reset at any time.
Register (free) here to test it out: https://harpninja.com/hnweb

Please report any bugs/feedback/suggestions via the email or website contact links on the About page available in the app.

Harpe Diem!

Paul

In Sharon's latest lesson, she plays "Temperature" to a jam track; works on more Solo Harmonica Study 1 examples (shuffle bass lines, rumbas, and a basic version of the bass line from Little Walter's instrumental "Blue Midnight"); learns how to build all twelve major scales; discovers which notes are available through bending on the harmonica; and learns about the physics of bending and tries to bend for the first time on camera. Subscribers can see Sharon's lessons here: https://www.bluesharmonica.com/contributor/sharon-barrett

In this Artist Study, we dig into Aki Kumar’s blues harmonica instrumental “Bombay Stroll.” This study is for players that have completed Bending Study 4 (better if you’ve completed Study 5) and Tongue Blocking Study 4. You will need an A Harmonica for this study. Go to https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/artist_study_aki_kumar

Kinya Pollard, Greg Heumann, and I will be part of a free Zoom session, hosted by Ben Hewlett, starting at 4pm UK time/ 8am PST. Here's the info Ben sent to me...

COME AND JOIN THE BANTER with these 3 PRO’s on Ben's Harp Club this Sunday 4pm UK time/ 8am PST!

Join us here: http://ow.ly/xsp050zTFBj

David Barrett - the world's most prolific harmonica educator and Stan Harper SPAH Award of Special Merit 2019 winner
Greg Heumann - Microphones for the stars and and for you “You're going to like the way you sound. I guarantee it.” continue reading...