Ask Instructor David Barrett

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David Hi   I have had a problem with uploading the completed LOA6 files for your assesment. To overcome the issue I have had to split the upload into two. The first was the pdf (3) and the study song MP3 file  (1) and the second was the MP3 Exercises file (1). Hope this is OK. Please let me know if I need to do anything differently

Hi David!  I’ve enjoyed watching ur interviews with all those great harmonica players.

I noticed you almost always ask the interviewee about tongue blocking, how often they use it,

do they pucker holes 1,2 and 3 and do they tongue block the rest?  When u say that, are you referring

to playing holes above 3 out of right side of their mouths and blocking to the left?  Have you found 

that puckering the bottom 3 holes to be the norm for most players and that’s why you ask that question? continue reading...

Sorry, Dave, but I'm confused as to how to tackle Level 1.  I first bought a C Harmonica, before I found your course, so I did the C Harmonica Intro Lesson, and while I'm pretty rusty doing the 5th and 6th choruses of Walk With Me, I'm OK with the rest, just need practice.  I bought an A Harmonica, and did the Blues Fundamentals Lesson.  Do I do the remaining Level 1 lessons in succession, or dabble in them at the same time?  Any advice would be very helpful.  Thanks. 

hi im very new to the harmonica, always wanted to try it since i got one when i was a kid, so far ive only learned a bit of the tune jessie plays to the whale in the movie free willy :)..... i struggle to learn off of websites ect and have been searching for any local teachers to me which has ended up not yet finding one :(.... dont suppose there is anywhere else i can search for them? continue reading...

Hi David,

I've been learning Movement Exercises Study 1, Ex. 2 and my question is how fast is fast enough to move on to the next excercise. Even after almost 3 months of daily practice, I can play the pattern only at the speed of 104 bpm at most, but my performance vary a lot day by day -- one day I can't play it faster than 70-80 bpm, another day I get to 100 bpm easily. I can hit all the notes correctly at any speed, but my rythm is not consistent at higher speed. continue reading...

Hello, David!

I just inherited 3 harmonicas, all Hohner Marine Band. However they are in three different keys, C, Bb and Eb.

Beeing a total novise in music (I'm 60 yo, never played anything before, so I've just recently put harmonica and a tenor sax on my bucket list...starting with the harmonica!) I need some guidence...

I now need to figure out which one to concentrate on.

I realized in the first lesson, that I probably need a piece in key of A, correct?

I mean, do I have to purchase an additional piece of harmonica?

BR

Andrew

Hi David, just wondering when the thirty days actually begins. Is it when I submit the test or as soon as I create the account?

Hi David, I would appreciate Your assistance in my case. I am a beginner and I probably made a mistake purchasing me a chromatic harmonica (Hohner Super Chromonica, C tuned, 12 holes). I started to following Your lessons on Level 1, which I find fantastic, but I am not sure if it makes sense to continue with this instrument. For which kind of music is this instrument suitable anyway? Should I bought me a diatonic harmonica?

OldStar

I THINK there may be a mistake in your tab. I'm listening to Minor Mambo, Chorus 6, that very last run of notes that starts on the V.

In bar 11, you have it notated as:

1 2+ 2 3" 2 3 4

When I listen to Minor Mambo by Gary Smith and when I listen to your playing, I hear:

1 2+ 2 3" 2 3 4+

I am probably wrong on this, but there is a very small chance that I may be right. Are you and Gary both playing the 4 blow?