Ask Instructor David Barrett

David just a short note of appreciation for a great number, passin time. Good progress with LOA5 but enjoy working on passin time as "casual" practice. 

David, I've just joined BluesHarmonica.com and I am amazed with the quality of the training material.

I've been with other teachers and other websites, and lot of youtubes, but nothing as professional and thorough as this one.

Just in 5 days I've learned more than I did in last year.

I want to thank you and your team for the outstanding work you guys do.

Looking forward to learning more.

just curious if there were any rules of thumb when deciding between the 2 draw vs the 3+ hole.  Obviously not talking about when bending the 2 is involved.  continue reading...

Hi David,

If we are thinking of playing an unbent note, but with strong vibrato, is the average pitch going to be necessarily flat? For example, playing a 4 draw D, I can imagine the pitch wavering between between C# and D, with the average being a quarter note below D, since we can't cause it to waver above the natural D.

If so, does that mean that vibrato is less appropriate when going for a light/major feel? But I would guess that the same thing would not apply to a singer, or when playing a note that is already bent.

David,

I've been struggling to understand how much of your vibrato is accomplished in the glottis (vocal cords) and how much is contributed by the base of the tongue.  If I want a fast vibrato, I don't seem to be able to do it all with the vocal cords.  I got the bright idea to go back and watch your MRI demo of bending and while there was a quick look at the vibrato, it really didn't help me answer this question.

Thanks,

Dan

Dear David,

Andy did not come back to my message so far and my access will be invalid by tomorro.

i had a free hohner trial and now want to pay for a long term access account to the site. How does it work?

many thanks!

best regard, Erin

At the risk of sounding stupid....

I am not understanding the instructions for this assignment.  Am I only to play the notes in a single hole throughout the chorus as in example 2.2 ?  If so I am not sure how to make that work.  Or am I to include the notes in all six holes using the appropriate chords ?  Is there an example I can listen to to get an idea of what is you need ?  

Thanks 

Tom

Is my tongue supposed to remain on the harmonica holes or is it pulled off of the harmonica when bending? I find it impossible to bend notes using the former approach. I cannot do single note draws - arching and pulling my tongue back - using the latter method.

Hello David; I've lost my ability to do a tremolo on the inhale and partially on the exhale all of a sudden! I might get a couple inhale "coughs", or a few more on the exhale using the throat muscles, then it changes to a diaphram type breathing. It was fine a couple days ago. Is there a chance I overdid it and would benefit from resting my throat muscles for a couple days? Has this ever happened to you or perhaps one of your students?

3 week beginner. Problems on C and A Harmonica draw. On C-draw 2 . On A-draw 3. Both are Gs. Well A 3 draw is G#. I have been trying all your helpful methods. Are the Gs part of the problem or is it just me?