Ask Instructor David Barrett

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?

Hi David,

In the Tip of the Day forum one of the forum under "Custom Harmonicas - why are they really nice," one of the reasons is that one does not have to make much effort to make some notes sound. My questions are:

- Why don't manufacturers make them already easier to sound instead of requiring different air pressure for some holes?

- I thought that the costumization was to make some notes sound better to the taste of the player. Does this mean that the harmonica customizers make them sound all the same or all they care is to reduce the variation in air pressure? continue reading...

hey david,

I submitted my recording of 'my blues' via the levels of achievement page.  I was hoping you could give it a quick listen.  Is this the correct way to get it to you?

  continue reading...

Hi David;

 1. You demonstrated going from the input 2 of the '68 Princeton to the Laney Cub, IIRC. Is that something possible with all 2 input amps? If so, that is something I never knew!

 2. In "Walk With Me" chorus 4, there is a tilde or a short throat tremolo sign, (i.e. 1 "wave"),  between 3 and 4 in bars 1,2, and 3, and in chorus 6 between 6+ and 5+, and 4 and 5+ in bar 4. I probably missed along the way what the symbol signifies. Could you please clarify?

Thank you

hey david, 

Been practicing hard to switch to a full TB embrochure.  Have "My Blues" pretty down pat so I'm getting there.

I just have two quick questions:

-  While pucker playing I would often articulate by making a "t" sound, particularly on draw notes.  This seems impossible when tongue blocking.  I try to replicate the sound with a "k", but it just isn't the same.  Is this something I just need to practice more, or is it a sound I just need to remove from my technique? continue reading...

David Hi

Accompaniment Study 5-7th Hole changes. Playing the 2nd hole as in the pdf I find I am clashing with your rendition when I play it as per the pdf. The last 2 bars read 2 2 2 2’ 2’ on the pdf.  It sounds like you are playing 2 2 22 2’.  I wonder if I am miss reading the music score. You spend a bit of time on this section so apologies if I “just cant see it”.  Appreciate your assistance. Thanks