Ask Instructor David Barrett

Hi David,

I am getting close to submitting my Level 2 material, however I am finding that if I play Temperature at the speed of the provided jam track I am not able to emphasise the slaps, dips and pulls as much as I would like. Is it okay to submit it at a slower speed or will that stop me from achieving Level 2?

Regards,

Geoff

Hi David

For correctly playing single notes I use HarpNinja. What do I use for chords?

Michael

I have been practicing scales. I started with quarter notes and then moved on to eighth notes, just to change it up. I have been building up my speed with this. Today, I tried doing 16th notes, and I noticed my max bpm was about half of my max bpm on 8th notes (this makes total sense, as I am fitting in twice as many notes).  It made me question: is there a real reason for doing eighth notes vs. 16th notes (or 32nd, 64th, for that matter)? These are just arbitrary divisions in time, right? Any multiple of 4 would work just as well, right? continue reading...

Dave Im not following how the chorus forms relate to the chord changes mapped out on the 12 bar blues, So for example the first 4 bars are using the 1 chord. The 5th bar suggests you then change to the 4 chord, but if you are doing an AAA chorus form these cord changes dont really seem to occur.

Good afternoon David, hope you're well.

I'm looking to submit Ex 2.2 Bass Lines as my Solo Harmonica Study for my Level 5. The thing is that I'm hearing a different Bar 4 than that shown on the music notation. Music notation shows 6+ pull, 5+ pull, 4 pull & 3 pull, but I'm hearing 6+ pull, 5 pull, 5+ pull & 4 pull.

if you could kindly let me know when you can that would be super.

cheers

Greg

Hi,

Just starting out with the harmonica, focusing on trying to play clear single notes using both the pucker and the tongue blocking technique. I have an A harmonica and a C harmonica, and for some reason I can't seem to get any sound at all on the 3 draw on the A harmonica. I can do it just fine on the C harmonica. It's a poor musician who blames his instrument, but I'm wondering if maybe I broke the reed for the 3 draw. I try to play at low volume, but who knows? Maybe I was too excited when I started out and broke the reed. continue reading...

Hello David, 

I'm a new student and am really digging the lessons.  I have a question regarding the 1 hole.  I find it easier to actually engage the 1 hole by going to the end of the harp and using no tongue blocking (in other words, I do not tongue block to the right of hole one).  Are there any potential problems with this approach, or is it a satisfactory way to engage the 1 hole blow and draw?

Brett

Hi Dave...so, I am working on vibrato, which is taxing and challenging to my 40 year marriage, however, with promises that i can only practice this for a maximum of five minutes a day, we have come to an understanding that if I master this technique i can sound more like Dave, maybe.  On that note, when I use Harp Ninja while making "wounded cat-like sounds" should I be seeing a total change in pitch, that is, moving from an F to an E on a Bb harp 2 draw?  Oh, and thanks for the pseudo marriage counciling.  Mic

Hi David,

   Regarding submitting material for the LOA 5 Test....

For the ' Music Theory Study 2 '...what do you want submitted ?

                        Thank you for your time continue reading...

 Dave Im lost here. Dont know enough music theory to understand what this means.