Ask Instructor David Barrett

Hi Dave

I have a question in relation to Wa Wa's.

I have been looking at your post on 26.8.13 (tip of the day). Am I correct in assuming that when there is a wa notation above a note that the wa wa effect continues with a sigle breath until the note changes i.e. the first bar of chorus (solo harmonica 4) where the wa wa continues until the note drops from 2 draw to 2 whole note bend? continue reading...

Hi David,

I recently started online lessons.  I have dabbled in blues harmonica before but am trying the ground up approach.   I sheepishly admit I have trouble sounding a clear  note on the 3 draw (actually I can bend it a half step which sounds clearer) on my new blues harps (hohner 535) G and A   (also 2 draw on my new C same make).  

I feel I'm missing something basic.   What could I be doing wrong?

Ken

charlotte nc

Hi David,

With regard to the 5th chorus,  2nd line where you have the draw bends in the first two bars, is this carried out on one breath or are there slight gaps between the 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 draw notes, hope this makes sense.

Regards,

Paul

Hi David,

I have been attending my local club jam night for months now getting familiar with the players and format and, thanks to bluesharmonica.com and particularly the encouragement from the forum discussions, I have played on the bandstand twice now.  

That is quite a challenge a very exhilarating.  continue reading...

When we get to the Af Af Bt chorus form your challenge to me is to make up fills. In the earlier Af Af Af I'm given some specific examples. I like the repetition of the chorus form but find the fills to be more interesting. As a beginner I'm not sure where to find fills from what I've learned so far. What I'm playing doesn't sound anything bluesy like yours do on the video even though I know you're not reaching very far. Any suggestions about how I can find fills that fit other than the specific examples given in Af Af Af? Thanks!

I'm glad to realize that you make a series about tremolo and vibrato in your Tip of the Day.

I currently practice to unlock my tremolo and my flutter too from the triplet rythm. It would be nice if you could say something about the process and approach how to unlock it because it's difficult for me since a while to get an satisfying performance.

Thank you

Ralph

Hi David,

What does C major scale stack mean?

Also, in some of the movement exercise patterns, there are short underlines with the

ends up under 3 notes here and there?  oops..in Ex.1 there is a line under  4 notes, and in exercise 8, the line is

under 2 notes.

Like under 7, 6+, 7 and other combinations?

from,

Patricia Frizzell

(still pretty much a beginner)  thank you...

You probably use a camcorder to record your video lessons on this site.  The sound is very good and yet you are at some distance from the microphone.  When I record t home, I must be very close to my PE588 or Shure JT-30 mic, or the sound volume falls off rapidly and I end up with a weak recording.  What microphone will allow me to be at some distance from the microphone, the further the better, and still pick up my harmonica playing?  I do not, in general, want to hold the microphone while I'm practicing and making baseline recordings.

So I just got started on the LOA and there seems to be some inconsistancies between the video lesson and the Position Chart (or I'm not understanding you correctly <-- most likely). On the Understanding Positions video in Blues Harmonica Fundementals you state that 2nd position on an A harmonica is E. But when I look at the Position Chart it says that it is D. You also say that the D harmonica plays in the key of A when the chart says G. And you say that the G harmonica plays in D whereas the chart says C. I'm pretty sure that I'm misunderstanding you. continue reading...

Charlie's Swing is one of my favourite jam tracks from Play-Along Trax. It motors along nicely at 210 bpm in Bb and it's got a ii V I instead of the more usual V IV I. My question concerns bars 7 and 8 where we've got I ii iii and biii seventh chords. Standard stuff on guitar but not sure about harp. Is the concept here to just blow through the chord changes using the I chord's root/b7 (G/F) dyad then moving to its 5/5 (D/D) octave with the change to the octave intended to be a nod to the iii to biii even though the I chord's fifth (D) doesn't really work over the biii's m3 (Db)? continue reading...