Ask Instructor David Barrett

Hi David,

I'm playing my golden melody in A on "walk with me".

I also own a Suzuki harpmaster in C and a bluemaster i D and a Marine Band Crossover in Bb.

I found that Crossover harp works better than the other and  the worse playing comes on the golden melody.

I do a lot of efforts in playing single notes fast like in the chorus number 6 of the song. If I play on all the other harps I go much better. continue reading...

Hi, Im working on "Walk With Me" chorus two and I leak alot of air when playing holes 2 and 3 (mostly hole 2). Is there any tips you can give us on how to tighten the seal around those holes? Where should my tongue be and should I keep my mouth four holes wide or make it smaller? Any extra tips would be great. In the meantime I'll keep playing with it. Thanks.

Hi David, first of all let me congratulate you on such an awesome site for learning the harmonica. Blues Harmonica.com is an essential tool for anyone wanting to learn the harmonica in terms of the pdf layout, videos and instructional advice. continue reading...

Hi David! continue reading...

David: continue reading...

Hi -

The Juicy Harmonica transcription seems to have disappeared from your Facebook page...

Jeremy

Hi Dave -

Do you have any plans for a series on country blues?

If not, perhaps it's a good area for a guest contributor.

Thanks

Jeremy

Hi David,

I had a question regarding the Level 10 submission. I'm not there yet but planning ahead. Does the submission need to be of a performance of all the songs at once in a single performance or can it be in segments? For example, a video of me playing accomplaniment with my band on stage, a video of me on a street corner playing my solo song, a video of me playing my 1st position song in front of my family at my house, etc...

-Taylor

David, In blues creeping over me, the last note if the 'blues break' you have written as 2 draw. I feel you have a reason for writing or playing it this way. As I am learning this song I find myself naturally using 3 blow. I work on changing the movement to 2 draw but if feels different and less natural in this progression. So my question then really is why? Beyond play what is natural. Note: TB bends are coming along nicely with tons of work and effort. They are feeling 'natural' now. 

Lots more work and fun to be had. 

John 

On your recommendation, I downloaded the demo for HarpNinja.  It looks to be a useful tool for nailing your bends. I was not able to thoroughly explore it, as my trial period expired after only a few hours??  My main issue is that the displays do accurately reflects the notes in each key.  For example the key of E Major has 4 sharps, not all those flats that are in the Tuning Dojo display.  For those who are trying to learn music as well as the harmonica, these displays are confusing and misleading.