Ask Instructor David Barrett

Holy crap, dude!

How'd you do that?!?

hey david is there any way to get the previous transcriptions from the newsletters i just printed the latest and oedered the cd and would you ever consider doing walters boogie as this has to be a favorite of mine as well as many others im sure thanks for the site

Dave, I've seen several interviews with artists who say they only tongue block on the low end of the harp and pucker on the high end. It seems you (and others) would rather we tongue block all the way up the harp (unless I'm misunderstanding). If that's the case, do you recommend tongue blocking when bending on the high end as well?

As a particular example that has me wondering: Rod Piazza on "Murder in the 1st Degree" has a blow bend on the 9 hole during his live solo that is very powerful. Do you know if he tongue blocks up there or is he usually puckering that?

I just wanted to extend my gratitude for the resources you provide. It has been difficult for me to grasp how to "jam" without having large repertoire of licks memorized and even though I am very comfortable in second position I am not fluent enough to come up with stuff on the fly using the different scales available (at least with any reasonable speed). continue reading...

David, I'm not much smarter than your typical dog. I need positive reinforcement in the form of treats on a regular basis if I'm going to keep from going on the rug. So with that disgusting analogy, I've decided to reward myself for sticking with your program for more than a couple of weeks (you've no idea of the level of ADD I suffer from!).

So I'm buying a couple of new harps. continue reading...

Hi David, in the first two video's were you bending using a tongue blocking or lip blocking. I can't seem to understand when tongue blocking how to keep the tongue on the harmonica blocking holes and move the middle of the tongue up and back when also trying to inhale thru the side of your and keeping a good embouchure. VS. lip blocking were the tongue is in the middle and able to move up and back and constrict the throat without much problem. What am I missing or not doing right. Thank you .

Dave,

I noticed that when I save your files to my mac they don't download as MP3's so they can't be loaded into the Amazing Slow Downer. Do you know if I'm saving them icorrectly?

Dave, a few weeks back you made a comment on the Fritz Hasenpusch forum that Hohner had recently changed their mic elements. Fritz hasn't responded to any of the inquiries on that forum, so I wanted to follow up with you.

Can you expand on the change? Can you also offer an opinion as to the quality and sound of the new elements?

as i listened to this i am curious if there is a different tuning then an out of the box or is it a comp it sounds like one of mine tuned for just intonation just curious how im going to set this harp up so any tips would be great

Yeah I know, not a two word answer!! ;-) continue reading...