Tip of the Day

For the music theory fans out there (especially those like myself interested in how it relates to understanding blues), Ethan Hein has written a very in-depth blog post on the subject (http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2014/blues-tonality/). I agree that the "real" blues scale is the one presented by Jamey Aebersold in his book "How to Play Jazz & Improvise" (1967).

This tip comes in from fellow student Bruce,

"I found a cool new gizmo that may of interest to some of your students: a bluetooth page turner.

It was getting frustrating to stop playing harmonica long enough to scroll to the next page of the Temperature PDF on my iMac, so I found out that professional musicians use a pedal to do this.

Here's a link to the pedal I use, after studying the market: AirTurn Duo 200 Silent Bluetooth... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KFRPL3P?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I used it this morning during my practice (with an iPad), and it's terrific!"

When I was teenager, I really enjoyed making my own harmonica cases. I would take a cool, inexpensive case, originally used for who-knows what (tools, cameras, makeup, etc.), that was a good size and I schemed up how I could layout my harps and accessories in it. I would cut the foam with an electric turkey slicer, or for the real dense foam, my dad’s electric shop tools. continue reading...

A cool new hour-long podcast series featuring Joe Filisko, Bill Branch, Giles Robson, Steve "West" Weston, and Paul Lamb. https://happyhourharmonicapodcast.buzzsprout.com/995536

For those interested in learning about how the components in an amplifier work, this is a great two-part video series...

How Tube Amplifiers Work, Part 1: The Power Supply
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5SSKX74DKg

How Tube Amplifiers Work, Part 2: The Pre-Amp and Power Amp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=901iaPVVzY0

This note comes from a fellow BluesHarmonica.com student that's a biochemist. Some of this is common-sense, but we need some common-sense during these crazy times. I hope you all are doing well out there.

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Of course it is very important to play harmonica in these difficult times. But unfortunately our instrument is not very “Corona”-friendly as we keep it so close to our nose and mouth. I think everybody should be aware of this and maybe you could give some advices in the forum like: continue reading...

A fun, short article on the history of the Fender Bassman amplifier https://www.fender.com/articles/gear/going-low-the-history-of-the-bassman

For those of you that love vintage gear (especially modifying it), BluesHarmonica.com's Amp Expert Skip Simmons and Fretboard Journal’s Jason Verlindehas have a great podcast titled The Truth About Vintage Amps https://www.fretboardjournal.com/podcasts/the-truth-about-tube-amps-ep.-1

If you have a Sure Controlled Magnetic (CM) or Controlled Reluctance (CR) element that has died, you can go to http://lewilsonmicrophones.com/mic-repair.html to get it fixed.

Excessive saliva in the harmonica (which causes reeds to stall) is a common problem for harmonica players. continue reading...