Tip of the Day

Many technique and tonal problems on the harmonica are caused from tension in the tongue, mouth, jaw, throat, neck, shoulders, etc. Focus on playing all of your technique as relaxed as possible.

The #1 problem in a jam session is at the point where one soloist is done and the next soloist is to begin, i.e., the passing of solos. Often no signal is given, essentially giving the next soloist the solo after the form has already begun (bar 2 or 3, instead of 1... that throws new players off big time)... or the previous soloist plays right up to the last beat (beat 48... bar 12, beat 4), leaving no room for the next player to play a pickup to lead into their solo. Playing this far can also create rushed handovers of solos. continue reading...

If you're looking for a first amp... a great practice amp... or even an amp to play small gigs with... the Fender Super Champ X2 (previously known as the XD) just got better. Fender is now using a floating baffle and the amp has a much more resonant sound. It's hard to beat the sale price of $300 delivered for all these features.

Features
- 15W
- 1x10" Speaker
- Dual-channel tube
- Voicing knob for selection of 16 different amp types (tweed, Blackface, etc.)
- 15 effects with level control with tap tempo control for delay time adjustment (this amp has a nice reverb and delay) continue reading...

U-blocking on the harmonica is where air travels down the center of the
tongue... commonly where the left side of the tongue blocks the hole to the
left and the right side of the tongue blocks the hole to the right (most
players will have their lips over three holes when doing this, e.g., when
playing hole 2 your tongue would block holes 1 and 3). The tongue is either
curled in a very evident "U" shape (this is also genetics at play here...
not everyone can do this) or there's much less of a prominent U-shape and continue reading...

For those wishing to dive even deeper into the understanding of music, check out this monumental dialogue on music by the great Leonard Bernstein. It takes a while for it to get rolling (at 27 minutes in he gets to the meat of the lecture), but he brilliantly lays out why the overtone series (also known as partials and harmonic series), how chords are built and why we have the 12 tones we have in music.

YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3HLqCHO08s&feature=relmfu

Hohner has just released its parts and knowledge base website called the Hohner C Shop. You can learn about maintenance (gapping, reed replacement, etc.) and purchase tools and even individual replacement reeds... exciting stuff. Look at www.hohner-cshop.eu/cms for more details.

You may find the “How Music Works” series (1: Melody, 2: Rhythm, 3: Harmony and 4: Bass) at http://www.youtube.com/user/timegrinder to be helpful. Though this series is not related to the harmonica, nor does it follow the same flow of the BluesHarmonica.com music theory lessons, watching the entire series… as well as any other series on the understanding of music… to be helpful in your understanding of common music theory elements. Thanks to jodanchudan for this recommendation.

It was my pleasure to be Joe Filisko's guest in his famous Monday night B1 Class at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. It was a pleasure to meet all of his students... many of which are also on BluesHarmonica.com. Jimmie Meade was there and I used my standard phrase of the Blues harmonica tradition of oral learning, Listen... Copy... Try to Use. He slipped me a note with, Imitate... Assimilate... Innovate. Both phrases reach at the heart of the learning of an oral tradition... you might want to post this phrase (whichever version you prefer) in your practice space at home. continue reading...

"Do you want people to remember YOU or the MUSIC you played?" This seems like a strange question, but it does help us to think about the purpose of the music we write/play and our stage persona. A great stage show can hide weaknesses in a player's skill set. A lackluster stage show may not matter if one's music is exciting and engaging on it's own. A self-centered performer may play too much... to the elevation of them, but to the detriment of the music and the other musicians. continue reading...

If you're a performing musician... after the show... do you want people to remember YOU or the MUSIC you played?