Tip of the Day

After giving a five-minute long lecture to students on mouth, jaw, tongue, soft pallet and throat positioning, I finish by saying, "basically yawn, this puts everything in a good position." An embouchure that's in a yawn-like state drops the jaw and pushes it slightly forward, lowers the tongue, raises the soft pallet (to close off the nasal cavity) and opens the throat. This all leads to killer tone on the harmonica and prevents breathing and unintended bending issues.

When someone suggests to you to "breathe from the diaphragm," what they're really suggesting you do is to open your airway... the throat, oral cavity, tongue (dropped) and mouth so that the air traveling through you and the harmonica is warm. This provides a large, resonant chamber for tone production... a lower probability that your tongue will be raised somewhere along its length (causing unintended side affects to reed vibration) and lowering the probability of you playing too loudly (causing premature reed failure).

Sounds like a good suggestion.

Blues harmonica players are known for being illiterate when it comes to the understanding of their music, and that's generally a true statement. I sure was this way, and it has taken me may years of dedicated study to not only learn music theory, but parse out what was important to me as a player of a traditional music form. It makes sense that this is a common dilemma... we listen, copy, try to use... this is the tradition of the Blues harmonica player. We are not raised in an environment that fosters music theory from the ground up. continue reading...

Here's a listing of harmonica keys, in order of common use...

Basic Set (most used): G, A, B-flat, C, D

If you have extra slots, also include: Low-F and F

Cool to have, but not used as much: A-flat (I love this harp for 3rd Position playing), E-flat and E

If you like low harps: Low C and possibly Low D

If you want to cover all your basis, add these harps (though you may never find a need for them): B, D-flat, F-sharp, Low E and Low E-flat

My 7-harp travel case (what I take on the road for gigs/workshops): Low F, G, A-flat, A, B-flat, C and D continue reading...

The go-to output connect used by professional players is the screw-on output connector. Why?

1) They were common in production microphones from companies such as Astatic (JT30), Electro-Voice (605) and Turner (BD, CD, etc.).

2) For modifying microphones, they fit will in the hole manufacturers used (such as Sure) to thread the microphone cable through (that was directly soldered to the element).

3) They provide a tight, secure fit.

4) They accommodate inline attachments well, such as volume controls, on-off slide switches and 1/4" adapters continue reading...

Exhale before you start to play

If your next purchase includes a custom harmonica case, when it arrives, open it up and let it air out for at least a week. New cases use products that commonly gas for a period of time. Not only can this make you nauseous, the harmonicas can retain that taste and smell for sometimes up to a year. Cases manufactured by large companies spend time in travel, inventory shelves and retail displays... by the time you receive the case all this gassing has commonly already taken place. continue reading...

Since the Rhumba's been the focus for a while on the site, here are some nice one to check out.

"Minor Mambo" Gary Smith - CD: Blues Harp Meltdown, Disc. 1 (taught in the Artist Study section of the site)
"El Gado Rumba Azul" Curtis Salgad - CD: Hit It 'n Quit It
"Back Door Rhumba" James Harman - CD: Blues Harp Meltdown [Disc 2]

Though bending is not as commonplace on the chromatic harmonica, it is used. We use bending for expression (dips and slight changes in pitch to give a crying or whining sound). The tip for bending on the chromatic is to control the bend further forward in the mouth (similar to a 6 draw bend or blow bend at first). If you bend with the back of your tongue you'll commonly stall the reed. Experiment with being really far forward (too far forward at first) and as time goes on progressively control the bend further back on the tongue.

If you're not using practice software like the Amazing Slow Downer you're wasting your practice time.
http://www.bluesharmonica.com/practice_tools_amazing_slow_downer