Tip of the Day

I'm often asked what to use to clean the outside of a harmonica. I use Roche-Thomas' Mi-T-Mist. Spray... let sit for a moment... wipe the grunge off. Be careful not to spray inside your harp on a chromatic (you don't want this spray to get on your wind savers). Here's a link: http://www.rochethomas.com/p-159-mi-t-mist-8oz.aspx

There are times where we block only one hole with our tongue and times where we block up to five holes with our tongue. Simply stated, the smaller the blockage, focus on more of the front-top of the tongue (which is more narrow) and the larger the blockage, focus on using more of the back-top of the tongue. When playing a 2/4 split, use the tip of the tongue (and a light touch) to block hole 3. For the 1/4 split use the blade of the tongue (on top, behind the tip). For the single 4 draw, use the top of the tongue to block holes 1 through 3. continue reading...

So we can play softly.

What's the right gap for you?

1 - Low enough that it responds at very low volume.

2 - Not so low that reeds stall when articulation or played with relatively high pressure (when it's time to kick butt!).

3 - Set evenly across the range of the harmonica (keep mind that it's higher for low reeds and lower for high reeds)... nothing's worse than playing a beautifully-soft passage and a reed in that passage doesn't respond similarly to the other reeds... this is a case of the instrument getting in the way of the music. continue reading...

We train to play instrumentals and solo on the harmonica, but 80% of the time on the bandstand we're playing accompaniment (if you're not the singer). Here's a tip for you when another soloist starts their solo.

Don't play the first chorus. This gives them sonic space to do their thing. The second chorus play very sparse. The third chorus start playing a little stronger, helping to build underneath the soloist to assist them in their drive to the climax of their solo. Give this a try, it's very affective. continue reading...

Today's tip comes from my student and friend Dan... a comment that he made in his lesson that I wrote down to share with you guys. Dan is a soccer expert, teaching private lessons as well as coaching full teams for many decades. We often have lunch together after his lessons to share ideas, especially on skills acquisition. We were talking about how as instructors we can shave off many years of a student's studies by feeding them the right information at the right time, and he said...

"It doesn't matter who your teacher is, you can't break the rule of hours."

Interesting new tuning software at http://www.hohner-cshop.de/cms/index.php/de/de-tuner
If you've try it post in the equipment part of the forum to share your thoughts with everyone.

If you read yesterdays licked study, they mentioned Johnson's study. Here is the study...
http://mis.ucd.ie/Members/RJohnst/oldharp.pdf

Note three incorrect findings. Yes, you can bend in a tongue block... blow bend pitches are not "abrupt" and the Adam's apple has nothing to do with the bending process. Don't blame him for this... this was a very early study and not much was known about bending back then... thus the study.

Some of you were asking as of late the science of bending. Here's the most recent study on it (that I'm aware of at least). http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/antaki/articles/Bahnson%20JASA%201998.pdf

Harmonica Masterclass & BluesHarmonica.com April 2012 Newsletter - Jerry McCain's "Steady"
http://www.bluesharmonica.com/sites/bluesharmonica.com/files/newsletter_...