Tip of the Day

"One note played richly and beautifully is worth a thousand notes with no tone."

Fast licks can be challenging to learn due to the number of notes packed into a small amount of time. Difficulty is heightened with awkward breathing patterns or the addition of challenging techniques, such as bending or note treatments (dip, cut, gliss, slap, flutter, or octave for example). Students will struggle to fit all the notes of a passage in time, and in their struggle, they often unknowingly play the lick too fast to get to what's next in the music. continue reading...

When playing simple phrases (or tedious scales), focus on making each note sound as beautiful as you can. Open your embouchure for a warm tone. Use dynamics on every note. Use tremolo where the phrase allows. Great music has nothing to do with how many techniques are used to present it. Often the simpler the music, the greater its impact—if played with emotion (which is created with the techniques listed).

Having trouble with octaves, or any technique where you’re not sure which holes you’re truly blocking (we play an invisible instrument)? Place painter’s tape (no sticky residue) on the face of your harmonica and punch holes (a pen tip does the job) where you want notes to sound.

I assume that you're using tremolo for long-held notes at the end of phrases (you should if you’re not). Let’s add a decay in volume as well. Start that phrase-end note at normal volume and then decay over the length of the notated rhythm until it disappears. It's rare that a final note of a phrase just stops—It decays until it dispersers into the mix of the band. This makes for a MUCH more musical phrase ending.

Play 4+. Slowly slide your tongue to the left (make sure your jaw does not move—visually confirm this in a mirror). If you hear the 1+ after sliding slightly to the right, then your embouchure size is correct (lips surrounding four holes). If you hear 2+, then your mouth is too small. The goal is to have your mouth surround four holes so that your chordal techniques (slaps, pulls, flutters, etc.) sound big, and you can easily move to an octave (where your tongue blocks the middle two holes) at any time.

“I sometimes point out to a student that their frustration with a piece is an indication that they care deeply about it.” Pg 15, The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music From the Heart by Madeline Bruser

"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right."

A fun study on perceived errors in performance https://bulletproofmusician.com/how-many-of-our-mistakes-do-audiences-an...

When performing the hand Wa, use one continuous breath (apposed to one breath per Wa, or one dip per Wa). The Wa effect (closed and muted to open and bright) is much more pronounced.