Tip of the Day

Most things work in concert in regards to our body. If your hands are relaxed, then your tongue, mouth, neck and back muscles are more likely to be relaxed. Turn your harp around and look at the cover plates. Are they slightly crushed inwards? If so, start working on relaxing your hands and you'll start noticing other parts of your body starting to relax as well.

When approaching a new technique, we tend to tense up and use more of our body than necessary to perform a task. This is understandable at first, but you don't want to stay that way. A relaxed body is faster and more resilient.

Yesterday I was communicating with an experienced player that recently began studying at BluesHarmonica.com. He sent in a study song submission and one of my suggestions was to play softer. He sounded good, but I could tell he was pushing the harp louder than he needed to. He replied that he's been playing with a band for a while, which is what I expected. Here was my response. These points are important for amplified players to keep in mind.

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Yes, playing with a band tends to bring your “default” volume up. Here’s how Little Walter did it... continue reading...

Stuff You Should Know releases on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is one of my favorite podcasts to listen to. On Tuesday the subject was "Bridges: Nature Abhors Them" and at 48:21 they speak of mechanical resonance in regards to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge disaster. Believe it or not, the understanding of this will help you to become a better harmonica player. continue reading...

Today's tip is something you may have already experienced... playing your harp in a stairwell or bathroom (or any room with primarily hard, reflective surfaces) is inspiring. I recorded quite a few tracks for It Takes Three with my speaker cabinet (and the microphones to capture the sound) in the bathroom.

Today's exercise is fairly simple, but is exactly the way you'll use your new-found power of nasal cavity control. Play the following bass line, one note per beat...

2 3 4 5+

Follow these steps:

1) Exhale before starting

2) Make sure your nose is closed

3) Play the 2, 3 and 4 draws being conscious that your nose remains closed

4) Open your nose for the 5+ (bring your bellybutton to your spine to help get rid of your air quickly)

5) Close your nose when the 2 draw comes back to repeat the lick

BluesHarmonica.com overbend instructor Ross Garren interviews jazz chromatic player Mike Turk. There's a bonus video where they jam together as well. http://www.sheriffsofschroedingham.com/ross

If you've read it once, read it again... this paper is as important to advanced players as it is beginning. The more we can understand how the harmonica and mouth works in the bending process the better. In Ross' Overbending Study 1 he'll be referencing the concepts from this paper, so you'll want to review it to fully understand how the reeds work in the overbending process. https://www.bluesharmonica.com/sites/bluesharmonica.com/files/mri_bendin...

Now your goal is to open and close your nose in middle of your breath stream.

Again, start with a deep breath and play a single blow note on the harmonica with your nose closed. After two seconds open it (thinking as if you're blowing your nose) while the note continues to sustain and feeling your bellybutton go to your spine to use your diaphragm to help get rid of air. Close your nose after two seconds, stopping the air from leaking through your nose so that air is only traveling through your harmonica. continue reading...

Hopefully you had some success learning how to close your nose from last week's tips. Let's now exercise that skill. continue reading...

Just released today. Joe Filisko talks about the HOHNER Affiliated Customizers Program https://youtu.be/IkCGb7HXw1A