harmonica

Just released today by videographer Mason Dabbag. Thank you for sharing Mason.

Joe Filisko & Eric Noden
Blues In Town - Balu, song for Martin Häffner
http://youtu.be/yXfJEbL1NpI

A cool video just released on our buddies Joe Filisko and Eric Noden. They talk about their beginnings as a duo, their set development and songwriting process and play some tunes. http://youtu.be/OhQ_Syye-cM

Here's the other post in regards to yesterday's discussion that students asked to be re-posted...

Student continue reading...

There was a desire from some of the students to re-post this dialogue from the public forum in a more prominent place... they, and I, feel it strikes a common chord with many...

Student
"I am 53 years old and have wanted to play the harmonica since I was 15 but never knew how to approach it. I took it up two years ago, starting with lessons from Portnoy, Gindick and Gussow. I found your site last fall and found exactly what I was looking for; the rich full sound of tongue blocking in a well-structured progressing in learning. continue reading...

Here's a sneak peek of my interview with country harmonica wizard Mike Caldwell. In this video he talks about the spirit of music and then we jam it up! Full interview to release 10/22 http://youtu.be/2Qk6tJHVP2o

Released this past week, featuring Sting and noted jazz improviser David Werner...

The Source Of Creativity
We want to be creative but channeling our creative impulses is no small feat. Is creativity something we are born with or can we learn it? In this hour, TED speakers examine the mystery of creativity.
http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/

The key word yesterday was "gift," to "gift myself enough time to get bored." Our daily lives are full with responsibilities, so we naturally have to allot specific times for our various activities, with our practice sessions commonly starting and ending at prescribed times. This scheduling is part of what makes us successful, but some practice sessions should give you hours instead of minutes. When I was a teenager that was easy to do, I had hours on hours of time to do as I pleased. continue reading...

My most creative ideas come from moments where I gift myself enough time to get bored.

The faster the tempo of the backing (swing for example), the more repetitive Chorus Forms you'll use, AAA and AAB for example (listen to William Clarke's "Blowin' the Family Jewels," it's all AAA and AAB). The slower the backing, the more active Chorus Forms you'll use (listen to Little Walter's "Blue Midnight," the A B/A C Chorus Form is king in slow blues). So, the general guideline you can give yourself is that if the backing is active, you don't need to be. If the backing is slow and sparse, up your activity. As you can infer, it's about balance.

Translation...

When students start working on pulls (found on the upbeat), they forget to slap their other notes (found on the downbeat). This sounds strange... don't do this. The main reason why we tongue block is to use the slap technique, so make it your default... you should have a reason why you're not slapping. Next, when using other techniques, like the pull, don't forget to record yourself and listen back so you can make sure you're not forgetting to use your other techniques, like slaps, dips, flutters, tremolo/vibrato and dynamics. continue reading...