harmonica

In our last installment of the Masco Chronicles Mark Overman and I talk and demonstrate speaker and cabinet options. Thanks to Mark Overman and all the others that helped to make this the fun and informative series it turned out to be!

Videos Include:
Submission #5 – Speakers, Part 1
Submission #5 – Speakers, Part 2
Submission #5 – Cabinets, Part 1
Submission #5 – Cabinets, Part 2
Submission #5 – Cabinets, Part 3
Submission #5 – Breaking in Speakers
Submission #5 – Cabinet Sizes
Submission #5 – Playing the Cabinets
Submission #5 – Closing to Masco Chronicles Series

Tremolo is created at the vocal folds, opening and closing in a rhythmic fashion. This controlled muscle is also often used for articulation. In fact, it's the primary articulation (think slight cough) used for blow notes in post war Chicago blues (except for chugging, where the "T" and "K" articulations are more common). Though not common for draw notes, you can use it as well, especial for fast passages when tongue blocking (a lick in Little Walter's "Evan's Shuffle" comes to mind where I consciously used it, the 5 draw at 1:04).

Current blues harmonica players that can perform the vibrato well (Kim Wilson for example), choose not to use it to sound more classic. Since players like Little Walter, Big Walter Horton and George "Harmonica" Smith used tremolo, if a player is inspired by those players, they'll commonly choose to use their approach to tremolo as well.

Magic Dick shared this with me today. It's great to see players expand what the harmonica can do and the settings in which it can play. Thank you Dick!

Magic Dick & Shun Ng - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag (James Brown Cover)
http://youtu.be/yxAZ3YyjtPg

Students commonly ask what the best model of harmonica is to play, or at least what I personally recommend. This is of course up to personal preference, but the gold standard has always been the Hohner Marine Band. The current flagship model is the Crossover... this is what the majority of my students play and the model I play if I'm not playing my custom Marine Bands (by Joe Filisko). The Marine Band Deluxe is my second choice. continue reading...

Joe Filisko and Eric Noden have been busy in the studio creating two new albums that will release in 2015. On the Move by Joe Filisko & Eric Noden and Solid Ground by the Eric Noden Band. Listen to a track from each album here: http://www.rootsduo.com

Tremolo (change in amplitude) is what most of our classic blues harmonica players used (pre-1960). Vibrato (change in pitch) became popular in the lat 1960's. If a classic player used a vibrato they tended to have a strong vocal vibrato as well (Howlin' Wolf is a great example). Players that are heavily influenced by Paul Butterfield (many are) they'll tend to use a strong vibrato. continue reading...

When James Harman shares his perspective on being a professional musician, it's worth listening to, he's been doing it successfully for a long time.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152476833956647&set=a.10151956...

The use of tremolo/vibrato is greatly emphasized in your lessons and submission critiques. It's used so much that it can be a dramatic effects to not use it. Listen to the opening of "Blue Midnight" by Little Walter and notice how hounting it sounds to not use it in the opening lines.

I'm off to camp through Sunday afternoon and then come in to do a lesson with Ryan Walker and record the last of the Masco Chronicles with Mark Overman. Have a great weekend everyone!

Focus Notes and Texture go hand-in-hand. As each chorus passes, you're keeping track of what you've played. You're not trying to remember every lick, it's more of a simple scorecard of what focus notes and the textures you've used.

For example...

Let's say you've played three choruses so far. Chorus 1 focused on the 1 draw and you used single notes. Chorus 2 focused on the 2 draw and you threw in some dips, slaps and pulls. Chorus 3 you focused on the 3 draw, mostly emphasizing the bluesy sound of the 3' and didn't use any new textures. continue reading...