practice

The next time you're at your local hardware store take a stole down the fence supplies isle and grab a chain link fence cap. The most common size is 2-3/8", which is the same size as our bullet microphones. This is the inside diameter measurement, so it will feel a tad large, but it's pretty darn close. This is a great bullet mic analog for those wishing to get used to holding a bullet microphone before they make the investment for a real one. You can also play into it like a cup, creating cool, cavernous Wa Wa and Hand Tremolo effects. Not a bad tool, and under $1! continue reading...

A student asked how I would structure an 8 hour a day practice routine. I thought you would appreciate seeing this...

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Assuming I was where you're at right now, this is how I would structure my practice day...

1) 15m - Warm up playing scales: Major Pentatonic and Blues Scale for each chord of the three positions (C, G, D, A) across the entire range of the harmonica.

2) 15m - Arpeggios: Major, Minor and 7th Chords from of all the chords based on the home scale in three positions (C, G and D scales) continue reading...

I'm heading to the Harmonica Masters Workshops (http://www.harmonica-masters.de/en/) and will be out of communication for the next 10 days as I travel and become deeply immersed in teaching harmonica players from all around Europe (some of which are you, from this site!... very cool). My favorite thing to do on long flights is to bring a notepad and pen (one that won't explode at altitude!) and make note of my short, mid and long-term musical goals. Doing this helps to steer my ship towards areas of interest, growth and a more intelligent plan on how I'm spending my valuable time. continue reading...

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...

A quick harmonica-related motivational article from fellow student and TEDx Talk speaker Bruce Turkel

Be the Best at Everything You do From Now on by Bruce Turkel
http://turkeltalks.com/be-the-best

“Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about.”

Work on a passage until you feel like you have it. Record yourself playing that passage. Listen to the original recording with sheet music in hand (if available) so you have a clear reference of what the passage should sound like. Listen back to the recording of your performance and with a pencil circle any areas on the transcription that you feel don't quite sound right. Listen back numerous times, to both the original and your recording, to pinpoint exactly what needs work.

Songwriters have a recording device with them at all times--Inspiration comes at any moment, and a moment not captured is an opportunity lost. I carried a mini-cassette recorder with me for years and though the quality wasn't good, it did the job. Now that smartphones are ubiquitous, the voice memo app that comes with most phones (or an inexpensive recording app) provide much higher quality and are an easy way to store and backup ideas. continue reading...

Here it is... drum roll please... tip 1,000! Copy and paste this into a document and print it out to keep in your practice binder to help keep you on track. Have a great week!

The Mind
1) Process, not product… you will be a great player, you just don’t know when
2) Corrections, not judgments
3) It's not commonly the most talented that become great players—It's the most tenacious!

The Time
1) Consistent
2) Non-flex

The Tools
1) Computer
a) Looping and speed-changing software (Amazing Slow Downer www.ronimusic.com)
b) Pitch reference (HarpNinja www.harpninja.com) continue reading...

Start your song and turn on your metronome. Adjust the metronome until it sounds like you're in the ballpark. Stop the metronome and start it again exactly on the first beat of a bar. If it seems fast, slow it down a smidgen, stop it again and start it on the downbeat of the next bar. Repeat this process until you find a tempo that matches the band for around two bars (these are live musicians, you won't get the metronome to stay with the band any longer than that).