I live n the Shenandoah Valley in Va. I need a Harp instructor. Would prefer to do in person not over phone or skype. Anybody out there know any near me? Thanks for you assistance....
Last Edited by on Mar 30, 2009 7:43 AM
depending on where you live in the Valley Allen Holmes lives in McLean and he would be worth the drive for a lesson.
On the other hand there is nothing wrong with doing a lesson over skype. It would be better for you to take a lesson via skype with a good teacher than a local one that is subpar.
I could do the drive to McLean, Im near Winchester. How would one get in touch with this Allen Holmes. Im assuming since this is coming from u Buddha that this guy is great...
Depends on who you get them from. Buddah does them. Christelle. Gindick. Shellist. A player from Sweden named Dick Sjoeberg, who is fantastic, has been giving me lessons.
Quite honestly I wouldn't with some of the people on that list Grillslinger. They may be inexpensive but they are not good teachers from what I have heard or have witnessed myself.
Gindick would be good, Dennis Gruenling would be great. Adam would be great if he did them (I don't know). I don't know anything about Dick Sjoeberg.
You all know my teaching style per my recent vids but I charge $90/session. I also give a free session to players who buy my custom harps.
Oldwailer and Zhin have taken lessons from me so maybe they can tell you if it's worth it or not.
Last Edited by on Mar 30, 2009 12:48 PM
I took Gindick's camp in Va. Beach last Oct., and my one-on-one lesson was with Allen Holmes- great guy and a really good teacher- I got more out of that half hour than I did the rest of the camp....I would highly recommend!
This was how I played BEFORE taking a lesson from him:
This one is AFTER just one frikkin lesson about a month later... though the quality of the recording is not as good, if you can listen to the harp parts you should be able to hear an overall better player:
He made me work on several aspects of my playing. Worked on my tone to thicken it up some more, my bending AND overblow control (I can even do the 1-hole-overblow thanks to his help). Worked on my timing, improvisational phrasing style, and a whole bunch of other things.
In every single aspect of my playing technique that we worked on I noticed an immediate and significant improvement in my playing.
His method of teaching is very precise. He really pays very close attention to what his students do and communicate with them in the best way possible that makes sense to them. This is one of those reasons why a real teacher that you can interact with is so important.
I've had a certain French harp teacher that imposed a lesson on me and told me that my tone is very thin and that I'm not breathing properly when I play. When I insisted that I've done vocal training and I know how to use my diaphragm the teacher dismissed it. The lesson ended shortly after that and I was left to feel very uncertain about my playing. Could I have been wrong the whole time?
That's what prompted me to get lessons from Chris Michalek. I got a second opinion from him. Turns out my breath control is fine. In 2 minutes Chris identified that any kind of "thin" tone I had originated from how I was cupping my harp/mic and what mic I was using. It should be noted that even WITHOUT the amp and mic, my tone got waaaaay thicker by how he taught me how to cup. And I thought I was so clever to know how to cup properly before that! lol
The only thing we didn't work on was my vibrato. He felt it was good enough after I expressed that I'm satisfied with that one aspect of my playing.
In the end, his lesson have also made me feel VERY confident about my acoustic chops too. BLUES chops by the way.
If you have time to watch my previous gig and this current one you should be able to notice difference in how I play and behave. I used to be a lot more fidgety and umn.. well, you know, i looked so much less experienced. lol
The recent gig, I felt and looked a lot more stable and confident.
What trips me out is that we did the lesson online but it felt so much like he was sitting next to me and paying close attention to what I was doing and working on MY playing on the fly. Skype is awesome btw. :)
I've already scheduled more lessons in the future.
Hope this helps.
---------- My Videos
Last Edited by on Mar 31, 2009 6:51 AM
I would like to add that after just one lesson he left me with a lot to think about and try out to improve my techniques.
Half of it is still sinking in. I'd recommend taking notes after a lesson or something. ;)
To me this is durable teaching because I don't actually have to keep on taking lessons from him. He doesn't make you do follow ups. You could say each lesson is like a proper individuated harp clinic.
To me a lousy teacher will try to keep you as a student for too long. A good one just wants you to get on your feet and RUN properly!
Chris, I'm curious about what you think of those combs.
Anyway, I don't know if offers lessons with a harp. I just brought up some concerns after ordering mine, then reading a some stuff on harp-l about custom harps being easier to blow out, and going out of tune more quickly.
He said it's all about proper breathing, and offered to show me how to do it over skype.
Aside from using questionable materials, the combs are beautiful. Rosewood and Cocobolo are known to cause breathing problems and many people are allergic or very sensitive to the wood. Personally, I wouldn't touch them. Remember the rosewood harmonica company? They had lots of issues with people having irritated lips and throat. Frankly if Dick didn't have the foresight to research his choices of wood it really makes me question what else he doesn't know. Like I said, they look nice, but as we all know that pretty girl isn't always the one you want to spend the rest of your life with.
There are some of Doug Tate's comb modifications in Dick's product. I'll assume he's paying his respects to Doug. However, I don't think they really make a difference, not in a diatonic comb. There are TWO things I have found that make difference in comb design and I don't see it in Dick's work. (No I'm not going to share them publicly)
Customs harps are not easier to blow out not if they are set up right. Joe Spiers and the Filisko boys know how to do it from what I have seen and heard.
Yes, proper breathing is key to all things and not just harp.
I would very highly recommend Buddha as a teacher--by Skype would be a good way to avoid the Monkey's Paw ;-)
I am still digesting the stuff he gave me to work on, but my playing has improved a lot in a very short time, and I am finally focused on working on the right things instead of just skipping around trying to ear out things that sound cool.
Buddha is much more than a harp player--he is a very fine musician, and, as such, he teaches you the route to being better overall as a player--not just some hot licks.
You could just buy a Lotus harp from him for about $90--then get the lesson that goes with it--that way you get to try the lesson for free, since the harp would cost pretty close to that anyway. Then you get the lesson--plus the best harp I've ever had! That, Dude, is what I would call a killer deal!!
Chris...I surprised by your answer about those combs. Rather, I was surprised to learn that about those woods. Did some research that confirmed it. So I asked Sjoeberg about it. Here is what he said.
"About the Rosewood and Cocobolo - yes its correct about the allergic reactions unless they are not sealed. Be safe my friend, the ones I manufacture are made of composite wood! The wood use in them is Birch and they are then colored in different colours and then combined and pressed under very high pressure with fenol plastic. When I have machined them I laquer each comb in three layers. The are completely harmless, looks and sounds great."
