i stole this video from a post on channel 1, but i couldn't imbed it so just check it out here. http://www.modernbluesharmonica.com/board/board_topic/5560960/5491066.htm ---------- "Trust Those Who Seek The Truth... Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jan 05, 2016 3:33 PM
This video had some interesting ways of thinking about diaphragm breathing. Even if you don't sing. I personally used it to apply to my tone practice. It was a bit overlooked on the main forum i think. Thought it might be helpful to bring it back up. ---------- "Trust Those Who Seek The Truth... Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
Thanks for this. KHz I don't think you have a laptop/desktop is that right? If you did, you'd right-click on the vid and click 'Copy Embed Code' then paste that in here. Hopefully there's an equivalent on the device you are using.
Interesting as my wife sings Barbershop style competitively and is often taking voice lessons etc. While I try to incorporate whatever I can into my playing. I can't help but notice how many of her teachers, have different methods to improve ones singing/ breathing etc. So it very much reminds me of the wide variety of methods harmonica teachers espouse to "do it the right way" Eventually you learn what you can from the various instructors then kind of customize it for yourself.
Sometimes things just are taught to you at the right time idk. You guys prolly already breathe right. I'm just now focusing on it. But basically what i get out of it is the way it feels when your really using your diaphragm. She uses the elevator analogy. And another one about air goin out your butt, she lost me on that one.
Someone else said think of it as your diaphragm and the reeds are attached. Not your throat or lungs. Or something to that effect.
Does anyone ever find when trying to "open everything up" bending gets a lil trickier. I find myself stuck between two options. Keep my tongue in neutral position so i can bend easier/faster or hold my tongue down to create a bigger cavity, but take longer to get up to bent position.
Did that make sense? Anybody know what i mean?
And yes mtg i use my galaxy phone. I did the copy paste deal and it just copied the text. Idk.
---------- "Trust Those Who Seek The Truth... Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
Spderyak - yes I think that's it. I do find some visualisations actually helpful - for instance I don't have conscious control of my soft palate (didn't really know what it was before I started playing harp) but of course we all use it all the time, flapping open, closed, half-open, in normal speech, making snoring sounds, drinking soup or whatever. So an instruction to 'make the start of a T to close it, make an N to open it', is nice, simple and works. That's what I call a visualisation.
KHz - I see. Maybe it's not 'bigger is always better' when it comes to cavities! They are always talking about tuning your bits (mouth, throat...) to the right resonance. It's like the relax thing - in reality it's about relaxing some bits not others.
The advice was to go for a big dropped jaw, tongue down on those low notes and you can see people doing that. Not on the higher notes though and sometimes you want to squeeze down to get a shriller sound.
They do talk about a pre-yawn, keeping your throat open.
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jan 07, 2016 2:01 AM
It's always good to reiterate the fundamentals - and breathing is about as fundamental as it gets.
There's a point in that video where she says everyone thinks they have good breath control, and that certainly rang true for me and probably most beginners. Personally, I think visualisation can be a very useful tool, especially with a blind instrument. It all too easy to start off well but falter as a tune gets more complex. I'm trying to get into the habit of regular breathing exercises before practice sessions.
To that end, it's good to keep an open mind and try all the various exercises till you find one or more that work for you. ---------- Forum Search Direct Link
Yes I agree. I've listened to a lot of visualisation based advice, some hits the spot some doesn't. Some of it makes sense after the event - bending was a good example. I didn't learn to bend by doing k-spots and all that, but I can definitely saw what they meant AFTER I could bend.
I do have a particular blind spot round the diaphragm visualisations and there are a lot of those around.
I'm being picky because I'm looking for things that make a clear change. My early-stages drumming is good like that: hold a stick this way, it does this. Hold it that way, it does that. I can see and hear the difference.
If I imagine the harp sound is coming from my belly, and record the difference, there's no difference. I don't think I've got great breath control, and I don't think this visualisation helps (me).
Just to repeat, in the Beginner's Forum we aren't laying down the law, quite the reverse. It's good to say freely and honestly what we've found individually. If anyone finds these visualisations work then that's great and I'd like to hear about it.
I'll point out a problem I've found with people demonstrating the benefits of this or that approach - when they do an A/B demo they can exaggerate the bad things in the one they don't like! Adam does this with his 'beginners thin tone' video, but it's OK there as he does say it's exaggerated for effect. I'm thinking of the umpteen demos on embouchure.
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jan 07, 2016 4:15 AM
Just to obsess about this for a minute, what I really like instead of visualisations are mindless exercises that improve things without having to e.g. understand physiology, resonance etc.
A good example would be Adam's playing long, solid notes for 8 beats or whatever. The kind of thing where you can measure the output, and you make all the complex moves necessary to bring that about. Probably that requires you to breathe from the diaphragm.
From the world of drumming, rudiments and repetitive stick control exercises that improve fills and general fluency.
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jan 07, 2016 4:22 AM
I am thinking there are various ways to get our notes, depending on the songs etc. I do try to incorporate diaphragm techniques especially on some of the faster tunes (ideally with out hyperventilating). One method for shaping the soft palate, for various bends that might not get mentioned in books... I found if I raise my eye brows I get a more pleasing sound and it keeps me from "quaking like a duck" when going for the bent notes. Eventually the note will come without the "surprise look". I think another way of saying much the same I hear the singers talking about the various placements for "vocal production" Boy they certainly are into it and practice a lot pretty inspiring all in all.
I didnt find this video to be a revelation or anything. dont get me wrong. Just liked a few things she said. like you said take pieces from everyone. I found a piece or two in there.
Im always analyzing ever aspect of my playing trying to see what i can be doing better.
but sometimes when trying to do something you over exagerate it. for instance when i was first trying to get single notes everyone said keep your mouth open wide. you dont want to thin out the notes. i was covering 4 holes trying to play 1 like WTF!! i think the same is happening with me trying to figure out this "Big Tone" thing. im over exagerating some things.
But i find breathing practice does help. But i actually practice Breathing Vs Sucking. not just the ability to breathe better, but actually to breathe right. Most people play from the mouth/throat n its hard switching to the diaphragm. because alot of the sounds and embellishments i do come from the mouth. So do i make these sounds differently now? Or do i somehow marry the two by using the mouth n throat only when i need it and keep it out of the way the rest of the time?
MTG - i know about thinning note and different mouth forms other than just the GREAT TONE FORM. but i am comfortable with all the other ones. Its the bigger tone that im missing in the bag o tricks.
Also I notice the sound difference when recording it. It's not a night n day difference for sure, but i think with practice it will be. But it does Feel Immensely different. The sound goes from toot toot toot out of your mouth, To a TONE of Sound That resonates through your body. The first time i played like it i knew i was on the right track. Check out Richard Sleighs Site. He has a method he calls T.R.Y. It has to do with lining up your body and supporting your head with you back muscles instead of your neck so you can better relax your neck/throat. Its a good foundation for getting it i think.
Ok well im done blabbin. sorry im on the work computer so I can type alot more than on my stupid phone.
Typing as fast as it spews from my brain. Polluting the internet with my Manic Infectious Garbage. LOL. ---------- "Trust Those Who Seek The Truth... Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jan 07, 2016 11:03 AM
I read that advice from richard years ago. Not sure he called it t r y back then but itvwas about standing up an not slouching. I took it heart but i didnt obsess about it. I just remembrr i shouldnt hunch over. I liked that idea of belly singing from thd pojnt of view of singing. Thats what ghe lady in yhr video is about...particularly about tension in thd throat. She is talkkng about clearing up 95% of tehe problem specifically when singing and having tightness in tge throat that strangles your ability to produce thd note. And i absolutely get it. Singing...its amazing how well you can sing if you can get over that problem, and the idea that you control the voice using your throat is where thd problem is. How it relates to harp im not sure. I know some folks like harpdude61 imagine yhey do something he calls "throatbending". I personally dont believe in throat bending as a literal thing but i accept these folks perceive ghey are controlling their "throat muscles" to control the harp. Given the biggest muscle in that area is the tongue, i tend to think they are using their tongue and just thinking back in the throat...in effect 'visualising' something...i mean the tongue is a big bundle of muscle fibres and you move one part it has an effect somewhere else...like you cant move your elbow without moving either hand or wrist. ..but anyway, this throat bending thing may have thd effect of reducing tension in the mouth and face, and similiarly this idea of voice coming from belly probably focuses on diapghram and has the effect of reducing tension in throat. You could equally say 'relax the throat' but this active diversion may be easier to implement. A bit of practice probably helps. I use to focus on 'switching on' my abs and found that really helped my voice quite a lot
I've searched long and hard for some radical resonance effect and I've not found it. The fact that some resonance is going is plain as a pikestaff - I blow into the 1B from a distance and there's a thin metallic sound, I blow with a deep embouchure, low jaw and open throat and the sound is demonstrably, recordably, deeper and more sonorous.
But beyond that, nothing much. I can breathe in and out through the diaphragm. But I don't get any special resonances.
I'll trot out this story again for you. Because of the lack of a live teacher, and with the sense that there was some magical sound that I was missing out on I trekked across country to have a live lesson. Now, I've had the experience of sitting next to a classically trained singer, who when she opened up with 'the singing voice' it was ridiculously, crazily louder than her speaking voice. Hugely loud. That's the kind of thing I was expecting to find with the harmonica. But it wasn't like that, just a bit louder. There's some more detail about control of harmonics but I won't go into that again now.
Point is I still think there's probably some breathing/resonance effect I'm missing out on but I can't find it. Not from want of trying.
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jan 07, 2016 2:07 PM
I practice yoga and did for many years before taking up harmonica, so diaphragm breathing was a no brainier ( and required no visualization on my part) so I didn't have to unlearn anything. Whatever helps you, of course, is what's important.
MTG -here's a (somewhat) mindless excercise for you to improve tone through breathing: 1. Lay on your back and take in a full breath of air. Now take in some more air. Perhaps your chest expands some more or your head tilts back a bit. Now try for some more. We often don't realize what our capacity is. 2. Repeat the excercise but start by expanding the belly (which pulls down the diaphragm but you don't need to know that). Next take in more air by expanding the chest and opening the shoulders. Finally, tilt your head back a little, bring your arms over your head and take in more air. You may find this allows more air in than the first exercise.
Now translate this to breathing while playing the harp. Breathe out all the way, place mouth over the 1,2,3 draw and slowly breathe in-belly, chest, then shoulders back. You've just done diaphragm breathing and likely held the note for Adam's 8 count. Do this excercise five-for-five (five times in a row, five times a day) and see what it does for tone.
I'll be attending Adam and Ronnie Shellist's workshop next week in Denver. At which one of the topics is "breathing for better tone". I'll let you know what I learn.
Mtg Perhaps you can't find bigger tone because you were already playing correctly. Idk.
But it's not the difference i assumed it would be either, i know what you mean. but it really is a difference. And im just starting to mess with it. Its almost as if you can feel the notes come down into your chest. I tell u what it makes abig difference amp ed.
John gindick does a good exercise to help u see what it should sound like. I can't find the video right now. I saw it when i first started playin. You put the harp inyour mouth. Hold the harp with your righthand, but other wise in a normal playing orientation. Take the hole 1 side and put it inyour cheek like alolipop or something. And breathe in and out real deep. That's what it should sound like. Key word being should. I can make cords sound pretty close to that lip pursed. But single notes fall off a lil.
Harpdoc. Lmk how it goes in denver. I wanted to go bad, but wasnt in the cards i guess.
Bee i think the throat thing is just bending further back on the tongue. Kind of like bending tb. U have to learn to bend further back because the front is busy.
I also think how this video relates to harp is because in tryin to get the deep tone thing goin using too much with your throat kinds kills it. And the breathing visualizations helped by feeling how i should breathe THROUGH the harp and explaining what it felt like to use your diaphragm Cus i want sure if i was or not. Anyways not that helpful for yall i see. Lol. That's cool. It wasnt that great to begin with. i just thought it was worth the repost.
---------- "Trust Those Who Seek The Truth... Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
ME.HarpDoc - Thanks. Coincidentally I watched a TV program this week that included a bit on free-diving, and we were being shown how to fill up the lungs in three sections a bit like that - the belly, then the chest then the shoulders. Anyway, that's the kind of exercise that appeals to me - actually doing something then seeing if something improves.
KHz - I'll look out that vid. I like the idea that I might be doing it right already! Somehow I doubt it. But I have searched and not found. What I think might happen is that one day something will click and it's Eureka time. Until then I'll have to accept what I've got.
What if it's a 'given thing' i.e. an aspect of physique that you can't fundamentally change? Some people have sonorous voices naturally don't they.
All I can say so far is that, of the relatively few people I've heard playing in the same room (as opposed to the many recorded) I've not heard that massive difference like I definitely have with between a non-singer and a trained singer.
One teacher gave me an Dan Moi to explore resonance with. Now, that definitely responded to opening the throat - when you hit the right resonance it's really obvious and it takes a very tiny soft breath to keep it in motion, and it vibrates with a large amplitude. I'm a physicist and I know resonance when I see it! I've not experienced that with the diatonic harp - except with overblows. For me, they kick in really easily, with light breath IF everything is right. Otherwise, they either don't go or it takes some brute force.
For ordinary notes, I can make them sound by blowing into the harp from a distance (no resonance there) and with the harp in the mouth I'd have to work pretty hard to have the note not sound. Changing mouth shape, throat, tongue placement etc. DOES bring out different harmonics - I've measured them, and they are easy to hear: warm through to shrill. But I haven't hit a mouth shape where the note seems to take off by itself like the Dan Moi.
On the chromatic, I do get the feeling there is more resonance in play. Again, the conditions have to be just right to get the note to sound, then it's easy. Because I'm a beginner, I'm often 'thinking the wrong note' vs where I am (wrong hole, blow/draw, slide in/out). In that case the note either doesn't sound or is hard to get going.
I'm interested to compare notes on this topic. What do you find?
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jan 08, 2016 1:21 AM
I think the GREAT LIFE CHANGING TONE thing we are both after is a long road till you get, but I wanted to show you this video if you haven't already seen it. It was really the moment when I said WOW I need to learn how to do that! I don't sound like that at all. LOL In fact before I started messing with trying to get bigger and better tone (which was like 3 weeks ago, HAH!) I sounded a lot like Issac. ( In the Second Part) Surprisingly A lot can change in 3 weeks tho.
It was posted on here recently as a tribute to Chris. Check out the end of the video. There are two sections. The fist part is just Issac playing the lesson. The second part starts at about 1:45. And Chris' Tone is Great. I think with the comparison of the "Beginner Tone" it makes Chris sound even better.
I hope this embeds properly, but here we go.
https://youtu.be/3Gesw1vj_hw ---------- "Trust Those Who Seek The Truth... Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jan 08, 2016 7:21 AM
Thanks yes it is a good vid and good tone. But that is the problem with the 'good tone' thing, because the elements I hear are:
- Confident, strident, play. - Inflections on the notes - Lots of vibrato
Confident and strident always seems to get the 'good tone' thumbs up. I'd say Adam is like that and I like it. But then I have that Paul Butterfield instruction CD where I can hear very clearly he plays with a light, quite wavering touch acoustically - and encourages us to do that too. Then he demonstrates the same thing through a mic/amp and it sounds like classic Butterfield, his cupping and the mic and amp make it big. Quite enlightening.
Loads of vibrato gets the seal of approval too. But there are plenty of records by the masters where they don't use much at all. You should know that CM had a different technique than most for producing vibrato, which worked on all the notes. Less throat more mouth and jaw I think, very tasteful jazzy vs the more blues/throat vibrato.
Inflections, also a very nice part of the sound. Having lessons with Ronnie Shellist, he inflects all over the place, it rarely sits still. And when he does play a solid note, the contrast is good too.
What I don't hear is CM's tone being e.g. twice the volume. Nothing to indicate that there is some big resonance effect going on - which is what we are talking about re the benefit of opening up the pipes, better breathing etc. Of course, the recording is compressed so we can't really tell at this end.
One thing I did was to try to replicate the tone of a particular recording, by taking just a very short phrase (even just a few notes) and learning it so I could play it with the same confidence. I can't keep that up for a whole piece, but I found I could often approach the 'tone' that way. What was useful was to understand just how much 'stuff' (techniques) get piled into each phrase to make it sound so: dips up and down, dynamics, articulation, vibrato (depth, when it comes in, speed), timbre, length of note. Then you've got all the rhythmic stuff - behind/on/in front of the beat.
So in that sense my tone is poor coz I can't do all those things like they do. But my basic, underlying note sound, when you strip all the other things away? Is that any good. I don't know.
It's also possible I'm thinking about it the wrong way - that you can't separate out the two. As a scientist I can't help looking for elements. But if I could do it, I wouldn't be worrying about it, I'd just play. In fairness, everyone obsesses it about it more than me - invoking effects like Helmholtz resonance and whatnot.
I'm still searching...
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jan 08, 2016 8:24 AM
Ok i see. You're looking for louder. That's not what i mean when i say resonance. Its just the pure quality of the notes. It does get a bit louder when you open everything up actually, but that (to me) is not the point. The way i was playing before was real thin and nasally. And the sound was just localized at the harp. When i play opened up it just rings out different or "resonates" , but its not exactly super loud. It's hard to explain. Well for example listen to both of their playing in the video. That's the difference. I don't think chris is using more air Or playing harder, just correctly.
I play with as little air add possible (most of the time) I know Adams school of thought and for him it makes sence, but i prefer the soft method. I feel it's easier to be articulate and have more control. And you don't run outta breath so fast lol. Perhaps we should both make some recordings and compare how we play. I'm not trying to put anything on you tube or anything, but maybe we could email eachother some stuff, idk.
I have a pretty good throat vibrato, i think anyways. It just came naturally to me. I think i had that down before anything. Even single notes. I think alot of my articulations are pretty good. The main thing that bugs me when i record something Is my tone. So that's what I've been working on.
Maybe a good analogy would be cutting with a hand saw. You can push and pull n use all the strength you want. The saw will just kink up n bend and not cut anything. However if you keep it straight, usea good even pressure and just let the saw do the work, it goes right through like butter.
I think the harp is prolly the same way.
Disclaimer: Don't try cutting 2×4's with your Special 20. I'm perry sure it voids the warranty. ---------- "Trust Those Who Seek The Truth... Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jan 08, 2016 9:55 AM
:) In fact one of my sons did just that - he made me a 'key ring harp' of the lower 6-holes with a saw and some handiwork.
There you go with the visualisations again :)
For me, from a physics and music point of view, resonance means just that - lots of output for little input. It doesn't mean playing loud necessarily. Thinking of harmonics (and that's not the only story) a thin tone probably means more high harmonics, and a deep sonorous tone as you describe means more volume in the lower harmonics. So I can imagine a nice, rich tone being where you can get those frequencies going without loads of effort, or just pure volume.
I was always surprised how much flow the harp needed - there's not much back pressure or 'bite' compared to other wind instruments e.g. oboe. If real resonance was in play, one symptom would be more resistance, not because it's airtight like people go on about but because a lot of the flow energy is being transformed into vibration.
I reckon we are, at bottom, talking about the same thing. Recordings are useless IMO because so much depends on how you record, how you playback. I think you need to be 'in the room'. Even then, you can't hear yourself like others hear you.
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jan 08, 2016 10:08 AM
...btw I had a lesson with Ben a while ago. He's into throat singing and all that, and was able to control his harmonics really well.
I recorded him and did my best to copy his timbre back at base, playing about with mouth and throat shapes until I matched his spectral output. If you want to know, he added loads of 3rd harmonic and that really made the acoustic sound expand. When I searched for this harmonic, I could feel an increase in resistence, which indicates better efficiency too.
...but I was looking for an essentially 'almost no air needed' situation. And haven't found that.
What you describe you have - the note being drawn inside, I want some of that. I've heard saxophone players describe it like that too.
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jan 08, 2016 10:28 AM
That's cool i wondered if that would work. I broke acomb and it was a nice one. So i figured maybe i could make something like the big 6. I guess if you use holes 7n8 as the other side it would work.
I wasnt taking about pro recordings maybe just something to more easily describd things. But that's cool.
The thing you said about more drag is funny because i can hit this spot with opening up that straight chokes everything out. And my gapping is good. It's just that at a point the mouth shape creates a backpressure i guess and the reeds can't handle it. You could adjust for this but i think you would have to play this way all the time. Which would be weird.
I know what you mean about trying to think of it scientifically, but too much of that is when i feel I'm getting no where and over analyzing too much. So i just have to let go and let the skills and imagination/subconscious sort of play a bit.
I was playing around a bit trying to find a good example of what im getting. It's most noticable with the 123draw cord. And you hit it on the head with the upper frequency vs lower. That's what it is. But as you know low frequency is multi directional. Where as high frequency is not. Well idk where i was Goin with that i had somethin there n lost it, but .....anyways try doing the 123 draw with your your tongue bunched up n pushed forwards n the feeling like your holding your nose, like cutting off your Nasal pasages. That's one extreme. Now try the jaw dropped, yawn throat like your trying to swallow something whole and open nasal like you could breathe through it at the same time. Hopefully you can hear the HUGE difference.
You probably know all this, but i just wanted to try to describe it anyways. When you hit the 123 draw deep like that its totally different tone. Almost feel like there are deifferent notes in there.
Ah yes the bass resonates better than the highs and since your drawing in deep to the diaphragm it kind of flows down there. If you open up right. I know it's only one sound of many, but it's what im workin on right now so forgive my ramblings about it.
---------- "Trust Those Who Seek The Truth... Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jan 08, 2016 5:41 PM
Yes I get the 123 chord thing. The only problem is your range of timbres may be quite different to mine.
I'm happy to talk about this until the cows come home. But try as I might, I cant find a way to make a radically more sonorous timbre than I can already. Either it doesn't exist, or I can't do it, or I haven't found the trick. I don't even hear incremental improvements that might lead me down the path.
On the other hand, I have found that using hands, cupping, microphones (vocal and bullet) DO make a radical difference. A real, measurable, recordable, scratch-a-window-with-it difference and so I decided to put effort into that.
One day, I may stumble across the trick, or find the right visualisation in a video or book. That will be wonderful when it happens!
Until then, like a lot of things in life I've found out, it's a case of learning to love what you have got rather than what you haven't! :)
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jan 09, 2016 12:16 AM
You ask about instruments? Ha, I'm a complete dabbler. I've only really taken the piano seriously, and I never play that any more. Otherwise I picked up instruments and learnt enough to do a particular thing. Usually get to a level of basic competence enough to enjoy playing with other people. I know real multi-instrumentalists, and I'm not one of those.
I expect that's how the harp will end up. I'm learning the drums at the moment, with exactly the same thing in mind.
How about yourself?
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jan 09, 2016 2:32 AM
My grandfather played drums in a jazz band. And momz worked alot so i grew up in the bars listening to jazz. Lol.
So in grade school i picked up drums in the band. Just snare at first. Then a kit. Bit i never really got good. Stopped playing when i got to high school.
I also have dabbled with guitar. I can play the hooks of metalica songs n yada yada. U kno. Nothin really. I recently bought a fender squire and a danelectro dirty thirty amp at the flea market for $40. I been learning some simple blues. Cords and 12 bar stuff so i could possibly back myself up while playing harp. I don't spend much time on it tho. Try to spend my free time playing harp. I also have all my pedals for harp that i like to play with on the guitar. I want a Looper pedal, so i can play a lil something on the guitar, loop it and play harp. I've seen people do it, its is awsome. And i don't like those racks, theyre wierd. ---------- "Trust Those Who Seek The Truth... Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jan 09, 2016 7:46 AM
There's definitely plenty of cross-talk between learning instruments. Reading music, for example. With a bit of re-adjustment I quickly found I could read and write drum music. Playing it properly, well that's the thing...
Unfortunately there weren't any musicians in the family when I was growing up, so I had to work it out myself. No internet then either, and books were limited and expensive. Classical stuff was fine as the sheet music is exactly what to play. But when I first picked up the guitar it was a special frustration - I remember trying to play along to David Bowie tracks using the 'David Bowie song book - with guitar chords!!!', and wondering why it didn't sound anything like he was playing. Be a different story these days.
Dave Ferguson is great isn't he. You see mentions Son of Dave as inspiration, I love his stuff too. Dave F has highly optimised the layout of his pedals on his pedal board! Very harpist IMO! Getting all the cable runs neat and with the lights. That's a labour of love.
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Jan 10, 2016 2:21 AM
Yea i can read drum sheet music. I've looked at others just haven't had the desire to figure them out. i do better hearing than reading. Honestly didn't get much help from my grandfather. He and the band where just kind of the inspiration.
Guitar is frustrating for sure. Something just felt right when first trying the harmonica. I always loved the sound of it. And always wanted to learn it. And the fact that learning it was alot easier didn't hurt. Mastering it. ..well .... that's another story.
Learning harmonica has got me interested in trying other instruments. But it would just take away from my harmonica practice time. So maybe later. Like i said i dabble with guitar but it takes quite a bit more than dabbling to play guitar.
I have that sonic stomp pedal, it's pretty cool. Jason Ricci calls it harmonica in HD. But i really only dabble with playing amped also. It's like a whole other instrument almost.
I haven't heard much other of daves stuff. I guess ill look into it. Ive just seem about all lees videos. And this one i liked alot. ---------- "Trust Those Who Seek The Truth... Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jan 10, 2016 9:29 AM
I attended the Gussow Shellist workshop in Denver yesterday and Ronnie Shellist had a session on breathing for tone. Besides the already mentioned aspects of keeping the throat open, good posture, keeping the harp deep in your mouth, I picked up two additional areas where tone can be enhanced.
First and foremost is to get into a habit of breath excercises every day. Some of those suggested: 1. empty breath fully. Breathe in slowly through nose until full (belly, chest) ALL breathing for good tone depends on proper belly/diaphragm expansion. Exhale slowly through mouth in a pucker shape (this allows flow out to last longer) until empty. Time this step and daily work at extending both inhale and exhale time. E.g. Say it takes you 10 seconds to fully exhale (try to make inhale and exhale times equal), work up to 15 sec, 20, 30. This will eventually allow long sequences of draw notes with consistent tone. 2. Do above excercise with separated breath, like continuous soft "ha, ha, ha" sound both inhaled and exhaled ( this allows good tone during articulation) 3. Do the following in sequence, repeated with no pause between: 4d for 2sec, 4d half step bend for 2sec, 4d full step for 2sec. When can do this with good tone, do again holding each note for 3sec, 4sec, --->10sec. Do on 1 draw and 2 draw. 4. Do with no pause and increase speed as get proficient: draw/bend/blow multiple times on hole 1, and 4. DROP JAW FOR BEND FOR BETTER TONE. do this every day holes 1-6 then reverse (blow/bend/draw) back down. If you get this down and it becomes boring, mix it up ( reminds me of a Jason Ricci comment re scales)
Another key point is AWARENESS. Be aware of breathing especially if anxious or excited. Anxiety and excitement, which is great for passion of playing, can be a detriment to tone so need to work on relaxed calm breathing. Also awareness of your tone comes from recording yourself and make necessary adjustments to get tone.
I'll post comments about Adam Gussow's workshop under another post, Gussow/Shellist Workshop.
Note: 4draw bend only has 1 step. Possibly a typo? Or maybe there s somethin i don't know. ---------- ......." Where Does He Get Those Wonderful Toys?" .......
For those of you who weren't sure what the origional video had to do with harp.
Plus its a good video. So check it.
Edit:i even mentioned at one point that the way i was playing now vs the way i used to play even sound like different notes. Lol. To bad i had to figure this out on my own. ---------- "Trust Those Who Seek The Truth. Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jan 28, 2016 8:53 PM
