Schöne GrüßeGreetings from Central Pennsylvania,
This morning I looked out the window and saw our green spring lawn speckled with snow. Things just keep changing.
Today I'd like to change the format of my email and skip reflections so I can jump into an exercise I put together for you to try out...
I've discovered that I like to learn things by trying to teach them. That is the quickest way I've found to uncover everything I don't know myself. I put together an exercise that I am sure is something I heard James Conway (the wizard of Celtic blues harmonica) play as one of his warm ups.
It is simple and tricky at the same time. It uses only the built in major scale notes in the middle of the harmonica. You can play this exercise with or without tongue blocking. If you want to play this at top speed you will have to use tongue blocking. And if you practice it a million times like James Conway has,. you will be able to play it a million miles an hour...
Go here for a youtube video where I walk you through this on a G blues harp.
Anmerkung von Juke: Das Video ist seitenverkehrt - Richards linke Seite ist auch im Video links auf dem Monitor zu sehen.
And below I have it set up with sheet music and tab. The four lines of tab go from 1. Hamonica tab ( numbers with a + are blow notes, plan numbers are draw notes) 2. The notes you are playing in the key of C 3. The scale degrees 1 - root, 2 - major 2nd. 3 - 3rd, 4 - 4th, etc...) and 4. The side of my mouth I am playing out of as I switch sides with tongue switching
The thing I like about this exercise is that it turns music theory into a concrete skill that you can develop. You are imbedding intervals while you get better at an advanced technique that will serve you well for creating all sorts of crazy interesting riffs...
When I first started working on tongue switching to grab wide intervals by skipping over holes, I felt like a total klutz and it took forever to get decent at it. The main reason it took so long was because I didn't know anyone who was doing this technique and I suspected that it was impossible.
I hope I can save you some time in this process by proving that it is possible so you don't have to push through as much doubt as I had to deal with. Remember the story of Roger Bannister - running the mile in less than 4 minutes was impossible - till he did it. The first person in recorded history to prove it with a stopwatch. Then within a year, several others did it. Now it's a common feat - impossible became normal when people believed it could be done.
So, my friend, are you up for the challenge?
Here is the music & tab:
OK, thats it for today. I have a lot of other things cooking, and will tell you more about them ASAP. In the mean time, stay safe and play some music!
Thanks for reading this,
Dirk