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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
** Crickets ** ( Sharing Resources)
** Crickets ** ( Sharing Resources)
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Killa_Hertz
1388 posts
May 16, 2016
6:25 AM
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Well Its been rather slow going in here recently. Not much conversation going on. Atleast not much Productive Conversation going on. We had a pretty Good Run on Smack Talk there for a while,(Which Was Fun) but nothing too informative.
Anyways ..... Out of curiosity, out of need of new materials, and just for the sake of something productive and constructive to talk about .... I ask:
What Sources of information do you use for practice material?
What Sources Do You Use To Further Your Mental Lick/Song Library?
What (In General) Are your preferred methods of learning ?
What Specific Things (Books,Videos,Teachers,etc.) can you and do you vouch for? What are you absolute "Must Check Out" Items?
I use Adams Trade Bits ALOT. Learning the songs not only teaches you the song, but also gives you new licks by using parts of the song. Then you can add them to your playing and break up your normal tired stuff a little bit. I also find them very useful for getting out of ruts. It can start you on a new path by learning a song in a slightly different style than your used to. I could go on for a while about these I love em, but I have a bit more I want to get to so ....
Ronnie Shellist's Lessons from Harmonica123.com.
These are also fantastic lessons. These lessons kindof compliment Adams lessons pretty well. Because they fill in where the other left off. For instance Ronnie's lessons are more on Licks and Grooves. Licks for certain positions, Licks starting on bent notes, Fast Licks, Etc. Aswell as Teaching the different kind of 12 bar blues grooves. Different techniques. He doesnt really teach songs and such. I find the lick lessons great for getting fresh material into your playing when your getting stagnant. I ve had all of his lick lessons for some time, but I use them sparingly. Because if you just learn 1 or 2 licks at a time and really play with them till you own em, you can make so many different licks derived from the 1 or 2 new ones. Any how moving on.
There's alot more youtube stuff I could mention , but I want to move on to a Book that I got some time ago and am just now getting around to. Mel Bays Exploring 3rd Position Vol.2 By Dave Barrett. Now let me just say that Daves way of teaching never quite did it for me on bluesharmonica.com, but this book is excellent. Im only half way through it and its a short book, but its made a few things clearer to me already. It starts by teaching you things like how to read the certain symbols on sheet music ( which i'm not sure if it is or isn't proper sheet music, but its much more professional that tabs). It also teaches things like AAA AAB patterns and how you use them to keep peoples attention while playing. Its just speaks my language. The way its written is very simple and easy to read. I HIGHLY recommend this book. I bought it used on Amazon for like $3. So ... However, its worth 10x that even though its just a little short book. It also comes with a CD so you can hear the music written in the lessons and play along. There are many different songs and exercises. Its very good. There are many others aswell that I can only imagine are just as good. 1st, 2nd positions, Building Solos and Improvising, Pretty much anything you would want to know Dave has a book for. So If your like me and know next to nothing about theory, Can play only 2nd position between holes 1-6, I recommend checking out some of Dave's books.
The Next thing I've been listening to lately ( which I also bought some time ago and am Just now getting around to ) is Jerry Portnoy's Harmonica Master Class 3 CD set and Book. It Covers everything. It literally touches on almost ever aspect of professional Harmonica Playing. i almost didnt listen to the first CD as its pretty basic. But I decided that I would listen to each of them all the way through. And I'm glad I did. I've Picked up Alot from just the first 2 CDs ( haven't started the 3rd yet). Some thing were little additions to things I already knew, some were majorly different ways of doing things. One specific Light Bulb Moment I actually heard on there just this morning on the way to work, listening in the car. And it was how to use Chords to transfer from Lip Pursing the Bottom end(1-3) to Tongue Blocking the Middle Octave( 4-6). What really made this a more impactful technique was Jerry showing you that this technique was use By Little Walter to create the opening line of JUKE. **Mind Blown **( Purple Smoke Like The Commercial) So needless to say I highly recommend this Set aswell. It is expensive though. I think I bought mine New for like $50. But If anyone is interested, I may consider selling or trading mine when I'm done with it.
I also have a few books on the way. Some songbooks and such that were recommended by other forum members. One has Bass Lines, Guitar Riffs, and Supposedly Some Horn Lines Aswell all tabbed out for harmonica. Its called:
Classic Blues Riffs for Harmonica: 25 Famous Guitar & Bass Parts Adapted for Diatonic Harp (Book/CD)
Another I Bought was:
Blues Harmonica Collection
It has over 40 Blues Songs Tabbed out in it. Full Songs, not just the head and solo.
I bought this aswell:
Masters of the Blues Harp: Note-for-Note Transcriptions from Classic Recorded Performances
Another Song Book
And This Book By Kim Field that comes highly recommended from everyone I've asked.
Harmonicas, Harps and Heavy Breathers: The Evolution of the People's Instrument
So I have enough to keep me busy for the next year. Lol. I cant vouch for any of these books yet, but the songbook idea was a new one to me so i thought maybe others would find it as useful as I did. Also I bought almost all of these booka Used on Amazon for under $10 each. Some as low as $3. So if you look you should be able to get a fair amount of practice material without breaking the bank.
Anyways ... I've gone on long enough. I'm interested to hear others practice sources. And Hope some of what I've said here (If you made it through all that Blabbing) Helps Somebody.
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Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on May 16, 2016 6:30 AM
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scojo
556 posts
May 16, 2016
7:20 AM
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All the instructional resources you mentioned are great. Personally, I mostly play along with non-harmonica music. Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Beatles, Rolling Stones... ANYTHING that you find inspiring. Simply trying to pluck out the melody to your favorite song is always worthwhile.
When it comes to harmonica stuff, I generally gravitate towards Adam, Howard Levy, Charlie Musselwhite, John Popper... anyone who pushes the envelope and doesn't get weighed down by tradition. Nothing against the more traditional players, who are also worth learning from... but I'm generally listening to the creativity more than the specific techniques or "licks" involved.
Also, I concur that Kim Field's book is excellent.
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The Iceman
2866 posts
May 16, 2016
7:31 AM
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Events are great learning tools.
Check out Augusta Heritage Center Blues Week, coming up in July in WV.
https://augustaheritagecenter.org/augusta-schedule/blues-swing/
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The Iceman
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harmonicanick
2449 posts
May 16, 2016
11:38 AM
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@Killa
Just a thought, buy a couple of LO harmonic minor and stick some Django on to jam with
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nacoran
9070 posts
May 16, 2016
12:14 PM
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I practice mostly by trying to come up with new riffs or figuring out riffs by ear. I should probably spend more time getting whole songs down, but in practice I often just hear a song on the radio (or YouTube); it gets stuck in my head and sometime later when I have my harps out I figure out the melody. That means that I can play the melody for a lot of songs but not necessarily a part that would fit if I was playing with the music.
I also play around a lot trying to come up with new riffs. I'm always working on a few, trying to figure out new parts to stretch them into full songs.
I use the forums or specific YouTube videos if I'm stuck on something, or to get new ideas. I can't find the link, but there was one video that helped me start to get my overblows to work. It wasn't the 'straw' technique that ended up working for me, but a video gave me enough of an idea of how to shape my mouth that I was able to get started. I still have a long way to go on them even before I try to work them into my playing, but once you start getting them you can at least practice.
Playing with other musicians (not harp players specifically) helps a ton to help you develop. I need to start getting out a bit more. I've kind of been in a lull with playing with other people lately.
And then slowly plug away at theory. That can be as simple as queuing up a list of songs and try to key them or sitting down and trying to listen to specific songs to figure out exactly what they are doing that is working- not the riff or whatever, but are they doubling a melody, playing harmony, adding fill, are certain instruments dropping out at certain times, etc.
It's also useful to move melodies around on the harp. You have different choices when you move things to different octaves or different positions, and when you compare the results sometimes you get insights into why things work.
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Nate
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First Post- May 8, 2009
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Killa_Hertz
1390 posts
May 16, 2016
3:10 PM
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Nate ... im pretty much the same way. As most of the time I'm just playing the harp. Nothing specific, just messing around. And if i stumble on a lick or a cool pattern i record it before i forget and then stumble down the rabbit hole messing with it and offen come up wuth more stuff. But i also string my licks together and rearrange then to try to form full songs. I usually only goto learn new stuff (songs,etc.) When such in a rut. But we all know how often that can happen. But i decided it's time to buckle down a little bit and do some serious learnin.
The rest is good advice aswell. Thanks.
Nick .. i am interested in checking out some different tunings. I had NO idea who Django was until now. Thanks Alot I Just Fell into a YouTube Rabbit Hole for the last hour. 8^/ Sheesh i was supposed to cut the grass ... o well. What music of his do you recommend. It doesnt much seem to matter ... everything i put on of his was good, but just curious.
Iceman I would love to hit some events. But they cost alot, mostly the travel and time off would be the issue. But maybe next year I'll get to goto some.
BTW your the one who spoke so highly of the Portnoy set and the reason i got it. I was kinda let down by the cover. Seemed to be pretty basic Until I actually listened to it. And there's a TON of gold in here. Not all are huge, but even little nuances you didn't know or never thought of .. go a LONG way. And this is Choc Full of them. So thanks Bro.
Scojo. Thats cool. Ive never really liked playing to that stuff. I have tried. But the Blues Has Got Me Hooked. Im really diggin the traditional. Especially Acoustic. Rice Miller, Horton, Wolf. I want to be able to pull a little silly harp outta my pocket and sound like THAT. BOOM ... That's Right, Whats Not A Real Instrument?
Ive been obsessed with Vibrato ever since I figured out what it was. I could do a good tremelo almost since the first time i put a harp in my mouth. It just cane natural. But ... I never knew how they were getting THAT SOUND. And now that i can even sort if do it, it just drives me nuts that i can't. Before it was impossible, so i didn't even care. Now i know, with enough practice, its attainable. And I gotta have it. £8^)>
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pszy22
2 posts
May 16, 2016
6:13 PM
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One of the best tools I've found for learning (I started with guitar then moved to harp) is something called pinterest.com . It's a great tool to store and organize information one finds on the web. Best of all, it's free.
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Killa_Hertz
1397 posts
May 16, 2016
6:25 PM
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Yea. I kinda know about pinterest. I thought that was for Chicks n Trading Recipies on how to make cupcakes shaped like lolipops n shit. But maybe I'll check it out.
Is My Captcha is trying to tell me something?
FuKy0iu - thats messed up captcha, i thought we were cool.
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