Having listened to several tunes (in a row -don't know if it was your intention to post that way?) it's sure your style is recognizable BUT it's also rather close to a pattern, especially when you rush the notes. I wonder if you couldn't -for instance- introduce more rhythm sustaining technique, because you do it sometimes, but very few. I'm interested in your velocity, not to perform it but just to understand how you do it (I don't see your jaws swaying left and right, so your technique is a mystery to me). Am I wrong if I say that you have YOUR preferred area on your harp i.e. not much lower tones?
Thanks for the comments , laurent. The rhythm keeping aspect is something I need to work on more. ----------It would give my playing more variety and more interesting space. I am attempting to break out of the box I built for myself.
My guess is that most fast harmonica players have their particular methods to attain their velocity. I use use a lot of triplets , using the tongue to block both draw and bend notes to make it seem that there are more notes being played; it doesn't require me to move my lower jaw much to attain notes. I never really new what I was doing when I was teaching myself how to play and just kept at it when the results were satisfying.I pretty much move the harmonica to where I want my lips to be. I am strange that way, I guess. I also use my hand more than most players to get my vibrato on an note. I am practicing to achieve a purer throat vibrato.
I love the lower tones, but tend to inhabit the middle register more than others, the starting point on a solo usually being three draw, building an improvisation from there to six draw, with the lower notes used as rhythmic points.
Ted Burke http://youtube.com/watch?v=-VPUDjK-ibQ&feature=relmfu ted-burke.com
Last Edited by on Sep 03, 2012 7:33 AM
Hey, smart technique for velocity, thanks for enlightening! As for vibrato, I've seen on other of your videos that you slightly move your harp when playing some bent notes, so as to give the rhythm of the vibrato: I do it sometimes as well and think that for particular notes, it provides good results.
Last Edited by on Sep 04, 2012 5:33 PM
I wouldn't have thought about the comment mentioned above Ted if they had not been mentioned but as a novice it's kinda nice to hear that you more proficient players get trapped in boxes too. Makes me feel a bit more comfortable with my own boxed-in struggles. Enjoyed your playing though.
Theo- You're a fine player-great tone,speed I can only dream about.Sometimes an outside observer can spot things you might not see. My 2 cents- you need to stay in the groove of the song and watch your timing.:)
