I'm really digging this guy. After all, the guy basically single-handedly taught me how to tongue-block via his terrific YouTube lesson series on the topic. Any other fans out there?
Working my way through the tongue blocking series. Someone mentioned a video per week as a good rate of speed but I'm finding the mateial is beginning to take a bit longer to get a grip on. Lee goes slowly it's just that things start to get a bit advanced at the half way point so time is needed. Lee has other subjects as well. One can pretty well jump into any as there are few prerequisites but tongue blocking made the most sense for me supplemented with one or two shorter series.
Lee seems like a true gentleman...certainly a monster player and his teaching methods are some of the best I have ever come across!
I love that energy credit logic Iceman... this month- I think is the first time I've heard you discuss the energy credit concept...I remember learning about the bending floor concept from you back in the early 90's that pointed me in the correct direction and saved me from destroying harps unnecessarily... both concepts are excellent ways to think about those things - very helpful to my way of learning :)
Last Edited by Frank on Aug 13, 2013 5:56 PM
I am a big admirer of Lee Sankey and have very much enjoyed his stuff on youtube. I have got his outstanding cd-"My Day Is Just Beginning", The Lee Sankey Group. On this he plays the most exquisite Chromatic Harp Blues/Jazz. I really hope that one day he will touch on his approach to the chromatic on youtube. A MIGHTY FINE PLAYER INDEED.
Lee uses his right hand to hold the harp and his left hand to cup. This matches holding the harp upside down so that he mirror images most harp players. A similar concept to the way Hendrix dealt with playing guitar left handed. Makes good sense to me. But looking at the videos Lee wears his watch on his left wrist like most right handed people. I'd guess he's ambidexterous which might explain why he's so good at tongue block switching.
hendrix was left handed and left handed guitars were hard to find.. hendrix flipped the right handed guitar over and restrung it to conventional.. low 'e' on the top... lee plays the harp upside down.. top faceplate to the floor.
jackleg is absolutelly correct. I think my comparison between the Hendrix solution and the way Lee plays is valid. In order to get the low end of the harp in the hand he holds the harp with, his right hand, he has to flip the harp over. So he's a mirror image of any other harp player if you disregard the engraving on the cover plates. Hendrix had to restring in order to get the low strings where they belonged. It wouldn't surprise me if Lee switches the coverplates around to keep harps looking the way they were itended to. All of this is a good thing as it makes watching Lee's videos easy. There was a thread somewhere not too long ago that asked if lefties should keep the harp oriented like right handed players. That would put the low end of the harp in their cupping hand. Most seemed to agree that was the way to go but I think Lee's solution is better as essentially he holds the harp and plays it just like anyone else. Only he plays better of course!
Last Edited by SmokeJS on Aug 16, 2013 7:09 AM
In the last few years, there have been two harmonica lesson series I have followed, and learned from, on YouTube. One is Adam G's; one is Lee Sankey's. Both are world class players and good teachers. Not all are.
Apart from their technical abilities, they are musical. Hard to explain, but it makes a difference, for me at least.
I will not listen to, or try to learn from, an accomplished but unmusical teacher.
So-- cheers to you, TBird, for pointing us to Lee Sankey. You picked a good person to learn from. Check out Adam's videos to learn even more.
smokejs, since our posts, i have noticed that several great harp players flip the harp over. maybe they are left handed and, as you mentioned, find it easier to cup the mic. i also wonder if it alters the tone, since the draw notes are on the top?? i will have to give it a serious try..
Didn't William Clarke flip the harp, or am I mistaken? I also have heard that you get a tighter seal with the harp gripped in the right hand, upside-down, as opposed to the left? ---------- ------------- myspace.com/mightynightjars
Cupping the mic is bound to be part of the equation. However I was thinking Lee wants the low notes near his right hand, the holding hand, just like most of us do. There the low holes tend to be covered up more. That leaves the high end of the harp a bit more in the open. Again, the way most of us play.
Last Edited by SmokeJS on Aug 17, 2013 1:08 PM
Yeah I'm with you Wolf. I've learned a lot from Adam G.--which is what lead me to this forum! I found Lee when I began pursuing the art of tongue blocking, and quickly found his teaching to be a wonderful complement to what I was learning from Adam.
Yes, I know that, but I have heard that holding the harp in the right hand upside down has a tighter seal than holding it in the left, normal side up. ---------- ------------- myspace.com/mightynightjars
@harpburn Could be that's the case. Would harp design be a cause depending upon where it's vented? For instance a Special 20 doesn't have side vents on top or bottom so not likely impacted. But a standard MB is different. But if that was the case the solution would be to flip the coverplates. Simply having the reedplates flipped by itself would seem to me to likely have minimal impact but I have no practical experience to justify that.
Last Edited by SmokeJS on Aug 19, 2013 2:21 AM