tingtang
6 posts
Jan 27, 2018
4:40 AM
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I'm convinced that learning harmonica has improved my ear for pitch. Especially bending notes - to be honest, when I started I couldn't always tell if I was hitting the right pitch or not. Now I can at least tell when I'm not getting it right!
And I picked up a guitar the other day after many months of neglect and found it so much easier to tune it and to hear quickly which string was to blame when it went out of tune.
I've always though that my musical ear wasn't very good and I do still believe that but I'm sure it's improving thanks to really listening to what I'm doing when I'm trying to play harp.
Has anybody else found the same thing?
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jbone
2459 posts
Jan 27, 2018
12:41 PM
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Harp is all I've ever pursued other than vocals, which came later. But it's true, practice with bends and listening to root key will improve those skills. I'm not 100% but I have found it much easier in the past 15 years to pick out the key I need and to use better air control to hit where it needs to be hit.
I fly by the seat of my pants a lot of the time.
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nacoran
9722 posts
Jan 27, 2018
1:18 PM
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It's helped me too. I've noticed I tend to sing songs in particular keys. If it's something I hear on the radio and I start singing it with the radio off it's very often the 'right' key. Same goes for songs I play on harp and sing. I can start singing them and as long as I'm playing them in their normal key I usually start singing them in the correct key- not quite to the point where I'd try it on stage cold, but pretty close. Using a couple tricks like listening for what other instruments are being used, whether the singer sounds high or low, I can usually get a pretty good guess as to which harmonica to grab to try first, and if I miss I'm much better at guessing what other key to try next.
Some of that is theory knowledge, but a lot of it is ear. And I think I'm much less likely to go out of key singing.
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Nate
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Thievin' Heathen
950 posts
Jan 27, 2018
3:02 PM
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Playing scales helps a lot too. An off note in a scale stands out like a whore in church. When you want that note correct somewhere in a song, if you've been hitting it in scale practice, it's there for you.
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ted burke
622 posts
Jan 27, 2018
8:20 PM
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i play entirely by ear. and i have a serious hearing loss,since birth. go figure.
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Last Edited by ted burke on Jan 27, 2018 9:38 PM
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SuperBee
5219 posts
Jan 27, 2018
8:35 PM
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Well yeah and it’s hardly surprising.
When I was very early on in learning to play I found if I could whistle a tune I had a decent shot at being able to play it on the harp.
Sometimes I would think I had a tune down and then I’d find some notation for it and find some differences between what I played and the sheet music. Usually the sheet music was better, so I suppose that was educational too.
After awhile of playing harp, my singing began to improve.
This is all the process of educating the ear. If you’re constantly making sounds and measuring them and comparing them and using your eArs as part of that, your judgement is bound to improve
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jbone
2460 posts
Jan 27, 2018
9:00 PM
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I do have to say, one of the best things ZI ever did was take some voice lessons, which got me in touch with my air column. It got my voice on track and also got me addressing the harmonica with much better control and less force.
Singing from where you are supposed to increases your wind control as well.
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hvyj
3518 posts
Jan 31, 2018
5:43 PM
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I don't have a particularly refined ear, but I continue to improve. The most dramatic improvement was in the last 9-10 years after I started regularly playing ET harps. Over the previous 30 years, I played mostly compromise tuned harps. BIG DIFFERENCE for me.
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