Levy seems to cover a wide range of things...according to this syllabus, nothing really interests me until his intermediate level of study (some of the 5th position stuff does). The jazz stuff is cool, but I don't really play jazz, nor would I likely even if I wanted to. The world music piece looks fun, and the tongue blocking piece where you chug/play a melody at the same time looks wicked awesome. There is a wealth on 4th, 5th, and 12th which I play and would like to learn more about. However, most of the lessons seem theory based, which isn't necessarily unique to harmonica (I can find that other places). Also, from what I've seen I get the impression it is a lot of listening to Howard play a standard and then trying to figure it out yourself. I didn't see much about "do this" or here is the tab. The samples also didn't show me how to improvise with the knowledge.
The Barrett school is focused on blues only...which is something I do play, although I am from the Ricci/Del Junco kind of school - Modern blues to flat out modern harmonica. The videos are awesome and his teaching style is wonderful. He holds my attention with his use of theory, and some of the foundations he focuses on can be applied to other styles...and he teaches improv. The artist inverviews are a huge bonus, and the equipment stuff looks juicy. That being said, the licks and phrasing are going to be mostly 12 bar blues based - I won't be learning a "new" style of music for me, but rather refining my tradtional chops and then learning to move them to different octaves/positions. My use of extended positions and scales wouldn't advance.
I am a very liberal user of overbends, which Barrett doesn't talk too much about, but Levy does. For the time being, I don't see me getting to play styles other than blues and rock. There are no "jazz" gigs around here for me and I am totally foreign to the scene. However, I use more than the blues scale and could stand to expand my vocabulary beyond learning melodies to songs.
I may have answered my own question already. It comes down to whether I want to getter better at blues harmonica or harmonica in general.
If anyone has done the Levy stuff, I am extremely interested in how he actually breaks down the songs, etc. Does he provide tab or go over the melodies and such? ----------
You may also want to check out Dennis Gruenling. He has a new site forthcoming,with lessons,tabs and one on one teaching. Dennis comes highly accredited,and is regarded as one of the top teachers in the field of blues harmonica.
I belong to both schools - your breakdown is pretty accurate. Howard does not, in general provide any tabs/pdfs as Barrett does. He'll frequently break it down into sections, but you're pretty much left to picking it out by ear. Which isn't always a bad thing, but sometimes a transcription is nice.
Jeez--so many good choices--so limited dollars and time--my head is exploding! That Dennis one is new to me--but they all look great. Added to that, there is also Grant Dermody right here near my home-town--and Buddha, a world-class teacher available through Skype--too many choices!!
I had both schools for a while. Now I just have Levy's. Barrett's school I think is better at teaching harmonica and blues, and I think, music in general. He provides specific, concrete examples to play and explains the techniques to play them, piece by piece. That is how online teaching should be done for everything I think. The Levy's "sink or swim" method is terrible for most and leaves many people frustrated and quitting what they wanna learn. However, that is why there are so few musicians playing what he does. You HAVE to sink or swim to learn that stuff. Since I have a background in music and have a few REAL books and FAKE books (these are essential for Levy's site), those are the transcriptions! Nothings perfect. But also, if you can figure it out, Levy provides FEEDBACK by video and he's VERY specific for those who use that on how to improve. That alone is worth it if you use it. Levy now has interviews too.
Argh! I can tab out the stuff from Howard or via other methods, but it is essentially the time saving and video clips I'd be paying for, lol. David has that laid out PERFECTLY.
I might try David for a month and jump to Howard's eventually. If he had some of the practice stuff tabbed out, I'd be all over it. If I am going to have to sit down and tab it out from his site, it is just as easy doing it from a jazz book, etc.
I learned to play 2nd, 3rd, and everything else I do via translating music theory books to harp, but I was hoping Howard's site would have some of the new work already done for me. Guess not. David's site actually will give me harmonica theory and new vocabulary.
So this summer might be blues woodshedding and when I finish my specialists degree this winter, I'll turn my studies to advances music theory again.
In all honesty I can directly apply anything from David's site my next gig, whereas some of the Howard stuff is for my piece of mind and may never be played live. I mean if I was in a band that would bust out a raga next week, I'd be chomping at the bit...
Plus $17 for just the current downloads is an insane deal from David.
HarpNinja, David's site and Howard's do not have downloadable lessons. Howard's has downloadable jam tracks though. You simply open the lesson when you log in, but you can't download it and have it on your computer. Maybe you could video cam the lesson, but that sounds illegal and wouldn't be as high quality. Just FYI.
I like Howard's site a lot... It has a lot of cool blues stuff. Just one video on blues is jam packed with licks and riffs that you can learn. But you have to do the work, he doesn't provide and tabs or sheet music.
He does break down the melodies and walk you through them. But there is a lot of stuff that he doesn't explain. Many examples are given based on concepts he describes. But each riff is not explained note for note.
IMO if you want to really get good and develop a deep relationship with all of the harmonica's possibilities I would go for Howard's site.
It is not a good idea to try and learn theory from these websites. If you want to learn theory go to your local music store and have a professional teach you for a half hour every week. These websites are best used to further understand this players approach to playing the harmonica. Listening to Howard play standards does not mean that you have to become a jazz player. But listening to him player will give you a deeper understanding of harmony which will make you a better player. The more you hear him play in different musical settings the easier it will be for you to move around on the harmonica.
or i guess i should say... that has been my experience.
Last Edited by on May 04, 2010 1:17 PM
I've studied with Dave, and I've seen a few of Howard's and Dennis's lessons. All 3 are clearly excellent teachers, and their approaches and philosophies all differ. This I can state as fact, however - nobody has put in as much time, or THOUGHT so long and hard about what it means to TEACH - than Dave Barrett. He has taught a huge number of students, developed a huge amount of material, and actually developed material to teach teachers. (If you want to know how well you know your stuff, just try teaching it to someone who has to then teach it to someone else.) I've been through Dave's teacher accreditation program so I'm not blowing smoke here.
I'm not recommending AGAINST Howard or Dennis here - and you might well choose them if you want to get more outside the blues box. If blues is your thing though, I can highly recommend Dave.
>MichaelAndrewLo - I meant the .pdf files...I should >have clarified. You can dl the tabs from David, >correct?
HarpNinja - you can download pdfs and mp3s. He has a couple of sample lessons that you can check out before signing up too. This includes downloading the transcriptions and jam tracks.
and dont forget that the mp3's are at various speeds so you can play along. then there is even a jam track without harp on it. and with the harp-less jam track, you submit a recording with you playing over the track. david, or maybe somebody he trains as i cant see him listening to all the submissions (especially if it is some p.o.c. i send), listens to and grades/critiques it for your edification. ("edification"- first time i have ever used that word in any format!) and for $16 for a month, with no length commitments, you really cant go wrong.
This discussion inspired me to sign up with Barrett's website: Bluesharmonica.com
All I have to say is; Wow! I regret nothing. The videos and interviews (Madcat -- talking about his Walter Horton lessons!) and the really well structured lessons with tabs, mp3's and videos!
For me, this is perfect. It is well worth the 16/monthly.
I will sign up for Levy's site sometime. For now, I am happy.
---------- I could be bound by a nutshell and still count myself a king of infinite space
OdaHUMANITY!
Last Edited by on May 04, 2010 6:46 PM
Harmonica Academy Tony Eyers,Its alot less exspensive,its built,By Tony who builds educational websites for a living,Its covers Blues and Celtic Tunes.Its probelly not as technical as the other schools,but its well thought out in taking a student one lesson at a time.And if your interested in Irish fiddle tunes for the harp,It cant be beat.Add Adams stuff and your getting ,some good teaching for pennies compared to the other 2,dont get me wrong if i had the money i would Check out David Barret's school but i dont and im on my 3rd 6 month enrollment so im going to finish what ive started.
Mike, I think the lessons on all of the positions are stellar. He doesn't explain everything he plays note for note. He does break down and emphasize certain phrases in each lesson. Each lesson is different though... But basically he doesn't spoon feed you every little thing.
This video is a good example of what goes on. This is the 5th video in the 12th positon series. As you see he plays and talks about the music a lot but doesn't break down each phrase. But once you know the Fmaj chord and scale I think most of the stuff he's playing is easy to catch on to.
I think inexperienced players should enroll in both schools. As you get more advanced, I think you really need to get away from ALL harmonica players and listen to other musicians to form your own sound. I had a close relationship with Howard for many years but I never took formal lessons from him. You can't help but learn something from Howard just by hanging around him and watching how you do things. I've only briefly checked out Howard's school and while I think any and all players can benefit from enrollment, I don't think you will learn the things that Howard really has to offer and the things that will really help skyrocket your playing.
Both Howard and Dave are great players with a lot to offer but in the end all they are really teaching is how to play notes. When I say notes, I'm lumping together theory, harmonica and general technique(note production). Learning to play notes is one very small part of playing music and to me, playing the right note isn't even the most important aspect of playing music. Your audience doesn't care about about notes, what and how you are playing, they care about what sounds good and how you make them feel.
I learned more about music from hanging around Howard than I ever learned any form of technique. His approach, what he listens to, how hard he works, how dedicated he is, his lifestyle, how he lives etc is all far more important in terms of getting somewhere with your instrument. Over the years I have met other "elite" musicians and I have noticed many similarities. Being good at what you do, regardless of whether or not it's the harmonica, has more to do with lifestyle than notes.
That's my two cents.
---------- "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." - Joseph Campbell
