First of all, this is a fantastic idea to have guest teachers and Rick is one of the most fun of all.

His video has great playing and nice break down of what he does.

However, what is not really discussed enough is an underlying innate sense of groove upon which the harmonica playing is attached.

Watch Rick's whole body...it's as if he can't help but dance along to his internal groove...almost like the groove is "dancing him".

Many times this is the icing on the cake to bring a performance all together...After all, it's not too hard to memorize all the notes you have to play on the harmonica. It's attaching them to your inner groove that makes your performance jump out.

Hi Mike,

Yes, please -- a practice list would be an improvement. Following up on your question to Lizalu, I work on a set of songs and lessons. A practice list and an easy way to navigate between lessons of the same song would be great. Warm wishes and thanks.

Hi Lizalu --- thanks for the feedback.  After the "featured" section, we organize the lessons chronologically, with the latest on the bottom.  We thought this made more sense, especially for new users.  This is the opposite to what we had before.  I can see and understand your frustration.

One question.  

Do you typically practice and/or work on a set of songs and/or lessons?

I'm asking as we are working on a feature called a "practice list" which is essentially a set of bookmarked lessons.  They would be in your username menu --- at the upper right corner of your screen.   The goal would be to provide you an easy way to move between the lessons that you are actively working on.

Agreed that a better search would help as things get larger.  We probably won't have this in the short term --- but will work on it for a future release.

We are also working on Ros's request of an easy way to navigate between lessons of the same song.  

Thanks for the feedback and would be great to get your thoughts about the "pracitce list."

Hi Mark, I don't think I have done Texas Hop but it's a great one and a blues classic for sure. I'll put it on the list. Duke

Been playing the Special 20, and I won't switch to Marineband. I'm a tongue blocker and those brass reed plates really bother my lips and tongue. I've tried the Lee Oskars, but they don't have the endurance of the Hohner Special 20s. I had some Huang Silvertones in the beginning, and they were all right, but I'm pretty sure they're not available anymore.

Like what I posted above this is not a video but a "live" one-take recording I did of a track I learned here, "Romance in the Dark." Again, it's a Rode R144 Ribbon mic in front of my 5W Vintage47 Spectator playing my Epiphone Broadway with a Danelectro CTO-2 and Boss '63 Fender Reverb pedals. I just recorded it straight over Duke's backing track in Garageband.

Hello everybody!! this is one of the last composition of mine, performed by me and my band : "The Blues Snatch",the title is "crazy sunday,lazy monday".. me on guitar,vocals,Sam Benatti organ and piano ,Enrico The Master Truzzi on drums. The tune is a jazzy-swing 12 bar blues AABA structure with the bridge of a rhythm change..I had got the inspiration listenin to Mr Duke Robillard playin swing ..the difference from standard tune like this is substanially in the first chord treat always like a major7 and not like a dominant...sorry for the uncomplete version but the cameraman these evening was  lil bit "out of tune" ;))) ..i hope you enjoy, thanks for the share.cheers Mattia

Thanks for the kind words guys! I have a tendency to mumble but it's not my fault...I grew up watching Rocky my whole life

I just watched your video, it's on the first page of this thread.  Sounds great!  I want to start working on some songs with vocals as well (uncharted waters for me)

Thanks for the encouragement,  it's slow going on the harp & lots to learn ....

Great, very, very, nice... you really know how to play mic, err, harp (couldn't hold back that stupid joke ;)... great feeling and tone... as a Newbie around here I'm amaze how much talenet is assembled here - it's almost intimidating...

Okay, this is bad, and the man himself would have probably throw his Whiskey bottle after me (after first finishing, of course) - but that's how I play it right now, and I atleast throw in some funny faces here and there...

Great sound On the harp...I'm new on here I can se some great talent !

i think I posted my video on the wrong thread though

Great

The problem with a visual aid is that you will be looking at a meter while placing your bends. This is one step removed from hearing the correct pitch in your head and is, IMO, a longer path up the mountain.

Better to have that pitch firmly in your inner ear first and then "telling" the harmonica to play it via your technique.

For instance, if you are going for that 3 hole first inhale bend (minor third), try playing 2 hole inhale, sing that note as the word "That". Get it in good pitch (you don't have to be a great vocalist either). 

Now, think of that song "Spoonful". It goes "That spoon...that spoon...that spoon-ful". Most of you already have it in your memory banks so it should be real clear.

Now, play 2 hole inhale to get your first note for "That". Next, sing "That spoon...that spoon...that spoon-ful". It is merely 2 hole inhale to 3 hole first bend inhale alternating back and forth. Really sing it and nail the notes.

Finally, make the harmonica "sing it". Use your ear to pull that 3 hole first inhale bend into correct pitch. 

Alternate between singing and playing until the harmonica sounds exactly like your singing. You can even pause on "Spoon" to sustain the note, really reinforcing that pitch and telling the harmonica what to do.

It's up to SPAH to invite artists. The current Board of Directors is more oriented towards "business committees" and "budget savings" and is, IMO, overcautious, so their choices are tight and based on how little money can be spend out of the coffers.

I used to be the Convention Director for SPAH in the late 90's. This was a case of a real musician making decisions based on artistry rather than a "budget committee". We had some awesome gatherings in those days...the legendary 1998 Convention featured Steve Baker, Carlos del Junco, Jerry Portnoy (who just showed up for the "hang"), Steve Guyger (who just showed up for the "hang"), Curtis Salgado, myself and Kim Wilson. It was a real good vibe.

I spent the money as needed to provide the artists for an environment they could really enjoy and had faith that this would stimulate enough interest and attendance to pay for itself and have a little money left over to grow the organization.

It worked quite well at the time.

Now SPAH has a different philosophy and is more corporate than artist, although still a good experience to attend (but not quite like the good ol' daze, IMO). Can't live in the past, though. Things change.

Ear training is a subtle and long term endeavor. It has to start slow and builds upon itself.

Do not try to strain your ears to hear the intervals. Rather, relax, lean back and let the music come to you without trying to grab it. It's like letting go in order to finally hold it...sorta zen like.

For most, it becomes a matter of learning how to listen more quickly over time. Increasing the speed of your listening comprehension is not much different from learning how to play your instrument more quickly. A good example is if you own a slow down program that slows down the idea you are trying to learn. As you get more adept at hearing the intervals, you do not need to slow down the phrases as much in order to learn them.

My favorite ear training program is by David L. Burge and is the interval training one, not the perfect pitch one. It took me about a year to finish all the lessons, but was well worth it in the long run.

Really like the new format.

A good company always upgrades as they grow...

Wow nice work !! I used to play this song in a rockabilly band but i played it at drum not at guitar. You play it nice and the sound is really good !! Brian Setzer is amazing i'm a great fan too :)

Don't give up !! Maybe i can send you some pdf with simple exercises for the thumb independance ? maybe you can try running and hidding or Bumble be ? or Everybody ought to change ? The thumb independance is hard to get so don't be to hard with you. Sometimes in old bluesman the thumb is not so independant and stop playing sometimes but it's hidden by the foot the lead melody or the singing. So be patient :) !

Really nice C blues !! A lot of good licks ! And nice voice too, i'm sorry i can't understand everything but it sounds good :)

Thanks Vinny, i play clean because i used to play this song in electric and muting all the strings because with the overdrive and the humbucker of my electric guitar, if you don't mute you can't hear clearly what i play. So i think i play cleaner on the dobro now ;)

I like your songs a lot too and you historical story !! The idea of the 9 strings is really cool too :) 

See you on next open mic :)

Love that B minor soulful sound, nice one Paul

Long time listener, first time caller :)  Jerry's "Blues in B Minor". 

Hi all...Smokehouse here from the UK!