Hey guys hope you’re all good. I’m still working my way through the steps and I really enjoying them. Each new technique builds on another and I can really feel it coming together. I also weirdly like the fact that first attempts at a new technique fail but after some practice it just starts to come together. However I’ve realised that since Christmas I’ve only been practicing rather than playing. I think I’m too keen to progress so I’ve spent all my time working on the content in the steps, don’t get me wrong I’m happy with the progress but I’ve missed picking up the harmonica and just playing music. Last night for the first time in quite a while I played some of the tabs I like and it was great to make some music and play along to some backing tracks. I’m still excited to pick up the harmonica and I’ve now bought up a G harp and a bullet mic to mess around with. I’m loving the sounds through a mic and the low down sounds of the G. I use harptabs.com and YouTube to pick up tabs but wondered what you guys use for tabs and any other resources.

Name: 2 months and still loving it…
Channel: Jonathan

Hi Steve, I'm glad you asked, more people should be using this feature I offer! Using your phone, or friends to record some playing and then upload it to SoundCloud is probably the easiest. Or you can do some video and post them on youtube (privately). Here's a video on how to do Soundcloud. The link he mentions at the end is the link you'll share with me. Then, I've got an audio and video submission page here: https://harmonicatime.com/audio-video-submissions/ Mg

I dont know how to get on and share my bending so you can hear what Im doing.....wrong STEVE BLICKENSTAFF

Harpin By The Sea sounds like a lot of fun! Jam nights, lectures, and Mark Hummel!! That's gonna be quite the experience! Def let us know how you liked it. And that's great that you and your son are forming an electrical bond. Can't wait to hear yall All the best

Hey hey Rooftop Cat…this all began for me when I started listening to some bluesy music back in September and then began to looking into harmonicas. There’s no where local where I live so pretty much everything I do starts on the web. In November I ordered a Hohner Crossover harp to begin and then as a Christmas present I ended up taking a punt on a Hohner BH52 Harpblaster mic, as it seemed to suit my needs. I liked everything about it and reading the reviews it didn’t seem to have any flaws. It’s a cleaner sound than some but that’s what I like, plenty dirty if you crank it up. I use my sons guitar amps. An old Vox AC30 and a Boss Katana Air. As I’m very new to this I don’t really know much if anything about mic’d harp playing but I do know that playing mic’d is great fun and very different to acoustic and that for me is enough right now. As well as my musical taste changing and expanding I’m also listening to the music more deeply and its amazing what you can pick out a track and on occasion use or copy. I don’t want to get too bogged down in too much theory for now, I really just want to make some sweet sounding music !! I understand the very basics of different keys and different positions. I also understand the circle of 5ths and that there are patterns within music but I’m happy to pick that up naturally as I progress and gain more experience. I’ll be having a listen to the tracks and artists you mentioned. Larkin Poe, a US band are high on my listening list with Bolt Cutters and The Family Name being my favourite track, just a great sound. My son plays the electric guitar over the top and he helped me work out some little licks. I’ll post up a vid of us some time for fun! I’m rambling now, I know, but since November I am seriously hooked on the harmonica. Playing, talking about it, listening to music, chatting with you guys, I cant get enough of it… Ive just booked to attend “Harpin By The Sea” on the other side of the country for this February. It’s a 3 day festival of all things Harmonica and I’m super stoked to be going and be around others who share this passion. I’ll let Ya’all know how it goes…

That's awesome, Jonathan! What kind of mic/amp combo do you have going?! The harp is addicting, watch out!! I'm going on 2 years now. I've got a whole car-amp setup so I don't miss a beat! Whenever I get the chance, I play through a bullet too (Bulletini) and 5-watt amp (Stage 5), crank up, and time just becomes lost... Hundreds of people have passed by me with all sorts of looks lmao. And I completely agree - it is interesting and also frustrating, how - when practicing harmonica, some small changes are noticeable from day to day. Others aren't noticeable for months or even years, but indeed accumulate over time; everybody's initial vibrato sounds like a dying duck lol. Just with any language, to get our point across we need to learn to chain common phonetic patterns together. You'll often hear the same licks played over many different songs. Like Shawn mentioned, ear training, especially for the harp, is key. You gotta put your eyes in shotgun and have your ear take the wheel to lead your mouth lol. Once you feel comfortable picking out a song's key and harp position, try to replicate songs that interest you. To paraphrase Annie Raines, your tone Will get better just by listening to the greats. If you hear it in your head, you will want to express it. I love the low frequencies too! Those low bends take time, but are sweet sweet sweet. My fav things to play on G lately are Last Night by Alex "Easy Baby" Randal (2nd pos), Blowin' The Family Jewels by William Clarke (3rd pos), & Bad, Bad Boy by Rod Piazza (1st pos). For high end playing, my latest favorites are Mitch Kashmar, Jimmy Reed, and Rhythm Willie. Maybe drop a song here and see if someone can't tab it out/play it. I like a good challenge :)

Topic: 2 months and still loving it…

Tagged: not bending notes real good . doesnt sound like much difference in tone

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)

Author

Posts
Jonathan
Participant

January 19, 2023 at 01:06

Post count: 53

#24438

Hey guys hope you’re all good. I’m still working my way through the steps and I really enjoying them. Each new technique builds on another and I can really feel it coming together. I also weirdly like the fact that first attempts at a new technique fail but after some practice it just starts to come together. However I’ve realised that since Christmas I’ve only been practicing rather than playing. I think I’m too keen to progress so I’ve spent all my time working on the content in the steps, don’t get me wrong I’m happy with the progress but I’ve missed picking up the harmonica and just playing music. Last night for the first time in quite a while I played some of the tabs I like and it was great to make some music and play along to some backing tracks. I’m still excited to pick up the harmonica and I’ve now bought up a G harp and a bullet mic to mess around with. I’m loving the sounds through a mic and the low down sounds of the G. I use harptabs.com and YouTube to pick up tabs but wondered what you guys use for tabs and any other resources.

Freddie
Participant

January 19, 2023 at 18:43

Post count: 606

#24441

Hey Jonathan, I love hearing your enthusiasm! Ya the G harp… Great sound right?! And you got a mic … that is so fun! I have yet to do that… but one day for sure.
One of my favorite things is just ear training in general. I don’t know if you’ve checked it out yet but Mitch has a great resource on here called the Lick library. I think ear training is one of my favorite things about learning music… they’re like little puzzles to figure out… And once you crack the code… you can play anything! I aspire. I also think it’s the great thing about harmonicas because it’s One of the instruments that you really can’t rely on your eyes for help… It really gives you the opportunity to let go and get into the flow of playing easier.. in my opinion. I just started with nursery rhymes and Christmas songs because those have been in my head the longest and are the easiest for Me to call up the melody. Hope that helps

Freddie
Participant

January 20, 2023 at 15:41

Post count: 606

#24446

Hey Jonathan I realized in my excitement about ear training talk I completely forgot to answer your question. But I do use tabs too, though I don’t personally know of any other sources for tabs, especially YouTubes where you can see the person playing while the tabs are being shown. Those you mentioned are the ones I use as well. If you find any others I’d be excited to know about them!

Jonathan
Participant

January 21, 2023 at 01:15

Post count: 53

#24447

Cheers Shawn. I’ve had a go at the beginner ear training tracks. I stuck with them listening over and over and over and got there in the end without having to look notes up. I’m yet to start the intermediate ear training but I will definitely have another look soon, without a doubt they are more challenging. All the steps and the ear training really are piecing together now. I learned Oh Susanna when I first started and the other night I accidentally went straight into Alouette(a French nursery rhyme). I didn’t know the tab I just knew the tune in my head. It’s a really simple little tune, less than 20 notes I think, but in just a couple of minutes I figured it out, I was so chuffed as it’s the first time to do this.
I’m at the blow bending step now, I sat in the car last evening while my son had his guitar lesson hooting and squeaking on the 8 9 and 10 for an hour! The good news is I eventually managed a bend of sorts on all 3 holes so it’s another super exciting skill to work on.(you get strange looks when you’re parked up in the middle of a dark car park, alone trying to play the harmonica!!)
If I happen upon any other resources I’ll share them here but for the time being I will continue with YouTube and harptabs. Great chatting with you and hopefully others as well.

Rooftop Cat
Participant

January 21, 2023 at 11:08

Post count: 131

#24448

That’s awesome, Jonathan! What kind of mic/amp combo do you have going?! The harp is addicting, watch out!! I’m going on 2 years now. I’ve got a whole car-amp setup so I don’t miss a beat! Whenever I get the chance, I play through a bullet too (Bulletini) and 5-watt amp (Stage 5), crank up, and time just becomes lost… Hundreds of people have passed by me with all sorts of looks lmao. And I completely agree – it is interesting and also frustrating, how – when practicing harmonica, some small changes are noticeable from day to day. Others aren’t noticeable for months or even years, but indeed accumulate over time; everybody’s initial vibrato sounds like a dying duck lol.

Just with any language, to get our point across we need to learn to chain common phonetic patterns together. You’ll often hear the same licks played over many different songs. Like Shawn mentioned, ear training, especially for the harp, is key. You gotta put your eyes in shotgun and have your ear take the wheel to lead your mouth lol. Once you feel comfortable picking out a song’s key and harp position, try to replicate songs that interest you. To paraphrase Annie Raines, your tone Will get better just by listening to the greats. If you hear it in your head, you will want to express it.

I love the low frequencies too! Those low bends take time, but are sweet sweet sweet. My fav things to play on G lately are Last Night by Alex “Easy Baby” Randal (2nd pos), Blowin’ The Family Jewels by William Clarke (3rd pos), & Bad, Bad Boy by Rod Piazza (1st pos). For high end playing, my latest favorites are Mitch Kashmar, Jimmy Reed, and Rhythm Willie.

Maybe drop a song here and see if someone can’t tab it out/play it. I like a good challenge :)

Jonathan
Participant

January 22, 2023 at 02:05

Post count: 53

#24450

Hey hey Rooftop Cat…this all began for me when I started listening to some bluesy music back in September and then began to looking into harmonicas. There’s no where local where I live so pretty much everything I do starts on the web. In November I ordered a Hohner Crossover harp to begin and then as a Christmas present I ended up taking a punt on a Hohner BH52 Harpblaster mic, as it seemed to suit my needs. I liked everything about it and reading the reviews it didn’t seem to have any flaws. It’s a cleaner sound than some but that’s what I like, plenty dirty if you crank it up. I use my sons guitar amps. An old Vox AC30 and a Boss Katana Air. As I’m very new to this I don’t really know much if anything about mic’d harp playing but I do know that playing mic’d is great fun and very different to acoustic and that for me is enough right now.
As well as my musical taste changing and expanding I’m also listening to the music more deeply and its amazing what you can pick out a track and on occasion use or copy.
I don’t want to get too bogged down in too much theory for now, I really just want to make some sweet sounding music !! I understand the very basics of different keys and different positions. I also understand the circle of 5ths and that there are patterns within music but I’m happy to pick that up naturally as I progress and gain more experience.
I’ll be having a listen to the tracks and artists you mentioned. Larkin Poe, a US band are high on my listening list with Bolt Cutters and The Family Name being my favourite track, just a great sound. My son plays the electric guitar over the top and he helped me work out some little licks. I’ll post up a vid of us some time for fun!
I’m rambling now, I know, but since November I am seriously hooked on the harmonica. Playing, talking about it, listening to music, chatting with you guys, I cant get enough of it…
Ive just booked to attend “Harpin By The Sea” on the other side of the country for this February. It’s a 3 day festival of all things Harmonica and I’m super stoked to be going and be around others who share this passion. I’ll let Ya’all know how it goes…

Rooftop Cat
Participant

January 22, 2023 at 06:59

Post count: 131

#24452

Harpin By The Sea sounds like a lot of fun! Jam nights, lectures, and Mark Hummel!! That’s gonna be quite the experience! Def let us know how you liked it.

And that’s great that you and your son are forming an electrical bond. Can’t wait to hear yall

All the best

Freddie
Participant

January 23, 2023 at 18:30

Post count: 606

#24453

I dont know how to get on and share my bending so you can hear what Im doing…..wrong

STEVE BLICKENSTAFF

Mitch Grainger
Keymaster

January 23, 2023 at 18:43

Post count: 338

#24454

Hi Steve,

I’m glad you asked, more people should be using this feature I offer!

Using your phone, or friends to record some playing and then upload it to SoundCloud is probably the easiest. Or you can do some video and post them on youtube (privately).

Here’s a video on how to do Soundcloud. The link he mentions at the end is the link you’ll share with me.

Then, I’ve got an audio and video submission page here: https://harmonicatime.com/audio-video-submissions/

Mg
Author

Posts