Practicing the Train

[Jerold Paulraj]

#24535

I and my little son are beginners with blues harmonica. We started with step 1 and we’ve been simply working on getting the train played at the tempo Mitch plays. Till this day it seems impossible to reach the highest tempo in which he plays. Any advice on how to further improve?

[Jonathan]

#24537

Hi Jerold. Great to hear you are enjoying harpin with your son. Ive been playing 3 months and still not able to replicate Mitch playing the train. Now and again I can do something similar to Mitch but for just a couple of seconds and then it’s gone so I tend to practice the train often but for only a short time. I’m way better than 3 months ago but I’ve got a WAY to go before sounding like Mitch! Just hang in there and keep practicing, I’m sure you’ll get there.

[Rooftop Cat]

#24588

Hey there, Jerold.

I previously had written my feelings on Mitch’s 3-inhale 1-exhale “Tuh-Kah-Tah-EXHALE” train rhythm in this thread: https://harmonicatime.com/forums/topic/breathing-when-playing/#post-21891

You can accent the rhythm however you please once you are comfortable with it more up-to-speed, but once the rhythm gets going, in my head I’m thinking/focusing on the groove like this: “EXHALE!-Tuh! kah-tah, EXHALE!-Tuh! kah-tah…”, as most of the total air flow is happening during the “EXHALE-Tuh” phase, so focus on using your diaphram for that breathing part, and the “Kah-Tah” phase is more so tongue articulations rather than chordal elements like the previous phase.

It only really clicked with me after doing it for a while. You need to trick your central nervous system out of trying to fill up your lungs more and more with every reoccuring 3 inhales. Focus on 1 exhale followed quickly by 1 inhale, and then 2 itty bitty ones. Once you feel comfortable chugging the train for a couple minutes w/o feeling light headed, you’re bound to find your groove into that dovetail. Only play as fast as you can go steady, and stick with it for a while. Be sure to do it to a steady pace (I would shuffle my feet as I walked aimlessly around doing it lol) and don’t increase your speed past the point where you start to trip up. Good luck to you and your son and happy harpin’!

[Jonathan]

#24632

Thanks Rooftop Cat. Ill be looking at this too…

[Jerold Paulraj]

#24717

Thank you so much, Jonathan. Yes, We keep practising—long way to go.

[Jerold Paulraj]

#24718

Shall definitely try this. Yes, it is all about some of these tricks and techniques. We’ll work on it. Thank you so much for your tips.

[Author]

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