When I learned back in the 1970's, I was taught to use the side of my tongue against the face of the keyboard for more accurate control of each individual note or hole. You don't do that?
@@Harmonicacom yes it does, I started catching on after I re-watched it many times. I’m surprised how much drawing there is instead of blowing. I still need a lot of practice.
"Outgassing" is pushing air out your nose when you're blowing on the harmonica so that you can get more air out of your lungs more quickly. Also called "Nose Push." Similarly if you're running out of air, you can "ingass" thru the nose on an draw note. These are done as necessary. The rest of the time, the nose is closed. 👌🏼
Been watching all your video recently, I've had a harmonica for years but only just started trying to learn since I'm going to bring it with me for entertainment while backpacking for a couple weeks! Thanks for the great videos!
Some FANTASTIC playing, Sir! And the mics do have their own characteristics, making for some extra nuances in your playing. Now I just have to get my harmonica playing up to snuff before I invest in a specialized mic!
As a Brit, it's hard to impossible to get these cheap ones without paying a fortune for shipping - which rather defeats the object of the exercise. However, of the budget ones you feature both here and elsewhere, the Fender Blues Deluxe is, for me the best. And I've been playing the harp now for over 50 years.
I've been playing the blues harmonica since the late 60s and have used all sorts. I have just got one of these Fenders for the first time, for rehearsal purposes, and am astonished at how good it is. My only concern is, with all the bending I do, how long will it stay in tune? Lee Oskars sound great, but I find they go out of tune more quickly than others. Will the same happen with this? Only time will tell......
You can bend without drawing/blowing too hard. It's the forcefulness that makes reeds go out of tune more than the bending. Easy airflow = long-lasting harps.
Your Mouth isn't too big! Keep trying. Some people find the Lee Oskar and/or Hohner Rocket harps have slightly bigger holes = slightly easier to isolate notes on.
Excellent video! I have an M. Hohner "Blues Harp" that's about 50 years old. I think my parents gave it to me as a gift one year. I've never even tried to play it. I pulled it out today and took a look at this video. By the end, I was sounding pretty badass! I'm a woodwind player and never could even begin to imagine how this instrument is played. It's not as impossible as I thought!
The reed plates are also easy to get to so if you have a reed that's binding up, you can go thru and "plink" the reeds and a lot of times that will cure it. If not, new reed plates are about $10 cheaper than a new harp, and fairly simple to install.
The Lone Wolf harp octave is another great option. It has less of an octave effect and more of a booster, but it sounds amazing when paired with a tube amp. Adds a vintage grit to the tone without coloring it as much as a typical octave pedal.
Damn this is an awesome video! I'm relearning music and just happened to come across this video. Guess what instrument I'm gonna learn next... You have a fun and interesting video that instills a desire to learn something new. And yes, I subscribed. Going to Amazon now to order my harmonica!
"You might not be able to bend for a few days" Huh. I got it within 20ms, and can smoothly do the 4th hole consistently whenever now :D Still not very good sounding on the 6th hole, gettin' there.
@mikelisacarb 1 minute ago (edited) Lee Oskar was amazing in the way he used his instrument as an inside voice of the "War" R&B fusion horn section. Nobody else has ever really done that, and it absolutely makes so much musical sense. Once you mic the "harp", the sound can be colored in many ways, but the distinctive harmonica breathiness is always there in the background. Every once in a while, it peeks up out of the inner texture, but he seldom has it in your face as a constant solo instrument, the way that most blues harp players do. Through most of their songs, you'd swear it was a saxophone. Sometimes you really hear it more as a harmonica, but it always serves the needs of the song! A real musician's musician, as all of these hit-making guys tended to be! It's all about the groove!
Yeah I agree. Lee is a great artist, and just a great guy. A lot of those lines, like Low Rider are harmonica and sax together, which is such a great sound, and something Lee still does a lot of in his solo career. Like this great tune: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bwx-vCP8Xbk.htmlsi=fw21T3wOBR1137YE
Hey the metronome app should have a "TAP" button that you can tap along to the song to determine the tempo. LMK how that goes. If you want BPM for a specify song I can go tap and see what it is, but probably playing along with the jam tracks linked in info section would be a lot more fun!! 😎
