This new online harmonica course is dedicated to intermediate level students, who know how to use the bending technique but at the same time they wish to improve the way they used to play the minor blues in fifth position but not only; what you will learn with this lessons also applies to every minor key tunes.
Take the opportunity to learn to play on wonderful songs with that particular melancholic taste. Fifth position is very effective for minor playing, many harmonica players use it in place of third position.
In this course you'll not only get the oppotunity to learn and practise more than 50 minor licks, but the chance to grab some valuable concepts too in the last section, to implement what you have perceived relating improvisation.
These lessons focus on the progression of blues chords, for the purpose of studying musical phrases specially created for the above mentioned. We've conceived what actually happens when we improvise to draw licks; that's the reason why I don't recommend to study simple licks at random, but only the phrases which are functional and deeply integrated with the harmonic progression of the blues itself. The presented routines incorporate bending, split notes, octaves as well as some tongue blocking rhythm articulations like slaps and pulls.
When following these lessons, together with the practise, you'll get fringe benefit of learning some excellent theoretical notions; they will assist you to interpret wisely as when and why to play a certain note on any specific chord.
Take this auspicious possibility of improving the way you play your most cherished genre of harmonica, regardless of your location around the world!
How to use this online school course and which harmonica you need:
Every lesson contains clear explanations and tips on how to practice. Each exercise will be notated with holes and notes and while watching videos you are expected to practise these along with I, using the backing track. The video intimates you precisely at the time when it's your turn to play. Your learning will also be supported tabs that you may download.
I would suggest that you practice for at least 20 minutes a day, preferably for 30 minutes whereas if you choose a study regime of an hour-a-day, it can quickly bring you forward. Nonetheless, if you practice for more than 30 minutes, break the session into 20-minutes time slots, you'll 1earn much better.
Remember to play at slower pace first and increase speed only when you feel comfortable with it; e.g. speed of 2 to 4 bpm at a time is good. I’ll emphasize on this concept quoting a statement: "the metronome can be your best friend as well as your worst enemy". 1f you don't use it for the first lessons, then it will be really difficult to get use to it later. You won't imagine how many students would come to me after months or even years of practice, and complain of finding it hard to maintain a steady tempo meanwhile playing; they just can't handle it!
A few words about the wonderful world of minor tunes:
Most of the time, when all else is held constant, music in a major key is judged as happy while minor key music is heard as sad.It seems to be mostly the result of cultural conditioning. When we listen to tunes we rely heavily on our memory for the body of music we’ve heard all our life. Constantly touching base with our musical memory back catalogue helps to generate expectations of what might come next in a tune, which is an important source of enjoyment in musical listening. The downside of this over reliance on memory is that our musical reactions are frequently led by stereotypes.
In the western musical tradition major music is played at times of celebration (Mendelssohn’s ‘Wedding March’ or ‘Happy Birthday’), jubilation (Brian May’s ‘National Anthem’ on top of Buckingham Palace) and general fun times (‘Celebration’ by Kool And The Gang) whereas minor music is used to mark mourning (Chopin’s ‘Funeral March’), heartache (‘Back To Black’ by Amy Winehouse) and despair (‘Hurt’ by Johnny Cash or ‘Gloomy Sunday’ by Billie Holiday).
We are exposed to this repeated pairing of sound and emotional meaning from the time our ears are functioning (around the fifth – sixth month in the womb) so it is no wonder that we leap to emotional assumptions based on experience.
Cultural exposure will always vary, but there may be something deeper in music that triggers our overwhelming responses to major and minor sounds.