Welcome back to my blog! Your harmonica teacher wants to share some thoughts with you today, on how to learn the blues harp by exploring different music genres. If you've ever dreamt of becoming a great musician or a tremendouos harmonica player, don’t ignore this article! According to my speculation, the first tune we listen to – when we start practising harmonica – is a blues, most probably, which is no doubt a great music style. Blues is also considered as the originating source of various music genres, but the question is: should we be playing only blues or is it better to take into accountany other chord progression, rhythm, phrasing style? This is our topic for today: Learning to play harmonica with multiple music styles.
It's easy to get comfortable once we find our favorite music, as soon as we discover that sound we love, we tend to ignore all the other vast areas of music that don't match up. It doesn't matter if it's pop, rock, swing, classical, or country music; we can quickly become creatures of habit and forget about everything else. What we don't realize is we're missing out. Listening to different kinds of music and practicing them can help an aspiring musician expand the horizons and find out new things about the art. Every musical style can show you different lessons about what it means to play.
Which are the benefits of learning to play harmonica on different music genres? To answer this question, I will list for you what every music genre can bring. Let's start with rock! Rock songs, specifically the heavy rock songs, are euphonious: i.e., they're pleasing to your ears, in minor mode. That's why I suggest you listen to this music style and learn to play licks in 3rd and 5th positions on it.
The Bluegrass music: Rhythm back up instruments: bass, guitar, mandolin, provide basic rhythm. For all practical purposes, Bluegrass music emphasizes the "off-beat". As an example, a song with a 4/4 time signature, the acoustic bass will play on beats one and three. Whereas, the guitar and mandolin will play on beats two and four. Bluegrass is an excellent way to learn playing fast on harmonica.
Try these bluegrass harmonica exercises.
Swing style: Playing in a swing style is more than playing eighth notes with a triplet feel. Even if articulations are marked, it is critical to listen to swing music, to understand how to perform this particular phrasing style. With jazz and swing, you can learn to improvise very well.
Here you'll finde some swing harmonica exercises.
Pop music: I like to play harmonica in many styles, with pop music or with modern genres to get advantage of this instrument to its full – if you know how to deal with those. You learn to emulate a singer to create phrasing.
Practice some pop harmonica exercises.
Country music: Over the subsequent century, country music has evolved into a vibrant commercial genre that maintains allegiance to concepts of tradition and rusticity, even as the music continues to reflect the modernization and urbanization of its audience. Learning the country is another great way to learn how to create beautiful licks, fast or slow.
Try some country harmonica exercises.
The Reggae style: Reggae is played in 4/4 time because the symmetrical rhythmic pattern does not lend itself to other time signatures such as 3/4 time. One of the most easily recognizable elements is the off-beat rhythms and staccato chords. Learning to play this style of music would improve and expand your rhythm knowledge.
Here you'll find some reggae harmonica exercises.
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