OK, right up front, here is how I approach coaching / teaching harmonica: I want you to learn to breathe right and get rhythm in your bones! Your power comes from your core. You can’t play the harmonica (or sing) with authority until you control your from the bottom of the lungs up. It is more than diaphragm breathing, because you are coordinating other muscle groups in the core of your body.
A lot of harp players don’t get how important breathing technique is. I was clueless about this for a long time. Most of the breath control I did have came from trying to play Sonny Terry chord rhythms. That helped a lot. but I didn’t really know what I was doing. I had to go outside the harmonica community to really start getting a handle on breath control.
Using your core body muscles to support your breathing makes you centered, relaxed, and focused.
Imagine throwing a baseball. If you stand stiff and only use your arm, you are not going to have much power. When you bring the core body muscles into play, step into the throw, and follow through, you have massive power. The arm ends up taking this wave of energy and guiding it.The fingers are the last step in the exquisite control of this power.
When you play the harmonica without using your core muscles it’s like standing up stiff and chucking a baseball using only one arm. I teach people how to play the harmonica from the neck down as well as from the neck up. I emphasize this approach because it works for me, and I’ve seen it work for others.
I also teach Cajun, Celtic, Blues, Fiddle tunes, and other American Roots music, rack harp with guitar, and will be happy to work out a project with you.
If this speaks to you, contact me for information on harmonica lessons. I can work with you via Skype, phone, or by exchanging mp3s in emails. Sometimes all you need to have a break through is a little personal coaching from someone who has been where you are.
I specialize in diatonic harmonica. I also play guitar and harmonica on the rack extensively and can show you all sorts of ways to speed up your progress in that area. If you sign up for two lessons, you will get the Train rhythms and Pentatonic Scales exercises below at no extra cost.You will still get the first 20 session with me for free as part of the deal, as I describe below.
Contact me today to get started!
Now Avalable- Train Rhythms and Pentatonic Scales
Train Rhythms and Pentatonic Scales – Downloads
Instructions and personal coaching (Free 20 minute session with me)
I am currently working only with downloads for these recordings and PDF files. I am making many upgrades on this material and will send you all updates at no extra cost.
These bite-sized exercises give you the core harmonica skills for any style of music. Every musical instrument has basic skills that give you power, control, and confidence to master all the other techniques. When you learn how to hold a guitar so your fingers can move freely you will play rings around someone crippled with a grip that keeps their fingers from moving easily. When you learn how to smoothly pass your thumb under your fingers on a piano keyboard while playing a scale your skill level goes out the roof.
Breathing is the key to mastering the harmonica. The harmonica is an unusual instrument because you breathe in as well as out when you play it. When you learn relaxed, balanced breathing through a harmonica you can cut loose, use the full range of the instrument and play with power and authority.
One of the most basic breathing exercise for the harmonica is the rhythm used in many of the great steam train imitations. This explains why so many of the early harmonica players have such huge tone. They grew up with the steam trains and they proved how good they were by how well they could play a steam train imitation on the harmonica.
These recordingss start with the basic train rhythm breathing pattern and then go way beyond them so you can:
- Create HUGE TONE at will – When your throat gets big on the inside, the tone on the outside gets big as well.
- Smooth out how you go from blow to draw notes so your playing has an effortless, free-flowing feel and sound.
- Go from a “cut the room” treble sound to a deep round bass tone when you want to. It’s like having a tone control that gives you the whole range from high to mid to low
- Conserve your energy and never run out of breath. When you play, people will ask you “When do you breathe??” and you can say “All the time!”
The pentatonic scales combined with the train rhythms are the perfect warm up exercises and chop builders. You will never outgrow them. Included with the scale exercises are detailed instructions on techniques you need to master to play fast and smoothly.
With the pentatonic scale exercises you can:
- Use 3 scale patterns as superhighways for playing in at least 6 different positions on the harmonica.
- Automatically avoid the most common bad notes or “clams” on the diatonic harmonica
- Have a solid foundation for playing all of the more complex scales and modes.
NEW Bonus tracks:
- Drum tracks to practice along with to develop a groove while you learn the notes or patterns - These tracks will get you on “the good foot” as James Brown likes to say, and let you know right away if you are dropping the beat. Plus they were made by a real live human being (Pat Bautz at http://www.realdrumstudio.com) on a 1948 Ludwig drum kit so you know they’ve got soul. You can’t get this kind of feel with a beat box.
The “Train Rhythms and Pentatonic Scales” Rcording downloadss plus PDF instructions and 20 minute one on one phone or skype session is $42
Please Note – When you order these downloads, I will contact you and set you up so you can get the downloads in a way that I can automatically upgrade. They are not instant downloads. You can actually get started for free by going to the blog on this website and downloading a version of the instructions – check it out on the right hand side in the blog section.
To buy with paypal, click the button below:
Questions – Contact Richard Sleigh via email
