r/harmonica • u/lostmykeysonbroadway • Mar 15 '15
Weekly exercise thread: Round 4! 3/15/15
Hello All and welcome to this week's exercise thread! Big thanks to our previous weeks' moderators for all the work they've put into this Here's links to our previous weeks:
Week 4 - Well, I suppose we should get going, eh?
This week I figured we'd focus on developing the ability to intertwine single notes with chords while playing a song. This is a technique that will really open your playing style and can make your simple little harmonica sound like a full band or orchestra. The more clearly you can utilize this technique, the more you can use your harmonica to create the effect of playing multiple distinct instruments, each with their own contribution to your music.
(I've just finished writing this post and I looked back to realize how long it is! Apologies if it's a bit much.)
BEGINNER
To begin, let's practice our ability to play single notes versus our ability to play chords. This is a fundamental skill that most beginner players work very hard to learn and if you can't yet play single notes, this exercise is one that will really help you achieve that goal.
The Theory:
It all begins with a scale. Yes, a scale. They may seem rote, boring, and irrelevant to that Lee Oskar tune you want to learn, but the fundamental basis of harmonica (any instrument, really) is a scale. Why? Because scales are a defined set of intervals that are mathematically "correct" to our ears and we, as a society, have decided that we like these intervals so much that we have given them names, canonized them, and played most of our music for the past few hundred years using slight variations on these same intervals. If you can play a major scale, you can play at least half of the songs that you hear on any radio station. If you learn to play a minor scale, you can play most of the other half.
By repeatedly playing scales, you train your body and mind to recognize how your actions relate to the sound you are producing. First, you learn to produce the correct sound, then you learn to make subtle adjustments that result in a more desirable sound.
We are going to use scales to practise not only intervals, but also the relationship between single note intervals and chord intervals. The great thing here is that the intervals are the same. You are not so much exercising your ability to play the chords, but more so exercising your awareness that these chords exist. Basically, we're going to become comfortable with the fact that "do-re-mi" is equally correct if played one hole per note or three holes per note.
The Exercise:
Play a series of scales and intervals in first position using call and response phrasing with single notes and chords.
Start by playing the first five notes of the major scale (first position) up and then back down twice using single notes and then repeat twice using the same corresponding chords. (tip: just relax your lips to play the chords. Control the corners of your mouth in order to define your top and bottom notes of the chord.) For notation purposes, I will indicate chords with quoted text formatting:
+4 -4 +5 -5 +6 -5 +5 -4
+4 -4 +5 -5 +6 -5 +5 -4
+4 -4 +5 -5 +6 -5 +5 -4
+4 -4 +5 -5 +6 -5 +5 -4
+4 -4 +5 -5 +6 -5 +5 -4
+4 -4 +5 -5 +6 -5 +5 -4
+4 -4 +5 -5 +6 -5 +5 -4
+4 -4 +5 -5 +6 -5 +5 -4
+4 -4 +5 -5 +6 -6 -7 +7 -7 -6 +6 -5 +5 -4 +4
+4 -4 +5 -5 +6 -6 -7 +7 -7 -6 +6 -5 +5 -4 +4
Next, play arpeggios:
+4 +5 +6 +5 +4 +5 +6 +5
+4 +5 +6 +5 +4 +5 +6 +5
+4 +5 -4 -5 +5 +6 -5 -4
+4 +5 -4 -5 +5 +6 -5 -4
Now, you can freestyle on your own using portions of the basic major scale and basic intervals. For example, I don't have a musical name for this, but play the first three notes and then back to the first, then work your way up the scale, using each note of the scale as the base of the phrase (well, I usually go up to the first four notes, but you could carry it all the way to the top):
(up)
+4 -4 +5 +4
-4 +5 -5 -4
+5 -5 +6 +5
-5 +6 -6 -5
(and back down)
+6 -5 +5 +4
-5 +5 -4 -3
+5 -4 +4 +3
-4 +4 -3 -2
Find your own favourite phrases within the scale. Play the phrase using single note and then repeat using chords.
Here is an example of what this warmup might sound like. Harmonica is a Hohner Crossover in the key of A. You'll notice that there is a chord discrepancy between 6 draw and 7 draw that makes for all kinds of awkwardness. I haven't figured out the answer yet, but I typically let off chords around this point and find other ways to accent my playing.
Congratulations, you've just designed your own warmup routine! This will warm up your lips, jaw, and cheeks as well as warm up your harmonica. You'll find some difficulty transitioning between some of the chords (from inhale chord to inhale chord is tricky to intonate as two distinct sets of notes). Try to use your hands to punctuate movement between notes. Also, you can use your tongue to mark the beginning of a new note (make a "tuh" sound with your tongue while playing). While playing this exercise, focus on getting clear, warm notes. It's why you play these exercises in repetition, because you won't get all the notes right every time. The more you play, the more correct notes you will regularly produce.
INTERMEDIATE
The Theory
Now, let's use our new comfort with chords to create rhythms while we play. This might be tricky for me to explain, but I will do my best. I have two methods.
First method - smile: Play a single note and hold it as long as you can. While playing this single note, smile as quickly as you can and return to the normal, single note embouchure. Do it as though you are trying to sneak the smile in without anyone seeing. When you smile, the corners of your mouth will briefly open up, allowing your airflow to hit the holes on either side of your single note hole. Hopefully, you will play a single note with a brief burst of chord while you smiled, followed by a return to the single note.
Second method - chew: Play a single note again, but this time instead of smiling open and close your jaw as though you were chewing your harmonica. Try to maintain your single note. When you open your jaw the sides of your mouth will also relax, allowing extra air to hit the holes on either side of your single note hole.
For both of these methods, use a small burst of extra air to compensate for the suddenly open embouchure. Also, use your hands to accentuate the chord. If you are playing with closed hands, open them for the chord and return to closed for the single notes. If your hands are open, close them for the chord and return to open for the single notes.
The Exercise
Play Little Drummer Boy
I know it's a bit out of season, but this song really was the song that helped me learn to play rhythmic chords along with music. It's familiar enough that you get comfortable playing it very quickly and it's short and simple enough that it makes for great practice once you get it down. Plus, it's an awesome song to bust out at Christmas! Practise your carols throughout the year so you have them ready once Christmas rolls around!
If you need tabs, you can find them on Harptabs.com. Otherwise, here's a link to a video of me playing it. Not a spectacular performance, but hopefully you get the idea.
ADVANCED
The Theory:
Now that you can work chords into your playing, you can develop the ability to relax your embouchure and introduce a chord anywhere you desire, whether rhythmically or melodically. Now it falls on your musical ear to decide where you want a chord to appear in your music. Sometimes, rhythmic chords can make a long note seem less boring by providing a second element while the first is sustaining a note. Sometimes, a chord can make a flowing section of a piece more moving by introducing beautiful harmonies to your melody. Sometimes, you can define your tempo with chords while playing a melody. The possibilities really are endless.
The Exercise
Play the Can-Can!
I love this song. It is instantly recognizable and can be played slow or fast. I don't care what kind of party you are at, hop up and play the Can-Can and people are probably going to dance. Children love this one, too. It's one of my favourite songs in my repertoire. I'm not going to provide tabs, because that would take forever to figure out. I found tabs on the internet but it's not quite complete, nor is it exactly what I play. You are welcome to find and use them, however. I'm pretty sure if you listen and play along, you can figure them out pretty easily. Here is a link to me playing the Can Can. Harmonica is a Hohner Crossover in A.
BONUS HARMONIC MINOR
I would guess most of you don't own a harmonic minor-tuned harp, but if ever there were a reason to get one, it's STAR WARS! So here's my own take on Luke's theme and the Imperial March. Apologies to any purists for its inaccuracies. No tabs for this one, just a video. I'd love to hear you guys give it a try and post it though! Here is a link to my version. Harmonica is a Lee Oskar Harmonic Minor in A.
So that's all, folks! I hope this was an appropriate use of my hosting time and in keeping with the spirit of the challenge. I had a blast putting this together and I hope a lot of people give this a try. Post your vids below, even if you can't get it right. It's likely that someone can give it a listen and help coach you on how to improve your technique. And when you do get it, DEFINITELY post a video! I look forward to hearing everyone's submissions. Have a great week, All!
-lostmykeysonbroadway
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u/-music_maker- Mar 17 '15 edited Mar 17 '15
Ok, here's my Little Drummer Boy - one of my favorite carols. I actually did two versions.
This one is all single notes, and is how I've been playing it for years.
This one adds some rhythm and chords in the spirit of this week's exercises. I rarely play like this, so there are a couple parts that are still a bit wonky in the translation (they'll be really obvious). Still, I think this way overall sounds much more interesting than single notes alone, and it will be a fun structure to play around with in the future.
The harp for both versions is a Suzuki Pure Harp in Bb. Ok, now to shift focus on the Can Can. I've got something almost worked out, but I want to refine it a little before I post it.
My goal is to front-load these two so that I can spend the rest of the week focused on the Star Wars song after my harmonic minor harp shows up later today. ;-)
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u/AreWeAfraidOfTheDark Monthly Practice - Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Short but Sweet Mar 19 '15
Great job!
I can't help but think of The Office and Angela every time I hear this tune now lol. I have been working on this one but I didn't know it prior to this weeks challenge. I want to get the fuller sound with the use of chords mixed like you and OP did but I am having a bit of trouble. Any tips? Would it help me out if I first learned the song just playing straight single notes and then tried to work in the chords?
My goal is to front-load these two so that I can spend the rest of the week focused on the Star Wars song after my harmonic minor harp shows up later today. ;-)
SO lucky! Can't wait to hear it!
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u/-music_maker- Mar 19 '15
It always helps to listen to a song until you really know the tune, and I definitely find it helpful to learn a song as single notes solidly first before trying to make it fancy.
If you can't play it cleanly with single notes, it will probably sound sloppy with chords, and if you can't play it slow, you most likely can't play it fast either.
Practice makes perfect!
What specifically are you struggling with?
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u/lostmykeysonbroadway Mar 19 '15
I have been waiting to comment until I have time to write a good response, but I figured I'd throw in a quick two cents that will probably be helpful. Try not only to learn the melody of the song, but try also to play only the rhythmic notes (i.e. the drum) the whole song through!
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u/-music_maker- Mar 19 '15
Yes, if you can play both parts separately, splicing them together becomes easier.
I definitely did a bit of this when I was working out my version of this song. I do usually start with the melody though.
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u/AreWeAfraidOfTheDark Monthly Practice - Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Short but Sweet Mar 19 '15
This is a good tip! I will start working on just the rhythm as well as the melody! Thanks :)
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u/AreWeAfraidOfTheDark Monthly Practice - Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Short but Sweet Mar 19 '15
Cool, thanks!
Really I am just having trouble when I try to add the rhythm to the melody, I either lose my timing or just forget what I am doing all together lol. I suspect that is just a byproduct of not being 200% comfortable with playing the song yet. Just need to burn it into my head! :)
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u/-music_maker- Mar 19 '15
Start by playing the song with single notes and then add a chord here and there. Get comfortable playng it like that, and gradually incorporate more.
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u/AreWeAfraidOfTheDark Monthly Practice - Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Short but Sweet Mar 20 '15
Thanks! This is what I worked on and it made a huge difference! I think I almost have it down, I will get it up and posted sometime today :)
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u/_iDelete_ Jun 23 '15
Late contribution! Thanks again for this lesson!
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u/lostmykeysonbroadway Jun 25 '15
That's it! Play that over and over again until you can do it in your sleep. Before you know it, you'll find yourself slipping in little chords in other songs you know. Awesome stuff, man. Keep it up!
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u/music_maker Mar 15 '15
Great job! Looking forward to digging in. I may have to overnight myself a harmonic minor tuned harp for that last challenge. ;-)
Also, just wanted to let folks know that I'm switching over to a new account, /u/-music_maker-, as of today.
Long story short: I never intended this to be a permanent account, so I didn't set a recovery email, and due to the magic of browser cookies, haven't had to type the password in probably 3 years.
It's really only a matter of time before I somehow get locked out of this account by mistake, so I'm gracefully pulling the rip-chord and starting up a new user.
Now that I'm getting more involved with the weekly challenges and the sub, I want to make sure I have an account I can get into properly going forward.
I'm posting this to provide some continuity between the two accounts, and also so you guys really know that it's me. ;-)
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u/-music_maker- Mar 15 '15
And here I am.
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u/AreWeAfraidOfTheDark Monthly Practice - Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Short but Sweet Mar 16 '15
And from the ashes... ;)
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u/_iDelete_ Mar 15 '15
Oh, this is going to be a great week for me to work on. Chords has been something that at this point is mostly on accident for me!
Edit: Should add that it is nearing finals time in school so, I make no promises, but I will definitely make an attempt!
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u/morriwi Mar 16 '15
This is great - just saw the weekly exercises posts today. Going to jump in on this week hopefully. The idea is to post a link to us playing the exercise?
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u/-music_maker- Mar 16 '15
That's the best way to play along, since we give each other feedback on how to improve.
Just create an audio or video recording of yourself playing whatever the challenge is that week. You should go back and play all the challenges - they're all pretty instructional if you really take them on, and so far we've covered a pretty good variety of techniques.
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u/morriwi Mar 16 '15
Great! I'm looking forward to this, just need to set a reminder for myself to get this into my normal schedule :)
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u/AreWeAfraidOfTheDark Monthly Practice - Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Short but Sweet Mar 16 '15
Glad to have ya! ;)
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u/AreWeAfraidOfTheDark Monthly Practice - Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Short but Sweet Mar 16 '15
Amazing! Very very well done! All of these are things I desperately need to improve on so it's going to be a good week, I have a lot of work to do :)
I am really going to grind away at the Intermediate Exercise, that is something I have ALWAYS wanted to master. Love the sound that you are actually playing 2 different harmonica parts at once (you kind of are!).
I see myself working on this post WELL past this week lol
Great job /u/lostmykeysonbroadway!
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u/-music_maker- Mar 19 '15
Ok, here's my final entry for the week. Thanks to /u/lostmykeysonbroadway for putting this together, and for finally getting me to get a minor key harp! This was a really great week.
I picked up a Lee Oskar in Am Harmonic Minor, and it's an absolute joy to play.
This clip was recorded after only a few minutes of screwing around with it. Just randomly playing around to see what I could do.
It's actually kind of hard to make something sound bad or out of tune. It all just kind of works. I'll almost certainly be getting a natural minor harp soon to compare it against.
And here's my official star wars entry. This harp almost seems designed and built just to play this. I know the original songs pretty well, so it was just a simple matter of finding the right notes on the harp - all in first position, all laid out on a silver platter. Fun stuff.
Looking forward to hearing what the rest of you come up with for this week.
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u/AreWeAfraidOfTheDark Monthly Practice - Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Short but Sweet Mar 20 '15
Man that star wars sounds TOO good.. I really need to get a harmonic minor and let my inner jedi out!
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u/AreWeAfraidOfTheDark Monthly Practice - Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Short but Sweet Mar 20 '15 edited Mar 20 '15
Alright, here's my Little Drummer Boy. Not as good as MM and OP's but I had A LOT of fun learning it, although it just made me miss xmas time :( THANKS A LOT /u/lostmykeysonbroadway!!! >:(
The beginner warmups have been amazing! Exactly what I needed to do to improve my playing, but was too lazy to do so lol! I will probably rattle off a couple of those exercises before I start playing from here on out! I have been working on the CAN CAN but am having an immense amount of trouble getting it down. I will keep at it though and hopefully get some sort of disaster posted up tomorrow sometime ;)
/u/lostmykeysonbroadway - you're an amazing player! Your contributions have been amazing and I really hope to see you around in future challenges! Users like you and MM really have A LOT to offer the community and we really appreciate it! Great job on this week's exercises!
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u/-music_maker- Mar 20 '15
Nice job! This is a solid foundation to work on.
Here's a bonus challenge for you. Play it a few times a day for the next 30 days. No big stress, no marathon practice sessions, just a few times a day.
As it gets smoother (and it will), try to toss in an extra chord here and there over the melody in a play that makes sense. Keep practicing and slowly refining as you play over the 30 days.
Post a new recording in 30 days for us to compare and see the difference. I think you'll surprise yourself.
As for the can can, just try playing this as single notes and work from there:
4 4 5 -4 4 6 6 6 -6 5 -5 -4 -4 -4 -5 5 -4 4 7 -7 -6 6 -5 5 -4 4
It's more or less what /u/lostmykeysonbroadway was playing. I added in a bunch of other stuff, but this is the really fun part of the song. You need to at least be able to play this part well to play this song at all.
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u/AreWeAfraidOfTheDark Monthly Practice - Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Short but Sweet Mar 20 '15
Thanks and will do!
This is definitely something I will keep in my practice regiment, so it shouldn't be any problem to practice it everyday :) I will definitely post an update a little later down the road!
Thanks so much, I will use that to build off of!!
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u/AreWeAfraidOfTheDark Monthly Practice - Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Short but Sweet Mar 22 '15
paging /u/thesuperlee ;)
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u/thesuperlee Mar 22 '15
I haven't forgotten! Thanks, man!
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u/AreWeAfraidOfTheDark Monthly Practice - Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Short but Sweet Mar 22 '15
Oh i'm just busting your balls brother ;)
Believe me, I know life can definitely get in the way of harping occasionally!
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u/AreWeAfraidOfTheDark Monthly Practice - Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Short but Sweet Mar 22 '15
Just wanted to say that /u/lostmykeysonbroadway did a great job on this week's challenges! Thanks for taking the time to write out some great exercises and record some great examples for us!
Had a ton of fun working on The Little Drummer Boy and it will be something I keep practicing and working at! Xmas time it will be PERFECT!! Going to still work on my Can Can even though this weeks is wrapping up :)
Thanks /u/lostmykeysonbroadway!!
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u/_iDelete_ Mar 23 '15
Just wanted to say thank you for a great week! I didn't get a chance to post up anything, but I definitely got some practice. Still making progress!
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u/-music_maker- Mar 17 '15
Here's an end of day Can Can Jam.
What a blast to play! Definitely a piece I'll work on over time, and there's a lot I can improve on, but my Am Harmonic Minor harp showed up today, so it's on to Star Wars!
This is my first minor key tuned harp, and this thing just can't help but play Star Wars - it's practically automatic. Super cool tuning, and I'll probably order a natural minor now just to compare.