YouTube music lessons for harmonica #6

[Scott H]

https://youtube.com/@theharpguysandiego?si=ms9Mij6tdrAS47ES

Hi, all,

OK, This will be the final lesson I post. I had one more with specific exercises I play, but i saw i made a typo that could be confusing and some of the sound clips played before I wanted them to. But these 2 I posted just now are fine.

These 2 discuss how i analyzed the DM48 positions and modes in combination with the songs I want to play. It was very enlightening, and resulted in the realization that I only needed to practice 3 positions and one mode in each position. This accomplished my goal of being efficient in my practice regimen.

I also show tables that tell you how to configure the DM48 to play in any key/mode in any position (1 - 6) using my Legato tuning.

Again, depending on your own experiences and how true you want to remain with the DM48 as a chromatic harmonica, my analysis may or may not resonate with you. But it definitely will make you more keenly aware of the power of the DM48 customizations that can be achieved. I think of it more as a MIDI wind controller with a harmonica form factor. 

I'll fix that video with the issues pretty soon and also post some new sound clips of me playing my exercises. I'm playing around 3 hours per day and steadily improving my accuracy and speed.

I will also say that when I first started playing the DM48 with my Legato tunings, I was wondering if it would actually help me succeed more quickly. So, before I was truly ready, I tried to learn a couple of the songs I wanted to play (So Into You, Steve Cole & Take Me As I Am, Warren Hill). These were among my level 1 difficulty tunes. I was able to learn them. My strategy was sound but it took awhile to learn them. Probably a few weeks.

Then I took that year off to take care of home projects and travel to visit family. This time, when I started playing again a couple of months ago I knew the strategy worked, so I resisted the temptation to jump into songs and focused on playing exercises.

I even came up with new exercises I hadn't contemplated before. I'll share all of them with you. Bottom line is I recently thought to try a song since I was improving so much. I tried one I hadn't focused on before (Chillaxin, Euge Groove). I was pleasantly surprised how quickly I was picking it up without having to slow the tempo.

Another good sign to me that this system is working for me to become good quickly and efficiently.

I get through 1 position practice in under 90 minutes. I think I'll get it down to 60 minutes pretty soon. Then I'll be able to practice all 3 positions I focus on (watch the videos I posted today) every day.

If you're reticent to click random web links, just look up on YouTube "TheHarpGuySanDiego".

Thanks,

S...