Blues Harmonica Lesson - Get A Bigger Acoustic Tone

[PapaHarp88]

2:35- 2:38 gave me the chills! would you mind sharing what notes you played? Your tone sounds too good to be true I keep putting parts of this video on repeat over and over again.

Russ

[leesankeygroup]

@PapaHarp88 Thanks Russ, you totally get it. These are the same sounds that inspired me to play when I heard them on records or live by people like Kim Wilson. Being able to pull them off in my own way is still the ultimate buzz. Thanks for noticing!

[shaunWOH]

The visualisation aspect, is a very Interesting topic, wish I had been aware of this many years ago. Hope all goes well with the summary papers, and looking forward to your new book

[shaunWOH]

Hand position has really helped, now concentrating on making every single note count. Strange Lee, starting to look ahead when playing, visualizing the holes just in front of me, and hitting the right hole's most of the time. Don't know whether it's because I'm playing everyday, but really starting to get a feel for the instrument. Only taken 20 years, a lot of years of bad habits. Hard going back to the beginning, starting out again, learning stuff that I should have learnt in the beginning.

[leesankeygroup]

@shaunWOH Interesting on the visualisation aspect, that's one of the things my book is about. Planning on releasing a summary paper of my research with leading musicians over the next few weeks. Lee 

[shaunWOH]

Finally managed to access a new You Tube Account. This video is fantastic, thanks for sharing

[leesankeygroup]

@shaunWOH hi Shaun, thanks for watching. I have around 30 tuition videos on my channel, mainly aimed at intermediate to advanced players. Hand position makes a huge difference to your tone. Your hands are very much part of the instrument. Lee

[zelenious]

Thank you very much for posting this !!! it's a great help !!!!

[leesankeygroup]

@zelenious Hi from London, always good to hear when one of my videos has helped someone. Thanks, Lee

[BluesMonk]

Very clear and well done Lee. Thanks.

One question: Do you every do anything to block off the open ends of the MB harps?I've been working ways to do that in addition to type of thing you show here.My Seydel harps are closed on end so project tone more.I want more of that on MBs.

[leesankeygroup]

@BluesMonk Hey there, thanks for the nice feedback. To answer your question I don't do anything like that at all. In fact I don't work on my harps at all. I think the marine band is a wonderful design and Hohner have up'd their game so the quality is pretty good out of the box. more to follow...

[leesankeygroup]

@leesankeygroup ....The Crossover is also an excellent harp. If you prefer the sealed ends roll with the Seydel, they're good harps also. I prefer the sound of a marine band personally. At the end of the day how much of a difference will blocking the ends make? All the greats sounded just fine with the Marine Band as do modern greats such as Kim Wilson or Joe Filisko. Don't look to these small adaptations to give a significant increase in tone. That has to come from the player in my opinion.

[BluesMonk]

@leesankeygroup

Thnx.I also play Marine Band. I have a bunch of them and a couple Seydels. I love both.I love the Marine Bands for the oldtime acoustic playing I do. I wasn't going to modify the harp at all, just cover/uncover the side openings for different tonal effect.

[arthur1062]

great hand tone lesson lee , fantastic thanks again for this , i have been trying it , and yes it does make a difference ,

[leesankeygroup]

@arthur1062 Hi Arthur, yep I'm still staggered how much of a difference this hand position makes. I'm still finding new possibilities with it. Thanks for watching, Lee

[diabluz]

thanks man!

[SurlyMac]

Thanks so much for this lesson. I can't do anything about the size of my hands but this small change is very helpful in augmenting the size of my tone and general effectiveness of hand techniques... very helpful for this perpetual-beginner!

[leesankeygroup]

@SurlyMac Thanks for posting such a nice comment. I've also found that this technique, even though simple, has made a big difference to my sound. We're always learning! Lee

[BH60xx]

Very important video....thanx Lee!

[leesankeygroup]

@BH60xx Good to hear and thanks for watching. 

[alexdeduke]

Howdy Lee !

Most brilliant things are simple. This hand position makes a lot of sense.

I don`t have big hands, so this helps a lot to improve my tone.

Great lesson from a great player, thanks a lot,

Alex

[leesankeygroup]

@alexdeduke Hi Alex, I imagine with a bit of experimentation anyone can get something from this particular hand position. Joe Filisko has massive hands and mine are nowhere as big, but you can hear in this video just lifting your fingers does make a difference. Lee

[DistantSoul13]

Thank you very much for your teaching.

[leesankeygroup]

@DistantSoul13 Hey no problem, this was taught to me by Joe Filisko, so I guess I'm just passing on the knowledge. Lee

[Tsutsomu]

Hi Lee,

Nice lesson thanks a lot for your great job.

Friendly :

STeph.