Getting Full tone and more on harmonica vibrato

Addendum to my vibrato video from yesterday. And a few notes on getting a full acoustic tone.

The backing tracks I made can be found here: http://www.buddhasgarden.net/music/

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Chris
• Michalek
• vibrato
• overblow
• harmonica
• jazz
• howard
• levy
• how
• to
• blues
• harp
• diatonic
• lesson

[MysticRascal]

You're videos are really helping me out. I picked up the harp about a year ago and somehow I figured out how to bend and overblow before even learned ABOUT the vibrato. I saw in one of your videos that to make the vibrato happen, it's more life a repeated 1/4 bend I guess. I'm going to give it some work but I thought I'd ask if you could explain, demonstrate and recommend the differences between throat and mouth vib. every other video is not doing the trick, you explain things very well!

[chrismichalek]

@MysticRascal I pretty much only do my style of vibrato these days. Most of the other methods aren't really vibrato. Vibrato is a variation in PITCH - thus the series of little bends you noticed in my playing, Tremolo is a variation in PRESSURE which is what most players actually do. I like my style of vibrato because it's consistent from note to note and harmonica to harmonica.

[christellester]

Hi Chris don't pay attention to the people who are saying that your kind of vibrato is not good for blues....Sonny Williamson had a very elegant vibrato and he was and his one of the legend of the harp....Kisses from the french girl plauing harp from France

[chrismichalek]

Thank you Christellester!

It doesn't matter to me, I just kinda do my thing and if folks don't like my vibrato in the context of blues then "oh well" I ain't changing it now. LOL

Love your vids btw.

[chrismichalek]

Thank you everyone for all of the nice comments!!!

[ZackPomerleau]

Chris, I'm glad I learned that 'drop your jaw' thing long ago, because otherwise I'd be REALLY struggling with tone. I really like the vibrato, almost like bending a little, like a vibrato truly is, not like a 'tremulant.'

[turtles12]

insert 3 fingers into the mouth

[hohner2010]

i never herd of you at all but your shit hot i love the high end of the harp you got that 7 hole down to a T. can you help me with vibrato at all please i can do it but very slow and sluggish and sometimes on the out breath its ace sounds sweet??? is it just time and practice for me or can you sirguess anything.

[checker764]

Some of the harmonica notes sound kind of sour - is the harp out of tune?

[hohner2010]

man your awsome, i started to play a year ago today and im trying to figuer out why i need to vibrato but you have shown me how sweet the music sounds. i can do lots of tec's but this is the most hardest because im slow and i dont know if im to use this on every note i hit or is it for long notes held?  what style do you like to play im a sonny boy terry and not to forget rice miller and little walter follower at present .... can you write back sometime many thanks cain.

[MysticRascal]

You're videos are really helping me out. I picked up the harp about a year ago and somehow I figured out how to bend and overblow before even learned ABOUT the vibrato. I saw in one of your videos that to make the vibrato happen, it's more life a repeated 1/4 bend I guess. I'm going to give it some work but I thought I'd ask if you could explain, demonstrate and recommend the differences between throat and mouth vib. every other video is not doing the trick, you explain things very well!

[chrismichalek]

@urbanagain perhaps you're just a poor student?