Bending a note

This is an attempt at demonstrating note bending with the harmonica. It is achieved by moving your tongue at the base of your mouth into a deep curved position and then to a flat position. This alters the speed at which the air moves over the aperture which affects the air speed over the reeds, or so i believe.



Below is a link to a video where other explain how to achieve note bending:






You can find more videos on bending on this pearltree:

Time constraints

Lately i have put very little time into the harmonica, a mixture of work, rallying and other things that had to be done. i have however, found a few opportunities with and without the harmonica to practice bending. I will attempt another podcast of how ti sounds. I am still have a little difficultly in matching the sounds I make with an "F" harmonica when most demos are done with a "C". So i have bitten the bullet and ordered another harmonica in "C" and hope that gives me better feedback on how i ma doing

Clocking up the hours

Lately the harmonica has taken a back seat. Finding time to dedicate to practicing the skills has been difficult and I know now I have lost what little skill i had developed. I am wondering what factors affect my motivation. Do I need a deadline to deliver to? Do i need feedback from others to spur me on? Will aim to put a good few hours in this weekend and then create another podcast.

I have noticed that feedback is a bit difficult with the "F" harmonica as many of the videos are of people using a "C" and I can not replicate their sounds.
Also there appears to be a much more subtle approach to blowing/sucking in order to achieving a pure sound from the top end of an "F" harmonica.

Reflection

A thought came to me as i was practicing "bending" without the use of the harmonica.... if I can pratice techniques without the instrument from time to time is it possible to do the same in developing leadership skills? Can i practice some of the elements of good leadership in contexts where I am not leading?

Challenging week

Its been a strange week for me and as a consequence of distractions of a professional kind I have not put much time into the harmonica. However, I have noticed that I have been practising mouth and tongue movements to develop bending and I regularly use tucka ticka when I am walking the dogs. Despite PJ's advice to learn the rhythm fits I felt the need to try to play something that resembled a recognisable tune. Spent about an hour on the Beatles song - love me do. It's not very good yet but I will continue to improve it and produce another podcast. Clocking up 10,000 hours is clearly tough when you have other things in your life. I give great respect to those who exel in any field, their personal commitment and dedication to their area of excellence must never be underestimated.

Reflection

At the moment I am reflecting on two aspects of this experience:
1) I am amazed at the huge array of materials, videos and most importantly other people who want to share their knowledge and experience of harmonica playing.
2) This vast array of materials on a whole range of aspects of playing create their own problem, where do i start. Someone once described this feeling as "rabbit in the headlights". Not sure what to do or where to start so the feeling is of shock, surprise uncertainty.

Interestingly this is the same reaction I witnessed in a group of learners I was working with who embarked on the Transforming Learning in the 21st century course I designed. In that case they expressed the "rabbit in the headlights" feeling but by the end of the course the learning journey they had been on was very powerful.

So how do I make sense of this......
If I have to take responsibility for the choice of my next step how does this affect my drive/motivation.
If I have a teacher to tell me what to do next is this to ensure small steps of success to maintain motivation
Or as in my other work being the one with the knowledge and experience have I identified key concepts that are essential before moving onto more complex themes.

If I focus on single note in the harmonica will I still get to my destination?

Harmonica - how much I do not know

What has become clear today is there is a lot I don't know about Harmonica's and at the moment I am not sure where to look or possibly where to start. Having watched a number of videos I now appreciate i will have to modify my peartrees to be more specific about their contents such as "bending" , "pucker or tongue blocking". I guess the best players can use all of these techniques and so in time I will have to try them all but at the moment I am not sure where to start. My inclination is to focus on the single note - I assume all music is fundamentally made up of single notes or collections of such notes but at the moment I find it difficult to create a single note because the holes are so close together. i will persevere.

Harmonica - first attempt

I seem to have spent a few hours just looking and listening and so not it was time to make a noise and I use the words "make a noise" carefully.
It wasn't good or pretty but i guess I had to start somewhere.

Harmonica - first tentative steps

With the helpful advice from JP Allen in his introductory video I am trying to develop the breathing with the rhythm. I am told that there are three key elements to successful playing:

1. Rhythm
2. Melody
3. Technique

Most people start with Melody but this may lead to developing poor habits and so JP recommends starting with Rhythm. Two other key points:
holding the harmonica deep in the mouth with the upper lip across most of the top cover plate and the lower lip over just a small amount of cover plate. This means the Harmonica is positioned at an angle down towards the lower lip.

Next step is breathing and JP suggests: Tucka - Ticka method
Tuc - Ka breathing in
Tic - Ka breathing out
Both having clear emphasis on the Tuc and the Ka.

These words are said quietly when sucking and blowing.
I will create my first podcast to demonstrate my current level of performance

Harmonica - Observations

Within about 2 hours of the first pearltree going live about Harmonicas I had a visit and pearls taken. I am interested in what this person was looking for to come across my pearltree. I now have the option to "Team" up with them so we can develop the pearltree together.
Having done this before with another pearltree I am well aware of the rate at which growth and collaboration occurs

Harmonica - an update

The power of e-mail, Tim from Mannsmusic just sent me this bit of advice:

The reason Harmonicas are available in different keys is so Harmonicas players can play with bands and accompany singers etc. A guitar or piano is capable of playing in all keys whereas a Harmonica player has to use a different Harmonica.

If you are learning and playing by yourself then it will not make any difference, but should you ever wish to play with a band you will need to remember you are in the key of F but by that time you will probably have a few different keys. It is not unusual for a Harmonica player to have six harps in all the various keys.

I will persevere in F and see how things develop. I await the day when i need a C to perform at my best ;-)

Harmonica - Self directed learning hour 1 of 10,000

My Harmonca arrived and I was keen to get started but whats this it says "F" on the instrument!
I didn't know if this mattered, I am still not sure as I await a reply from the shop that sold it to me.

What intrigued me at this stage of the learning journey was the role Google now played.
I was searching the net for a news article - nothing to do with my learning journey and what should appear at the top of the page but an advert for playing the harmonica - I was drawn to the link. And a good link it was.
Google introduced me to JP Allen of Harmonica.com

Harmonica - self directed learning - research phase

I know nothing about Harmonica's - a good start. Are there different types? how much do they cost, where do you get them from? how do you know you have chosen a good one?

I turned to the internet and started researching

In comes another pearltree if you are interested in what I discovered - Harmonica's Types
My research led me to believe I should go for a "Hohner Special 20" a good instrument for a beginner and most sources said go for one in "C".
I have to admit I didn't really know what one in "C" meant but I soon discovered!

Amazon was my source of instrument and I quickly purchased my Harmonica.
Whilst waiting for it to arrive, i thought I had better do some research into how to play one - another peartrees of my findings: How to play a Harmonica

Harmonica - self directed learning - the how

I gave the idea a lot of thought. What new skill, knowledge, set of behaviours could I learn through appropriate use of technology when I already have a busy life. I considered the opportunities I had to learn - times of day, duration, opportunities and was left with the thought it has to be flexible and it must be possible to dip in and out of learning when the opportunity arises.

To explore this experience I decided to take on something I had no knowledge and experience of. - Music.

I think i can sing (at least accompany others on the radio or CD's etc) but those who hear me know the truth - Music is an area I can safely say i have no experience or aptitude for. So I decided to give it a go.
What to learn - considering some of my criteria for access - the drums were out, a guitar is a bit cumbersome - ahh the harmonica!!

Harmonica - Self directed learning - the why

Reflecting on the impact "ownership of learning" could have on the education system today or perhaps should have on education systems today led me to a whole range of other works and references including  Sugata Mitra's "Hole in the wall" project; and Aaron Sam's approach  - the flipped classroom. This video may also be a bit of a reality check for those who are responsible for our education systems today - Valedictorian speaks out against school.

All of this made me wonder what could be achieved. SO I thought I would experiment a little.

Harmonica - the early thinking

Over the past year or so i have read, experienced and reflected on the way in which we learn. Reading various books and papers which made explicit links to the principle of 10,000hours; Carol Dwecks work on Mindsets and Dan Pinks work on Motivation. This coupled with my own experiences of professional educators being faced with taking responsibility for their own learning all led me to wonder what could be achieved with a totally self directed approach through effective and appropriate use of technology.

If you are not familiar with the 10,000 hours, Mindset etc materials I have created a pearltree in which you will find a range of resources and references - feel free to take a few pearls

Mightybell 2

Throughout the day I have received many notifications of others starting their personal development journey, I get a sense that as the sun rises more contributions appear from that part of the world - fascinating

Mightybell

Came across Teacher2.0 this morning which led me to Mightybell so i thought I would give it a go. I needed a place to capture thoughts on this journey so here is my blog!