[Harp-L] Some thanks

[JPavlik@xxxxxxxxx]

I was a member of this list a few years ago and I posted, as now, 
infrequently. But I had one post in particular that illicited a lot of 
responses. I had basically said that I had played inconsistently for about 
a year or two and was in a horrible rut. Everything sounded the same, and 
despite being able to bend notes I still had not captured that "bluesy" 
sound. My practice times, do to work and other things, has been spotty in 
the years since but I've made strong headway in the right direction. I'm 
making more and more progress all the time, in large part to the people of 
this list who took time out to guide me. 

I've recently found those old replies (but not the post that requested 
them) so I thought that, for the benefit of all the lurkers out there, I 
would post the advice I was given.

Get Jerry Portnoy's 3-CD Masterclass series
Build my blues lick "vocabulary"
Learn to tongue block/tongue slap
Keep my mouth wide open to improve tone
Learn a couple of LW solos note-for-note
Get a decent throat vibrato
Get David Barrett's "Building Harmonica Technique"
Get Jon Gindick's Rock n Blues harmonica 

Many parts on this list (particularly tongue blocking and the Portnoy set) 
were repeately from many people. This list was compiled from "Mark," 
"Tony," "Dan," and "Ken M." Some of these people I know are still on the 
list, others I'm not sure. To you guys: Thank you so much.

A special thanks goes out to Michael Rubin who emailed me individually 
several times to make sure I understood the 12-bar blues progression, what 
the notes of the I, IV, and V chords were and where they were on the 
harmonica. His dedication to spreading the good word is still an 
inspiration to me.

Anyway, since those long lost days, I have purchased all three 
instructional above and they are all marvelous. If I had emailed this last 
week, I would have easily placed Portnoy's above the others but I recently 
have referred back to Gindick's book several times this week and I am 
really diving into Barrett's as of yesterday and today. All are invaluable 
learning tools, especially for the beginner or even the higher-level 
player who might be in a rut and needs to concentrate on the fundamentals 
to get their groove back. 

I was reading a great essay on tone and resonance and some tests on how to 
determine if you have it. Certainly my tone needs work, but thanks to the 
advice I got back in the day, my tone is pretty good, according to the 
tests. I've developed and now need to perfect my vibrato. And I am 
currently learning several songs note-for-note, along with doing 
tongue-blocking exercises, and building my lick vocabulary. I'm a 
completely different harmonica player than I was just a couple of months 
ago.

So I guess my advice at this point, for the lurkers is: You're going to 
learn a ton by lurking, so don't leave, but you're going to gain so much 
more by stepping up and asking those questions that you need answered for 
you to get to the next level. The people on this list are chock full of 
great advice. Some of which will help you now and some of which won't help 
you for years after you get your answer. But the harmonica, and your path 
with it, is going to be highly individual. You have to personalize this 
list the same way in order to get the most out of it.