Re: [Harp-L] 10 hole German major valved chromatic

[Slim Heilpern <slim@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> You picked up a diatonic and played it and it made complete and total 
> sense to you from the very first moment. 
So maybe the problem is one of expectations. The above is not true for 
most instruments. Try to play violin or a clarinet with no previous 
experience and you will probably not like what you hear. By comparison, 
chromatic is quite easy to at least make a reasonable sound. I was lucky 
enough to be introduced to it at the age of 5, and there was not much 
struggle involved as my mind was wide open -- that's probably the key, 
keep an open mind and learn to walk before you try to run. I only played 
for a few years before I put it aside in favor of guitar, but that early 
exposure somehow really helped.

This whole conversation about trouble getting a sound on chromatic has 
been very interesting to me since I would like to eventually teach folks 
how to play chromatic and hopefully to get a decent tone in fewer years 
than it took me -- which only came about for me after years of playing 
without realizing that my tone would ever get better. It was a very 
gradual and natural process.

One thing I learned at SPAH this year was that the guys who have been 
playing chrom the longest tend to have the best tone, generally speaking 
-- although Julian Davis was one obvious exception at age 17, perhaps 
because he's so focused on emulating Stevie.

One thing I tried to do pretty early on when I returned to the chromatic 
in my mid 20s was just that, I took the Stevie Wonder Chromatic course, 
which doesn't really exist. But if you get all of his recordings (at the 
time I found a great deal on Motown reissued LPs, today that great deal 
is the iTunes "Complete" Stevie Wonder) and start at the beginning -- 
learning his earliest licks first and trying to play them just the way 
he did back then. Then slowly move forward through his recording career. 
I think this helped me quite a bit.


- Slim.

www.SlideManSlim.com


fjm wrote:
> I'm not terrible at playing a 10 hole harmonica.  I can overblow the 
> easy ones, play 1 through 4th position.  I have all 10 holes available 
> to me, I can tongue block, u-block or play pucker.  I manage chords 
> and single notes fairly well.  There are definite deficits in my 
> playing but I'm past intermediate in skill level.  None of this 
> translates readily to playing a chromatic.  I'm not a single note 
> player on diatonic.  This is not a particularly useful strategy for 
> chromatic.  Yes I know there are some chords but it's very very 
> different.  Tone on a chromatic is also entirely different.  So is the 
> expression.  Trills for instance. Much of the expressiveness of 
> diatonic is accessed through bends.  I've seen Slim Heilpern play, 
> I've heard him talk about playing.  It's clear to me the strategies he 
> employs are entirely different than what I'd use playing the 10 hole.  
> It's really a very different way of thinking.  I'm not giving up, 
> there's a CX-12 on my desk and I play it daily but there is no denying 
> it's a struggle.  All you diatonic players out there, raise your hand 
> if this fits.  You picked up a diatonic and played it and it made 
> complete and total sense to you from the very first moment.   I know 
> this was true for me.  It was so completely rewarding.  I picked one 
> up and I could play music.   fjm
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