Re: [Harp-L] Teaching harmonica in China

[David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tony
I'm navigating these Chinese sites like a blind goose in a hailstorm, so if you could post a link for a video, I'd appreciate it. 
Growing up in the bluegrass belt in a three-generation family of pickers, it's always interesting to hear foreign bluegrass
There's a group from Bremen Germany, the Bluegrass Reverends, that has a minor bluegrass song "The One I Love" that I'm quite fond of. 
profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=123773331

I'm always hungry for information about foreign bluegrass... Stuff like: I wonder if the moonshine at their bluegrass festivals is as good as the stuff that always shows up at ours, etc., or if they have a dog that can sing "In the Pines" like Ronnie Webb always has at the festivals. The dog can sing any bluegrass song there is, as long as it's "In The Pines." 

Dave
________________________
Dave Payne Sr. 
Elk River Harmonicas
www.elkriverharmonicas.com 




----- Original Message ----
From: Tony Eyers <tony@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 11:39:28 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] Teaching harmonica in China

To answer some questions:

>I would be interested in your thoughts about bluegrass harmonica 
techniques...
>also the state of Bluegrass in China....
>
>Thanks
>Dave

The site members are mostly enthusiastic beginners, with some more 
experienced players who help with questions on the forum (my webmaster 
translates some of the posts, as well as my replies). Many questions 
relate to sourcing instruments. Something like a Hohner Special 20 is an 
expensive luxury for many of them, however there is a range of low cost 
Chinese diatonics, some surprisingly good.

There is some interest in Bluegrass. Some site members record their 
pieces, post them on the Chinese version(s) of Youtube, then inform the 
list. Kind of like an ad hoc version of www.harmonicaboogie.com. As 
anyone familiar with Chinese popular music would know, there is a great 
liking for slow ballads. This is reflected in the recordings that 
members post on the list. Some players have recorded Chinese folk tunes, 
which sound very good.  I have encouraged them to do more of these.

My lessons cover bluegrass harmonica techniques in great detail, 
particularly first position fiddle tunes.

>is the information on your harmonicatunes.com site quite different in the
>information provided on the chinese site....or very similar?
>
>if they are quite different, what about an english version....or an 
english
>language option on the chinese site?
>
>cheers, bruce

The information on the Chinese site is much more detailed than the 
tutorials on my harmonicatunes.com site. In particular, there are 60 
graded lessons (soon to be 80) with many online sound files integrated 
with the lessons. The lessons go from beginning to very advanced, and 
cover blues, and bluegrass, with a small section on hip hop.

I will be releasing on English language version of this site in May, 
which will operate on a paid subscription basis.

Tony Eyers
Australia
www.harmonicatunes.com
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