I would add a seventh technique (and probably the most effective one, tone-wise): use tong blocks/slaps as much as you can. They will completely change the tone, making it fatter, dirtier and funkier. But they can be hard at first, particularly for doing bends, blow bends and overblows (which some people say are impossible to do while tongue blocking). How about doing a class focused on full time tongue blocking? Thank you so much!
@@Quintao10033 well, I just think the cat Will Wilde isn’t quite yet given the credit he deserves. Historically speaking although Butterfield may not have been purely a lip purser it’s thought he did a single hole tongue blocking technique called u blocking but it’s pretty close to lip pursing. I agree there is a depth of tone that comes from tongue blocking and there is tongue slapping and octaves that are a form of tongue blocking. People who can bend notes well tongue blocking are pretty amazing.
As good as you are Tomlin, U missed something buddy. In my own development I found that the student needs to mix "Bending" notes in with his/her riffs & phrases about 10-15% of the time when starting out, maybe 2-3 mos. stage, Then 'UP It' to Bent notes about 25% of the riff/Phrase; At 6 months (afyter starting to Bend) 'Up It' to 35% of the notes U play are "Bent' = that's when U will automatically sound blusier while simultaneously mixing in Glissando's, Trills, Vibrato. Wah-Wah; That's what i found on my evolution. (*) I too was slightly miserable at not getting any of that "Bent/Bluesy Sound" the first 5 yrs. Now that I'm "Mixing UP" all of the above, I'm getting compliments frequently. It is a FANTASTIC BLAST! once U reach that Level. I have learned considerable from Tomlin, Liam Ward, Luke Clebsch, JP. Allen, David Barret, Adam Gussow, Will Wilde, Hal WAlker, Ronnie Shellist, & some others. I know I passed the 1,000 Hours of practice mark somewhere, and that's fine. Early in my Harp program I actually Quit 3 diff times, it was so hard & sounding terrible; but I kept at it. MANY THANK YOU'S FROM THE HEART! for all those Free harp lessons on UA-cam over the years, that's what kept me going, that & the belief in myself, Keep On practicing! & Record yourself every mo to hear the differences, You WILL get there! Jesse Holliday, Orlando, Florida
Well... I often complain (to myself) that I don't sound like the pros. Maybe I am hard on myself, but I think I am right when I say my sound sucks. But I can do all the things you advice. Ok, maybe I don't incorporate them as much as I should do, but is that really my problem ? I don't think so. And I have a question: I think I don't sound like the pros because I do not hear correctly what I play -what should I do about it? When I record myself, I am disappointed to see how different what I think I sound is compared to what my sound is really like. To say the truth, I could say the same thing about my voice in general. It's all better in my head than outside of it! What can I do about it? I have 3 blues songs by 3 different harmonica players I use to measure my progress over time (to tell everything: Front Porch #24 from Gussow, Hard Times by Musselwhite and Don't get Around Much Anymore by B.W Horton). I hear myself progressing from year to year, and mostly from a technical point of view. Right now, I can play those songs...and in my head it sounds just like the guys I try to imitate, only to find that it is far from it when I record... Could it be a "studio or amplification problem" ? Maybe: I do play acoustic, and record with my laptop or cellphone mic, so I can imagine pros I listen to sound better because a sound tech did some work with the proper tools, but... but the song from Gussow is also an acoustic one recorded with a cheap tool, so I may just be not good enough (right now or forever). Is it possible that the pros sound like that because they are the best at what they do? There are many things in life I touched or tried only to find that the best at those things are so because of hours of pratice but over a gifted talent to start with. Maybe to sound like the pros you need that talent. Still, of course, we can all get better at it. But it seems a very long journey for me since what I hear is not what I dare people hearing.
My thoughts are that it takes time to develop. Playing a harmonica like a pro requires a lot on refinement. Your embouchure will change over time until your confidence allows you to express your feelings with command. You need to play every day consistently. If you can't do that right now, try to find a way to work that in. I use a slowdown software and HarpNinj. They both are excellent ways to get very familiar with movement.
Hi Kalenjinstf - I totally understand how you feel. Every player I know from amateur to pro (and I know a lot of pros) think they suck when they hear recordings of themselves. Keep recording yourself and you will start to become a better listener in real time. Just keep improving a small amount year on year and it will compound.
Yes, I believe they are one of the best harmonica players. Learn from them but don't mess with them. Let me compare that with my experiences in track and field as a 32year old female ambitious amateur with the performance of high performance athletes. I was running then 800m in 2:30. After a competition my lungs burned, my muscles burned, I couldn't stand anymore and become stomach ache. But it was only the average speed of a female 10.000m runner who finished in 30 minutes. And many people just do their laps in the park, enjoy the movement and nature and don't care about their pace.
That's one of my points: whataver training you can put in, if you don't have talent it won't do it. The video suggest you can do that and that, but in the end I think it may also be a question of gift... As a T&F coach for more than 20 years with pretty good caliber athletes, I can tell you that even with all the proper training, odds are low that you will ever get your 800m time under 2:00 if you are not already under 2:30 solely on pure talent. If any amount of training gets you to 2:30, what is by the way ok and not bad, there are not much chances for you to ever run under 2:10 (at least if you don't quit your job, go live in Kenya, train 15+ hours a week...) The same can be said about harmonica: you may pratice a lot, at one point your sound may just not be good as pros because they may have a natural gift. For example, have you seen Big Walter Horton's hands? How can you expect from yourself a sound like his when using your hands when he as velociraptor's ones, and you only normal hands?
Love your videos and really want to learn to play good. Newbie question. I read that a wooden comb makes a better fuller sound than the plastic /abs combs. Is this true or just preference? Thanks 😎✌️
Hi mate, love your work!. Just picked myself up my first harmonica. A special 20 in C. Could you please tell me the notes for all these cool licks you did in this video please? I absolutely suck haha and struggling to get clean notes. Just not used to using my mouth and breath like this. I can play a jaw harp easily but harmonica is on another level.
Good stuff. I wonder how many young players have watched videos about Larry Adler, the Harmonicats, and many, many others playing in many different musical styles. One of my favorites was Terry McMillan , RIP, protege of Chet Atkins, mostly country and gospel
You got it so clear dude!!! What an amazing video to show hoiw to imrpove the sound on the harmonica. You got into the very needle of this matter! I enjoyed a lot watching this video. Thanks!!!
One of the things that I feel make notes stronger are splits. Four hole ones all the way up on the blow notes and five hole ones on most of the draws. One thing I would love to see though are tips on doing these with amplified harmonica. Particularly up at the top, I find it hard to keep a good mic seal, when playing splits.
Don’t be sorry. That’s a great comment. Microphones etc definitely have an impact on tone BUT the majority comes from the mouth shape, breathing and hands
🎵 Just starting out on harmonica? Join my FREE Blues Harmonica Foundation Course here 👉 foxly.link/p5ugYk
The comments section is full of assholes. Thank you for all your content.
People that don’t play harmonica think I’m great
😂
Lol so true
😂😂😂
As they are in the majority, you are!
Because I can play half of the jeopardy theme people say I'm good
I am back playing harmonica with my band after my stroke
Nice!
Anyone can play the harmonica but not everyone can play it good
Thank you Tomlin very good tips and advice you're a good teacher 💯
I would add a seventh technique (and probably the most effective one, tone-wise): use tong blocks/slaps as much as you can. They will completely change the tone, making it fatter, dirtier and funkier. But they can be hard at first, particularly for doing bends, blow bends and overblows (which some people say are impossible to do while tongue blocking). How about doing a class focused on full time tongue blocking? Thank you so much!
After listening for years I can say lip pursers are every bit as good as tongue blockers.
Totally agree!
@@Quintao10033 well, I just think the cat Will Wilde isn’t quite yet given the credit he deserves. Historically speaking although Butterfield may not have been purely a lip purser it’s thought he did a single hole tongue blocking technique called u blocking but it’s pretty close to lip pursing. I agree there is a depth of tone that comes from tongue blocking and there is tongue slapping and octaves that are a form of tongue blocking. People who can bend notes well tongue blocking are pretty amazing.
Thank you tomlin, some of the best advise yet!
As good as you are Tomlin, U missed something buddy. In my own development I found that the student needs to mix "Bending" notes in with his/her riffs & phrases about 10-15% of the time when starting out, maybe 2-3 mos. stage, Then 'UP It' to Bent notes about 25% of the riff/Phrase; At 6 months (afyter starting to Bend) 'Up It' to 35% of the notes U play are "Bent' = that's when U will automatically sound blusier while simultaneously mixing in Glissando's, Trills, Vibrato. Wah-Wah; That's what i found on my evolution. (*) I too was slightly miserable at not getting any of that "Bent/Bluesy Sound" the first 5 yrs. Now that I'm "Mixing UP" all of the above, I'm getting compliments frequently. It is a FANTASTIC BLAST! once U reach that Level. I have learned considerable from Tomlin, Liam Ward, Luke Clebsch, JP. Allen, David Barret, Adam Gussow, Will Wilde, Hal WAlker, Ronnie Shellist,
& some others. I know I passed the 1,000 Hours of practice mark somewhere, and that's fine. Early in my Harp program I actually Quit 3 diff times, it was so hard & sounding terrible; but I kept at it. MANY THANK YOU'S FROM THE HEART! for all those Free harp lessons on UA-cam over the years, that's what kept me going, that & the belief in myself, Keep On practicing! & Record yourself every mo to hear the differences, You WILL get there! Jesse Holliday, Orlando, Florida
Really? Really? Lol. Seriously? You spoke way too much.
I went around searching for Blues Harmonicas! Thank you!
I'll be practicing with you 😎
My mistake is i always wanna play fast and take so many notes to play.
I know that feeling!
Hi Tomlin, is that an A harp? Very bluesy.
It is yes :-)
Next time could you plz include the tabs .
Your playing has continued to improve and sound better and better, especially the past few years!
Maybe because diatonics are never meant to be pro instruments, that field is for the Chromatic.
This is my favourite comment ever!
Great advice, many thanks.
Through your lessons I’ve managed to record some convincing playing with the limited talent I have 😁
Well... I often complain (to myself) that I don't sound like the pros. Maybe I am hard on myself, but I think I am right when I say my sound sucks. But I can do all the things you advice. Ok, maybe I don't incorporate them as much as I should do, but is that really my problem ? I don't think so. And I have a question: I think I don't sound like the pros because I do not hear correctly what I play -what should I do about it? When I record myself, I am disappointed to see how different what I think I sound is compared to what my sound is really like. To say the truth, I could say the same thing about my voice in general. It's all better in my head than outside of it! What can I do about it? I have 3 blues songs by 3 different harmonica players I use to measure my progress over time (to tell everything: Front Porch #24 from Gussow, Hard Times by Musselwhite and Don't get Around Much Anymore by B.W Horton). I hear myself progressing from year to year, and mostly from a technical point of view. Right now, I can play those songs...and in my head it sounds just like the guys I try to imitate, only to find that it is far from it when I record... Could it be a "studio or amplification problem" ? Maybe: I do play acoustic, and record with my laptop or cellphone mic, so I can imagine pros I listen to sound better because a sound tech did some work with the proper tools, but... but the song from Gussow is also an acoustic one recorded with a cheap tool, so I may just be not good enough (right now or forever). Is it possible that the pros sound like that because they are the best at what they do? There are many things in life I touched or tried only to find that the best at those things are so because of hours of pratice but over a gifted talent to start with. Maybe to sound like the pros you need that talent. Still, of course, we can all get better at it. But it seems a very long journey for me since what I hear is not what I dare people hearing.
My thoughts are that it takes time to develop. Playing a harmonica like a pro requires a lot on refinement. Your embouchure will change over time until your confidence allows you to express your feelings with command. You need to play every day consistently. If you can't do that right now, try to find a way to work that in. I use a slowdown software and HarpNinj. They both are excellent ways to get very familiar with movement.
Hi Kalenjinstf - I totally understand how you feel. Every player I know from amateur to pro (and I know a lot of pros) think they suck when they hear recordings of themselves. Keep recording yourself and you will start to become a better listener in real time. Just keep improving a small amount year on year and it will compound.
Yes, I believe they are one of the best harmonica players. Learn from them but don't mess with them.
Let me compare that with my experiences in track and field as a 32year old female ambitious amateur with the performance of
high performance athletes. I was running then 800m in 2:30.
After a competition my lungs burned, my muscles burned, I couldn't stand anymore and become stomach ache.
But it was only the average speed of a female 10.000m runner who finished in 30 minutes.
And many people just do their laps in the park, enjoy the movement and nature and don't care about their pace.
That's one of my points: whataver training you can put in, if you don't have talent it won't do it. The video suggest you can do that and that, but in the end I think it may also be a question of gift... As a T&F coach for more than 20 years with pretty good caliber athletes, I can tell you that even with all the proper training, odds are low that you will ever get your 800m time under 2:00 if you are not already under 2:30 solely on pure talent. If any amount of training gets you to 2:30, what is by the way ok and not bad, there are not much chances for you to ever run under 2:10 (at least if you don't quit your job, go live in Kenya, train 15+ hours a week...) The same can be said about harmonica: you may pratice a lot, at one point your sound may just not be good as pros because they may have a natural gift. For example, have you seen Big Walter Horton's hands? How can you expect from yourself a sound like his when using your hands when he as velociraptor's ones, and you only normal hands?
❤ Go TOMLIN GO, SOUNDS REALLL GOOD ❤
Very cool information you are giving us. Thank you
Love your videos and really want to learn to play good. Newbie question. I read that a wooden comb makes a better fuller sound than the plastic /abs combs. Is this true or just preference? Thanks 😎✌️
Hi mate, love your work!. Just picked myself up my first harmonica. A special 20 in C. Could you please tell me the notes for all these cool licks you did in this video please? I absolutely suck haha and struggling to get clean notes. Just not used to using my mouth and breath like this. I can play a jaw harp easily but harmonica is on another level.
What notes is he playing. Would like 2 try them.
Tomlin, the best out there!!
You’re the best online tutor I’ve ever come across, more thanks than words can express
Thank you Tomlin for these reminders from Jan a former student of Tomlin's harmonica school
This is fantastic. So glad I'm doing your course!
Been fooling around with some Neil Young and he uses most of this stuff, except using his hands of course. 😉
Cześć Tomlin, lepiej Ci w tej fryzurze niż w Kojaku, dzięki za lekcję.
Pozdrawiam z Polski
Jeheheieienskxhbskaikaj!!!!
@@victormedley3873 Pocałujta wójta
EXCELLENT my friend. 😅
Good stuff!
First of all, you don’t sound pro you’re OK , you need to listen to Little Water, Sunny Williamson practice more
Clearly better than you'll ever be.
Vibrato is one of the biggest reasons people don’t sound pro. That and not having the harp deep into their mouth.
So true!
Good stuff. I wonder how many young players have watched videos about Larry Adler, the Harmonicats, and many, many others playing in many different musical styles. One of my favorites was Terry McMillan , RIP, protege of Chet Atkins, mostly country and gospel
Better
Wonderful skill you've got, Tom. I am struggling hard to hit bending notes. Still no progress for d last six months.
Any pro comment section guys please help me with all lick names Tomlin sir used in this video.
You got it so clear dude!!! What an amazing video to show hoiw to imrpove the sound on the harmonica. You got into the very needle of this matter! I enjoyed a lot watching this video. Thanks!!!
A lot of good stuff there Tomlin. I wish I could wave a magic wand and to be able to play like you…
One of the things that I feel make notes stronger are splits. Four hole ones all the way up on the blow notes and five hole ones on most of the draws.
One thing I would love to see though are tips on doing these with amplified harmonica. Particularly up at the top, I find it hard to keep a good mic seal, when playing splits.
Many thanks for the good tips, the sound is really improving a lot.
Tone, technique, timing, taste, lot of people go right to technique, before they have good tone.
Your wall messes with my vision
I’ve noticed that too - need to get some artwork up!
super if only i could learn this, cheers, MINT.
Thanks!
Thank you so much!
Thanks!
Thank you so much!
🎉❤
Great, simple techniques, thanks
Very explanatory Tomlin.
Ive got that stormtrooper alarm!
ขอบคุณครับ..
The key ya playing would help
Great stuff, thanks for sharing this.
Thank you for the tips
Excellent advice, as always.
Very informative. I've never been able do a vibrato despite decades of playing. 😔
This harmonica lesson will show you how to get started playing vibrato on the harmonica - ua-cam.com/video/2z835GrOxho/v-deo.html
Thanks Tomlin 🍻
As usual, excellent
Awesome, baby!
im sorry to this about this i would say it is the mike and also the backing like your coment on that regards joe
Don’t be sorry. That’s a great comment. Microphones etc definitely have an impact on tone BUT the majority comes from the mouth shape, breathing and hands
Excellent tutorial, Very COOL !