Started playing when I was 8 years old...still playing today. Listening to these different levels in this video made me think & remember my own musical journey with the harp. Using the levels shown in this vid, I was likely an intermediate + around 16...definitely bending notes by then. After that...there was a decent length of time where I seemed to be “stuck” or in a “rut”...always reverting back to the same blows & bends, same melodies etc. In my opinion, the best thing an intermediate player can do to get to that next level is play with others. Playing with others pushed me to play as good as those I was playing with & learn. Playing to backing tracks is also a great way to advance in all of these techniques. Hop on UA-cam, look up say...”blues backing tracks in A.” Then grab a D harp & play...you’re also learning to play cross harp, so if the key of the song is in (C) I’ve always counted in my head three up so C...D, E, F...F would be the harp for a song in C. First letter is key of song being played. Second letter is the key for the harp A=D (D harp) B=E (E harp) C=F (F harp) D=G (G harp) E=A (A harp) F=B B harp) G=C (C harp)...this is for diatonic cross harp aka fancy way of saying your typical 10 hole harmonica being played 3 notes above the song. This does not account for minors aka Bb etc...but it’s a good place to start. As you progress, your confidence will too. *Pro tip: There is a HUGE difference between confidence and ego. Always, always, always...be humble...in everything you do including playing music, remember it is a team sport. So no matter what your skill level is, leave the ego at the door. Side note...I’ve seen really talented harp players get ousted from the music scene because they were not humble, nobody wanted to deal with them. So, it is important. At the same time, be confident. If you truly love playing the harp, it’ll show in your music. One last thing & to me, from my experiences this is a big one & I cannot stress enough...as you progress to playing with others, think of the music in it’s entirety as a “cake”. A cake can have many layers...think of each instrument as a layer...the harmonica is but one layer. Remember this...and remember it well...don’t “over play” when not in a solo. In basic terms, think of the harmonica as the icing on the cake, too much & it’s just too much, to little and it’s too thin a cake, respect all the other instruments and be that “icing on the cake”...a little here, a little there...then you get your solo, step back into the fold and let the music take over. It’s important to remember that many other musicians first thoughts when they hear that a harmonica wants to join them is usually “oh great, why now???” When I say don’t over play, I mean...know when to stop playing, don’t keep playing over other people, which is a common mistake with many harpists. When I was apprenticing & playing the Austin/Texas music scene I learned this one credo...”less is more!” I’m sure the content creator for this really cool UA-cam site would agree?! I hope lol... To the content creator, thank you for your work in spreading the joy music...and harmonica! Be well...Ian
Very useful video. As you said, individual trajectories follow roughly a pattern, but are pretty unique to the player. I like your style, and I like your teaching style. I'm a teacher myself, and I understand how content needs to satisfy the whole class, but each student individually. It's hard to balance, and you do it well. I will definitely purchase your study songs. I find that, unlike classical music study songs where you read the score and play it because notation is standard, with harmonica songs, that's not enough, especially for the highly textured ones. And then the video or an extremely detailed text are essential. It's hard enough to listen 235 times to 7 seconds of Sonny Terry's recording to try to guess whatever he is doing with his mouth to create that particular texture. Doing that for a modern recording, which is an interpretation of that standard (we don't know what Big Walter Horton was doing *exactly* in each version of a given song, so it's the teacher's version of that), is much harder. Video and/or text matter. So, thank you for that.
Very true! I love the textural variety of the harmonica, it's one of its biggest strengths and also one of the fun challenges when working out what someone else is playing. I think I'd have to listen to Sonny Terry even more than 235 times to work out what he's doing!
Wow!! This was super helpful!! I was never really sure where I was at in my playing. After watching your video, I determined I’m at the intermediate level. Although I still struggle with making the bends in tune and my improvising is not good. I loved this video!! Thank you for posting!!!!👍👍👍😁
I was fortunate to hear Big Walter, Cotton, many others in Chicago. Been playing 40 years, always learning something new. Sure....I'm advanced but....where can I get your t-shirt?
Nice Video! I had been thinking about creating a video with this topic (assesment of level). I would have done it in german though since I'm teaching in Switzerland!
A harmonica lesson in German would help me with my harmonica playing as well as my German comprehension. However, I guess you would be speaking in Swiss Deutsch
Ayy, I came out as intermediate.🥳 Thanks for the video.😀 Maybe you could do a lesson on how to beatbox with harmonica next. I've been trying to learn that, and it's hard to find good tutorials.
Fun fact i live in the city where john lennon stole the mondharmonica used in love me do. The first song i learned was love me do and i didnt know about it.
great idea for a video Liam. It sounds like there’s quite a big jump from advanced intermediate to advanced playing. Would that be a fair reflection? I thought I might have made the cut for advanced playing but I’m probably not quite there yet!
Hi Jonny, yeah I think that's a fair point. I have a pretty high bar for what I class as advanced, that's just the way I think about it though. They're only frameworks for learning 😃
I guess that would make me a level 1 advanced player. I thought I was more intermediate. Been playing 1 yr. 2 months. Practice every single day even if it's just a little. Usually an hour or 2
Thanks for watching! Start your 30 day FREE trial of my harmonica school today - www.learntheharmonica.com/members-zone-signup
Started playing when I was 8 years old...still playing today. Listening to these different levels in this video made me think & remember my own musical journey with the harp. Using the levels shown in this vid, I was likely an intermediate + around 16...definitely bending notes by then. After that...there was a decent length of time where I seemed to be “stuck” or in a “rut”...always reverting back to the same blows & bends, same melodies etc. In my opinion, the best thing an intermediate player can do to get to that next level is play with others. Playing with others pushed me to play as good as those I was playing with & learn.
Playing to backing tracks is also a great way to advance in all of these techniques. Hop on UA-cam, look up say...”blues backing tracks in A.” Then grab a D harp & play...you’re also learning to play cross harp, so if the key of the song is in (C) I’ve always counted in my head three up so C...D, E, F...F would be the harp for a song in C. First letter is key of song being played. Second letter is the key for the harp A=D (D harp) B=E (E harp) C=F (F harp) D=G (G harp) E=A (A harp) F=B B harp) G=C (C harp)...this is for diatonic cross harp aka fancy way of saying your typical 10 hole harmonica being played 3 notes above the song. This does not account for minors aka Bb etc...but it’s a good place to start.
As you progress, your confidence will too. *Pro tip: There is a HUGE difference between confidence and ego. Always, always, always...be humble...in everything you do including playing music, remember it is a team sport. So no matter what your skill level is, leave the ego at the door. Side note...I’ve seen really talented harp players get ousted from the music scene because they were not humble, nobody wanted to deal with them. So, it is important.
At the same time, be confident. If you truly love playing the harp, it’ll show in your music. One last thing & to me, from my experiences this is a big one & I cannot stress enough...as you progress to playing with others, think of the music in it’s entirety as a “cake”. A cake can have many layers...think of each instrument as a layer...the harmonica is but one layer. Remember this...and remember it well...don’t “over play” when not in a solo. In basic terms, think of the harmonica as the icing on the cake, too much & it’s just too much, to little and it’s too thin a cake, respect all the other instruments and be that “icing on the cake”...a little here, a little there...then you get your solo, step back into the fold and let the music take over. It’s important to remember that many other musicians first thoughts when they hear that a harmonica wants to join them is usually “oh great, why now???” When I say don’t over play, I mean...know when to stop playing, don’t keep playing over other people, which is a common mistake with many harpists. When I was apprenticing & playing the Austin/Texas music scene I learned this one credo...”less is more!” I’m sure the content creator for this really cool UA-cam site would agree?! I hope lol...
To the content creator, thank you for your work in spreading the joy music...and harmonica! Be well...Ian
Very useful video. As you said, individual trajectories follow roughly a pattern, but are pretty unique to the player. I like your style, and I like your teaching style. I'm a teacher myself, and I understand how content needs to satisfy the whole class, but each student individually. It's hard to balance, and you do it well. I will definitely purchase your study songs. I find that, unlike classical music study songs where you read the score and play it because notation is standard, with harmonica songs, that's not enough, especially for the highly textured ones. And then the video or an extremely detailed text are essential. It's hard enough to listen 235 times to 7 seconds of Sonny Terry's recording to try to guess whatever he is doing with his mouth to create that particular texture. Doing that for a modern recording, which is an interpretation of that standard (we don't know what Big Walter Horton was doing *exactly* in each version of a given song, so it's the teacher's version of that), is much harder. Video and/or text matter. So, thank you for that.
Very true! I love the textural variety of the harmonica, it's one of its biggest strengths and also one of the fun challenges when working out what someone else is playing. I think I'd have to listen to Sonny Terry even more than 235 times to work out what he's doing!
Wow!! This was super helpful!! I was never really sure where I was at in my playing. After watching your video, I determined I’m at the intermediate level. Although I still struggle with making the bends in tune and my improvising is not good. I loved this video!! Thank you for posting!!!!👍👍👍😁
You're very welcome Randy, I'm glad you found it helpful. All the best! 😃
Amazing grace
I was fortunate to hear Big Walter, Cotton, many others in Chicago. Been playing 40 years, always learning something new. Sure....I'm advanced but....where can I get your t-shirt?
I just searched through the comments to see if anyone had asked this! I hope we get an answer!
@@jsnd11 hi guys, you can buy them at learntheharmonica-merch-store.creator-spring.com/
Nice Video! I had been thinking about creating a video with this topic (assesment of level). I would have done it in german though since I'm teaching in Switzerland!
A harmonica lesson in German would help me with my harmonica playing as well as my German comprehension. However, I guess you would be speaking in Swiss Deutsch
Ayy, I came out as intermediate.🥳
Thanks for the video.😀
Maybe you could do a lesson on how to beatbox with harmonica next. I've been trying to learn that, and it's hard to find good tutorials.
Yeah that's a cool idea, I've heard some pretty awesome beatbox harp. Would have to do some serious practice myself first though! 🤣
😂😂
Hello Liam, great video, really really great and helpful, Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Fun fact i live in the city where john lennon stole the mondharmonica used in love me do. The first song i learned was love me do and i didnt know about it.
great idea for a video Liam. It sounds like there’s quite a big jump from advanced intermediate to advanced playing. Would that be a fair reflection? I thought I might have made the cut for advanced playing but I’m probably not quite there yet!
Hi Jonny, yeah I think that's a fair point. I have a pretty high bar for what I class as advanced, that's just the way I think about it though. They're only frameworks for learning 😃
저는 한국인 입니다.
하지만 다이아토닉 하모니카는 한국에서 마이너 합니다.
하지만 영어자막을 토대로 공부하고 있습니다.
영어 발음을 힘들어 해서 부디 자막이 있었으면 희망합니다.
항상 영상 잘 보고 있습니다.
thank you.
I can play with a backing track and solo but I can't follow a tab and play using my intuition..
How much for your beginner's Blues course Liam
Hi John, you can see current prices in the store at www.learntheharmonica.com/the-complete-beginner-course
I guess that would make me a level 1 advanced player. I thought I was more intermediate. Been playing 1 yr. 2 months. Practice every single day even if it's just a little. Usually an hour or 2
Great, so i am an advanced intermediate.
Intermediate is spot on for me besides my rhythm which unfortunately is the most important part of sounding good...
You're right, rhythm is so important and often overlooked. You'll get there, keep up the practice! 😃
Hi, I saw your website and it's not good can I create it for you I am not asking any money for this !!!! Please allow me
THANK YOU
I am beginner , help me to get your lessons.
Hi Rajendra, you can view the course at www.learntheharmonica.com/the-complete-beginner-course
I yam what I yam and that’s all that I am. - Popeye
En español por favor...
Ok. I am intermediate.🤔
If you'll excuse me, folks, I'd like to ask you a few questions, how to look for tones in a song using a harmonica
My newbies