How good of a musician you become is predicated on how much practice you do and the quality of that practice. In all likelihood, you don’t have access to a harmonica teacher (a rare breed), so it’s up to you to identify what will help you grow as a player and how to best spend your valuable practice time. In Daily Studies for Diatonic Harmonica, author David Barrett (the world’s most published author of harmonica lesson material) provides recommendations on how to set up your practice room, structure your practice time, what to work on to improve your playing, and how to prepare you for performance. The Daily Exercises portion of this book provides essential exercises for the diatonic harmonica—movement patterns, scales, tongue block technique drills, an exercise to help you memorize the chords of the 12 Bar Blues, your harmonica’s note layout, and how to choose a note to match over a given chord, at any time, in any range of the harmonica. This book and accompanying recording is an essential text for all students of the diatonic harmonica. You'll need a C Major Diatonic Harmonica for this method. Includes access to online audio.

Offering a comprehensive study of harmonica techniques and blues soloing concepts, this book contains studies and etudes on bending notes (draw and blow), throat vibrato, two-hole shakes, tongue blocking, acoustic and amplified playing, music theory, blues scales, octave substitutions, playing positions, and position substitutes. Intended for the intermediate to advanced diatonic harmonica player, this book provides extensive instruction on lead and accompaniment playing styles. the companion CD includes musical example and play-along songs. Each exercise is played and every full length song is fully accompanied by a blues band. Each large example is played once with harmonica and again with accompaniment only. This book can be used with both diatonic and chromatic harmonica, but us more recommended for the diatonic player.

Basic Blues Harmonica Method is geared toward getting you playing blues harmonica as fast as possible. The songs and exercises have been designed to get you comfortable with moving around the instrument and allow you to take fulladvantage of the great sounding patterns available on your harmonica, without first having to learn advanced techniques such as bending. The basic techniques covered are single hole embouchure, tongue block embouchure and octaves. You'll be able to achieve that bluesy feel, without bending notes, by learning how to play in 3rd position. You'll also learn single note patterns and rhythms that will help you develop your motor skills and tone. This book is packed with song examples that sound great, even at this beginning stage. The online audio download that accompanies the book contains eight jam tracks for you to play along with. These jam tracks use harmonica-friendly keys and a widevariety of tempos and grooves to fit whatever mood you're in. The instruction portion of this book/audio set teaches phrasing within the 12 bar structure. Includes access to online audio

Learn the most common scales and modes used on the major diatonic harmonica. the intention behind these extensive exercises is to develop agility and speed on the instrument. Single-note patterns are introduced without bends. After mastering these exercises the lesson then progresses to patterns with bends. If you want to optimize your performance on the harmonica, this is a must-have addition to your library! Written in standard notation with harmonica tablature.View the Harmonica Masterclass Series outline

Adam Gussow is a writer and blues harmonica player. He is associate professor of English and southern studies at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.

With photos, illustrations, and a new audio CD. The harmonica is one of the most traditional musical instruments in America. Millions are sold each year, but there are few high quality, comprehensive instructional manuals for new harmonica players. This bestselling book has been completely updated, with dozens of new songs and a professionally mastered audio CD. • Over 100 songs, both traditional and original to this book • Detailed instructions on playing, including photos to illustrate positions and techniques • Buying tips and interesting historical facts about famous players • Authors are professional musicians • The most comprehensive music lists featuring nearly every style of playing and category of song • Over 80 riffs and songs performed on the special audio CD • Comprehensive resource guides

From the author of The Changing Mind and The Organized Mind comes a New York Times bestseller that unravels the mystery of our perennial love affair with music ***** 'What do the music of Bach, Depeche Mode and John Cage fundamentally have in common?' Music is an obsession at the heart of human nature, even more fundamental to our species than language. From Mozart to the Beatles, neuroscientist, psychologist and internationally-bestselling author Daniel Levitin reveals the role of music in human evolution, shows how our musical preferences begin to form even before we are born and explains why music can offer such an emotional experience. In This Is Your Brain On Music Levitin offers nothing less than a new way to understand music, and what it can teach us about ourselves. ***** 'Music seems to have an almost wilful, evasive quality, defying simple explanation, so that the more we find out, the more there is to know . . . Daniel Levitin's book is an eloquent and poetic exploration of this paradox' Sting 'You'll never hear music in the same way again' Classic FM magazine 'Music, Levitin argues, is not a decadent modern diversion but something of fundamental importance to the history of human development' Literary Review