Great work Štěpán! The main thing I think you need to work on is getting the bends to sound more gentle and natural. I suggest two exercises: 1. First, practise each bend on its own, playing it as quietly as you can. "Whisper" the bend, try to make it as quiet as humanly possible. This will help you to play it much gently and naturally. 2. Next, play the piece of music very very slowly, much slower than natural, and really pay attention to the bend and how it sounds compared with the other notes. Only try playing the piece at full speed once you have done some serious work on these things.

Great idea Fred, I'll definitely consider it for a lesson 😎

Nice idea Fred! Lots to get through if I'm gonna teach them all - I've released four albums in the last 9 months - two with the jug band, one with my blues band, and one with Mark Cole! You can check out the albums at https://www.greenbulletrecords.com/store

Hi Manda, An update for you: I've been informed that all problems with the progress not recording across the site should be rectified now. Can you clear your caches and cookies and refresh the browser (e.g. close it down and open it again)? This should reset to the rectified version and then your progress will be retained. Thanks again for letting me know about the issue and for your patience whilst it got fixed. Best wishes, Liam

Hi Greg, Sorry to hear that you were having the same issue. I've been informed that all problems across the site should be rectified now. You'll only be able to see the rectified version if you clear your caches and cookies and if you refresh the browser (e.g. close it down and open it again) so can you try that for me please? Thanks for your patience with this. Best wishes, Liam

Hi Ben, My tech guy has informed me that the progress recording problems should all be rectified now. Can you delete caches/cookies, refresh the browser and try for me? Let me know if you have any further issues. Best wishes,

Hi Ben, I am sorry to hear this and thank you for bringing it to my attention. Don't worry - it's not you. I have contacted my tech guy and he informs me that a recent update by my website provider has caused the problem. He is looking into this for me as an urgent matter. Thank you for your patience while we get it fixed and I'll be back in touch with updates asap. Cheers, Liam

Hi Manda, I am sorry to hear this. Thank you for clearing all your cookies and caches etc before contacting me. I have contacted my tech guy and he informs me that a recent update by my website provider has caused the problem. He is looking into this for me as an urgent matter. Thank you for your patience while I get it fixed and I'll be back in touch with updates asap. Cheers, Liam

Hi Fintan, This is a great question. I never really play in 10th or 11th so it's hard for me to answer... and perhaps it's a matter of interpretation anyway. But neither 10th or 11th will sound especially stable because - although they are not far from the "home key" - the tonic note will be a bend. Unless you're Howard Levy or one of his followers, who can make any position sound natural! 5th pos does indeed give you the relative minor to the 2nd major. So if you play the major scale in 2nd position (G major on C harp) but focus on 2 blow as your tonic (E note on C harp), it suddenly sounds minor. Pretty cool! So - in a sense - playing the minor scale 5th has the same "feel" as playing the major scale in 2nd... but it will still feel different because although you're using the same holes and bends etc, the notes' relationship to the scale has changed, and that's a big thing. How would you characterise 1st, 2nd and 3rd position from your experience of playing them?

Good spot Fintan, I probably instinctively put the bends on the 6 draw. I try to stop myself in a teaching context but I don't always manage it! 🤣 In terms of the timing, you're right that some of the phrases start on the upbeat (halfway between the beats). You'll hear that in the original song too. Good ears!

Hi Jerzy, thanks for the post. It's a fair question and I understand your request for direction. So, to explain a little... Basically I created the blues for beginner and intermediate courses as a broad introduction to playing blues harmonica. As you've seen, the beginner course starts with the absolute basics and moves on to playing some solos etc. The intermediate course carries on from this with more complex solos incorporating more advanced techniques like bending, textures etc. Both these courses are designed to get you playing solos, whatever your ability. They don't go deep. As you know, I've also created some specialist courses (improv, grooves, structure) to delve deeper into what I consider really important topics. These courses exist for those who don't just want to play a few solos, but want to really get to the crux of what makes great blues harp playing. If I tried to cover all of these things in depth in one single course, it would be a huge course which might be overwhelming and confusing (although I accept the same can be true of having several courses to choose from; there is no perfect solution). So, basically, the easiest thing for you is move on to the intermediate course to get some more full solos under your belt, and then consider the specialist courses afterwards. There is naturally some crossover so you will find that you're getting a refresher on some things which is never a bad thing, but you'll go into more depth and hopefully come out of them with a richer, broader understanding of what's needed to play great blues harp. Of course, you are welcome to dip in and out of as many courses as you like - and some of my students do just that - but it sounds like your learning style may suit a more focused, linear approach. I know this doesn't fully answer your question but I hope it helps you to answer it yourself! Cheers. Liam

Very good point Doug and great idea for a lesson. Breath control is so massively important - it mostly happened instinctively over time but I agree than a video on this topic would be useful. One to add to my list!

Thanks Michael, I'm glad you've found it helpful!

That's great Sue, enjoy!

Hi Mike, I've seen lots of arguments over the years about those first few notes - is it a 2 draw or a 3 blow, or maybe even neither?! I probably find it easier to play the 2 draw because I don't have to change my breath direction, but do what works for you. I think it's great to consider these things but we'll never know for certain what he did. And yes, work on this very slowly before speeding up. It is more difficult than he makes it sound on the record. As you say, he was so young and an incredible, orginaly, talent. Cheers, Liam

Hi Mike, yes you're hearing this right. A waltz is in 3/4 (sometimes simply called "waltz time" because the time signature is so closely related to the waltz). This means each measure contains 3 beats, and the first is accented so you ge that "ONE-two-three-ONE-two-three" feel. I can't comment on the YouTube backing track without hearing it but it does seem strange that it would be counted in on four.

Great idea Fred, I love Kim's playing! Hopefully doing an interview with him at some point as well 😎

I think these "mistakes" (if we can call them that) happen all the time, and it's funny to think that as listeners we might get obsessed with replicating another player's goof! Mistakes are beautiful, embrance them and make them part of your style.

Sounds like a great idea! Using your ears is the best way to learn, it replaces the visual with aural which is the most important part of any musician's experience. Still with the Piano app, it'll make a huge difference.

Yep, that's one of my favourite things about the song - it's a song about a non-existent song! (Or at least, a song which is lost to histoy, or actually has a different name.) Incidentally, my old trio The Rumblestrutters once wrote a song about a non-existent dance craze from the 1920s!