Gig

Ok so last night was back to the pub for a gig! Great fun and especially brilliant as my darling wife was able to come. I got a nice compliment from the man who at the last gig said he couldn't hear me. It turned out that this time he could and he loved it!

The slight disappointment of the night was that my overdrive pedal broke. I plugged the battery in and there was no life at all in the thing. So consequently, the Harp Shield was no use whatsoever! I plugged it in anyway just to get some use out of it (although I guess, in actual fact, I was really just draining the battery).

Anyway, I've decided to use my birthday money on a Zoom G3 module. It's for guitar but according to the harp site I read, it can be used for harmonicas too. I'm excited at what it may do. I am not going to get the overdrive pedal fixed since this module should be able to do all that and plenty more besides. I am unsure whether the Harp Shield will still be required, I think it will, but we'll see.

On the practice front I've been trying some of Lee Sankey's exercises for improving 3 draw bends and working the major scale in 1st position all the way from 1 to 10 blow. I try to practise on different harps (usually A and F) to get used to how the technique needs to slightly change according to the pitch of the instrument.

Lastly I am going to try and work on We Wish you a Merry Christmas in 1st position (Start 2 draw). The lower octave needs both a 3 draw whole step bend and a 2 draw whole step bend. The upper octave (start 6 blow) is taking me ages to get my head round!

2 nights 2 gigs

Really good fun and am enjoying playing miked up a bit more. It is a case of experience breeds confidence. The only thing now is that I would like to be able to hear myself more (but that's something which every member of the band says.)

Anyway, tired but happy.

No two the same!

Played at the fair yesterday. Arrived late. Played about 4 songs. Great fun. I played cupping a mike to the harmonica and I think I'm getting used to it a little more.

Latest project is to try and get a bit more of the Jason Ricci slow blues learnt. It is funny to play it on the various harmonicas. Some are loads easier to pitch the flattened third then down to the major second, others I find really odd. I think the flat 3 is too flat and the second gets off even more and the whole thing is awful. Worth working on.