This is a reworking of an old post with clearer language and better examples Last semester was my first time teaching aural skills in NYU’s new popular music theory sequence. This semester will be my first time teaching a full-fledged theory class in the sequence. When I have taught music theory in the past, I …
Continue reading “The harmonica as a metaphor for pop music theory”
A commenter on the last post informed me of a remarkable fact: for most of the twentieth century, Hohner harmonicas were tuned in just intonation, not twelve-tone equal temperament. This is surprising! Just about every fixed-pitch instrument in the Western world is tuned in 12-TET unless it’s highly specialized or esoteric. The most detailed information …
For a more detailed and scholarly version of this guide with a bibliography, see my Blues Tonality treatise. See also this post on blues melodies. How do chords and scales work in the blues? Is there a “blues scale”, and if so, what notes does it include? What are blue notes? Why does it sound …
There is a fascinating moment in “When The Levee Breaks” by Led Zeppelin where Robert Plant plays a very flat ninth on the harmonica. I love this note, because there is so much music theory and history encoded within it. Listen at 0:41. Before we can get into the details of this note and what …
Continue reading “Led Zeppelin and the folkloric integrity of the blues”
This post is something new for me: an online prose score, in the spirit of Pauline Oliveros. Harmonica Meditation For unaccompanied ten-hole diatonic harmonica, in any key. Exhale completely. Put the harmonica to your mouth and take a deep breath all the way in, as slowly as you can. I recommend starting at the low …
If you want to understand the vast cultural struggle taking place in the study of Western harmony, you could do worse than to start with the harmonica. This unassuming little instrument was designed in central Europe in the 19th century to play the popular music of that time and place: waltzes, oom-pah music, and light …
Continue reading “The harmonica explains all of Western music”
This past November, I had the privilege of performing in the fourth Disquiet Junto concert of 2012 in the apexart gallery.
I started learning harmonica in high school. It was the first instrument I learned voluntarily, not counting my ineffectual middle school attempt at classical cello. As a teenager, my obsession with the Grateful Dead was at its high water mark. The Dead’s first frontman, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, was a more than respectable blues harmonica player. …
Since I’m teaching the twelve-bar blues to some guitar students, I figured I’d put the lessons in the form of a blog post. Blues is a big topic and this isn’t going to be anything like a definitive guide. Think of it more as a tasting menu. Blues is a confusing term. You probably have …
When I was younger I was obsessed with authenticity in music. I wouldn’t even play electric guitar because it felt too easy, like cheating somehow. I expended a lot of energy and attention trying to figure out what is and isn’t authentic. Now, at the age of 34, I’ve officially given up. I doubt there’s …
