What Did You Miss This Week? (Wee 561 #607)

Nine.

Joe timed peoples' exhale capability last week and observes that just about everyone can exhale for at least nine seconds. This means, we should all be equally capable of nine seconds of inhale...which is where blues horsepower resides. Nine seconds will get you through two bars of modest tempo tunes and you should be able to play phrases that long with strength, not wimping out and trailing off at the end. You should not be FULL of air and desperate at the end of a two-bar phrase. So if you are, you're not

• efficiently dumping air, or...
• you're not efficiently using the air you have because you're allowing air to come in through your nose, or
• you're breathing in some even before you start your phrase. 

Probably all three! So practice breathe control; do some long inhale/exhale exercises to find your bottom and become more controlled in the flow of air. Play Taps and stretch the hold notes out as long as you can.

You need to be proactively working on and thinking about your breathing. Joe suggests this is analagous to a chess player needing to think ahead. Your playing needs this too.

Class Notes

• Thanks to all who've registered for this session!

Mike Ledbetter Tribute Shows
The Nick Moss Band is organizing two benefit shows in Chicagoland for Mike Ledbetter. Mark your calendars and don't miss them - they promise to have some heavy-hitter harp players on them (ahem, Rick Estrin, Jason Ricci)

April 14 at Buddy Guy's Legends
April 15 Danny's On Douglas, Elgin

- Grant Kessler, B1 Blues Crew