Call and response began this week with a focus on the throat tremolo, and then turned to a dive into the elusive difference tone.
When you play a note like the four draw and let in a little of the five draw, you get lowdown blues, of course, but what else is going on there? When you combine just the right small amount of that "dirt" of the upper note with your melody note, you hear a third tone rumbling underneath both. This acoustic phenomenon is called a "difference tone". When you nail it, especially amplified, you effectively "enshroud the melody note with a smoky fuzz of dirt and difference tone".
Joe also points out that adjusting your embouchure can amplify and enhance that difference tone...or squash it if you have your mouth tone wrong. So spend some quality time listening for this and adjusting your mouth tone to get the best difference tone you can. Then play through your amp and hear that deep, bluesy rumble!
Class Notes
- Harmonica Hoedown 2020 tickets now available! The show is Feb 18 at Martyr's featuring Joe Filisko & Friends, James Conway, Bob Kessler & Graham Nelson Trio, and the Lucky Ducks.
- Joe's away next Monday - Grant is covering his group classes.
- Grant Kessler, B1 Blues Crew
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