Hi all... I hope this post finds y'all having a great weekend. We're building a grandparents house next to the house I'm living in. The house under construction has all the walls up & concrete floors. And I couldn't help but notice the acoustics in there are fantastic! (grin))) So, I spent a good portion of the day yesterday practicing my harmonica over there, letting the sounds bounce off the walls and back at me. (giggle)))

Generally my favorite places to practice my harp playing is in my garden or out in the woods on my property. Where does everybody else enjoy practicing their harmonica?

~always Maria.

I usually practice in my room or just when I'm walking outside. A few times I've played at the park which is always fun.

Whenever and wherever I can.

I don't go many places without a harp in my pocket. I'll even practice driving down the road.

I play while I wait for my brother when I pick him up.

I practice while waiting for traffic lights to change.

Today on my lunch break I practiced in the football stadium. It was fun.

oh man Rufus, I bet that playing in a stadium was fun...

Lately, I've had a cold with congestion, but I think I'm finally gettin' over it, for I was able to get in a little harmonica practicing this morning. I played in the snow to the Steller Blue Jays. lol

~always Maria.

What songs do you practice? How many different songs can you play?

I practice with a variety of gospel tunes and a few other songs that I really like &/or figured out by ear. As far as how many songs I can play, well, I've lost count.

The biggest thing I've been working on recently is improvisation, and that has been an interesting trek for me. While I have a very rudimentary knowledge of music theory, I'm not very good with creating riffs on the fly. Also, I tend to be no good at tongue slapping and chugging, so rythm playing is currently not an option. I'm sure practice will take care of that as well, but it's a ways down the road, that's for sure.

You are one of the people who has contributed a lot to this site. I appreciate that because it has helped me alot.

I am no good at tongue blocking, is that what you mean by tongue slapping, or is it a whole different technique?

I do mostly straight harp, single note blows and draws, and THINK that I can now bend. I simply seem to sound better. My wife says that I have improved.

Tongue slapping is a way of adding rythm to your playing. It's an advanced use of tongue blocking. Part of why I have such difficulty with it is because I can't really do tongue blocking all that well in the first place. I use the U method, which technically uses the tongue to block off holes on the harp, but not in the same way.

What is your favorite song to play- and what key do you play it in- AND which harp is your favorite to play it on?

Lets go at these one at a time:

Q: What is your favorite song to play?
A: That depends entirely on my mood. My top 3 in no particular order, though, are Amazing Grace, Charade, & Sweetheart Tree.

Q: What key do you play it in?
A: Whatever key sounds good. Honestly, I haven't the foggiest. I've been told the version of Amazing Grace that I have posted (which is the one I usually play) is in 12th position, so whatever key that would be on a G harp would be the answer.

Q: Which harp is your favorite to play it on?
A: That's probably the easiest one to answer. My favorite harp is my key of G Hohner Marine Band.