David Barrett interview

David Barrett joins me on episode 118.
David is based in San Jose, California, where he took   lessons from Gary Smith from age 16, in addition to learning from great harmonica recordings. He started teaching harmonica himself from age 18 and has become one of the foremost harmonica educators around, with his BluesHarmonica.com website an invaluable resource. He ran the School of Blues for twenty years and has written over seventy instructional books, DVDs and CDs.
David has four albums to his name, including two albums where he has collaborated with other harmonica players. These albums showcase his dedication to playing blues harmonica, where he has crafted harmonica parts from his lifelong study and love of the art form.

Links:

Website:
https://www.bluesharmonica.com/

School of Blues:
https://www.schooloftheblues.com/

Hohner profile page:
https://www.hohner.de/en/david-barrett

David's tuition books:
https://www.melbay.com/AdvancedSearch/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=david+barrett

Videos:

David's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@bluesharmonicateacher


Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com

Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB

Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ

Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com  or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS
--------------------------------
The Harmonica Company. Use promo code: 'happyhour7'.
Email Jonathan at: sales@theharmonicacompany.com
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Blue Moon Harmonicas: https://bluemoonharmonicas.com

Chapters

• 1:27 David is from San Jose, California, and is part of the great West coast harmonica scene
• 1:51 Started playing harmonica age 14 and harmonica recordings remain his greatest influences
• 2:08 Saw Gary Smith perform at a blues festival at age 16 and ‘begged’ him for lessons
• 3:14 Gary Smith didn’t teach much harmonica before teaching David
• 3:51 David recorded the lessons with Gary and believes it’s important to record any lessons you have
• 4:21 Played some trumpet and saxophone in the school band before taking up harmonica
• 4:47 Initially learnt from Phil Duncan’s harmonica tuition book published by Mel Bay
• 4:57 Crossroads movie soundtrack was a big inspiration
• 6:11 David’s teaching is very rigorous compared to his main way of learning by playing along with records
• 7:23 As student progresses tries to write less down and teach more by ear
• 8:45 In his early days probably gave too much information as a teacher as wanted to provide good value
• 9:13 Important for students to give themselves time to absorb the material
• 9:49 Teaches study songs and how he crafts instrumentals and solos
• 10:42 Transcriptions has always been an important part of his own learning and teaching
• 11:45 After having written so many tutorial books BluesHarmonica.com website changed his approach of teaching
• 11:59 Learning songs is often the most fruitful way for a student to learn, and so David focused writing songs to teach
• 12:55 Most difficult thing about learning harmonica is the learning curve when moving from simple songs to blues
• 14:32 Took a long time to record first album, although had recorded a lot of tuition material
• 14:46 Songwriting skills were what David could offer in the album
• 14:52 Doesn’t sing
• 15:32 First album was Serious Fun from 2003
• 16:18 Starts writing a blues song with the groove, also a hook or a head and then soloing
• 17:25 Started teaching age 18, and his teaching career grew organically from there
• 18:20 Had decided he wanted to be a performer and did everything he could in that direction
• 19:14 Turned his written teachings into his first harmonica book: Building Harmonica Technique, published by Mel Bay
• 21:08 This was probably the first focused harmonica tutorial book focused on blues
• 21:14 Steve Baker’s Harp Handbook was probably the first serious harmonica tutorial book, but wasn’t focused just on blues
• 21:37 Focused on blues tuition from the beginning as that is David’s true love
• 22:32 Focuses on traditional blues harmonica, and not modern approaches to playing blues
• 22:49 Ran the School of Blues for twenty years which gave local musicians a chance to play with a band and form their own
• 24:26 Once a month would do a harp night for the School of Blues students where they would play in front of other people in a low pressure situation
• 26:42 Released an album with the School of Blues All Star Band, which used to educate students
• 28:56 The History of the Blues Harmonica concert, with Joe Filisko, Kinya Pollard and Dennis Gruenling, released as an album in 2009
• 29:33 Deliberately kept the songs on this album true to the source as part of the educational aspect
• 31:57 Fourth album: It Takes Three, with Gary Smith and Aki Kumar
• 32:33 Gary Smith has been doing multi-harmonica player albums for years
• 33:13 Added Aki Kumar, who was a students of David
• 33:25 Wrote horn style parts for the harmonica for the album
• 34:13 Grammy nominated from appearance on a John Lee Hooker Junior album
• 35:06 John Lee Hooker Jnr plays more complex blues arrangements, which David was qualified to play over due to his knowledge
• 36:59 Has taught at workshops for a long time, running the first one in 1994, which was a big success
• 38:13 Workshops aren’t so popular now due to YouTube and other online resources, but still does Trossingen Harmonica Masterclass
• 39:03 David has done video interviews of around 50 harmonica players, available on Blues Harmonica dot com, which David sees as a great legacy of harmonica knowledge
• 41:10 First interview was with Gary Primach, who died a month later
• 42:36 Ten minute question
• 44:27 Plays Hohner Marine Bands customised by Joe Filisko
• 45:08 Why Joe’s custom harmonicas are so good include the ability to play them softly and greater dynamic range
• 46:47 Doesn’t play different tunings, although has used them in the past
• 47:43 Plays in 1st, 2nd and 3rd and is working hard at improving his 1st position
• 49:02 Embouchre: big advocate of tongue blocking for Chicago blues style, but uses some puckering when called upon
• 51:01 One advantage of puckering is the speed of articulation
• 51:29 Plays blues chromatic, although doesn’t spend lots of time on it
• 52:46 Amps of choice include a Fender Bassman, Masco ME18 amps for medium sized gigs
• 53:51 Mics: likes the older CR black label elements. Also recommends the Husky Red Devil mic to his students
• 54:41 Effects: uses some delay, with the Dan Electro Echo pedal
• 55:06 Future plans: continuing doing lots of transcribing and lots of teaching and performance groups
• 56:14 Can’t share transcriptions due to copyright
• 58:14 Has a black belt in Taekwondo