Lesson Five: My Romance

Welcome back! In this lesson, we're going to revisit the same tune as we did in Lesson Four: My Romance.

Focus of the Lesson

The primary goal of this lesson is to demonstrate the emotional content I can achieve through:

• Draw bends
• Blow bends at the top of the harmonica

To me, this emotional expression is what makes half valving truly effective. It's part of the Gazelle Method, and it creates a distinctive style characterized by the emotional shading derived from half valving.

Listening Exercise

First, listen to My Romance as I would normally play it.

• Check this out: this is our piano intro.
• Follow along on your PDF and compare it with my previous version.

Emotional Content

You'll notice all the extra emotional nuances, especially on the five blow note. Although I'm not executing a full half-step bend on the six or seven draw bends, the emotional content is still there.

Vibrato Technique

This brings me to a good point about vibrato. For the style of music I am most comfortable with, American standards, American Songbook standards, jazz standards, and swing music, I use a jaw vibrato.

• This technique fits the genre much better.
• It's achieved by moving my lower jaw back and forth.

Think of it as mimicking what a saxophonist might do when playing a reed to create vibrato in a ballad.

Practice

This technique may take some practice. Here's how to start:

1. Without the harmonica, watch my jaw movement.
2. The key to effective vibrato is consistency; it should sound even and steady.

I've found that matching the tempo of the song enhances the vibrato effect.

"Keep your vibrato in time with the song."

Rounding Out Our Sound

As we refine our overall sound, remember that we should focus on:

• Good valved bends
• Conventional bending
• Clean single notes
• Regular notes that are in tune (what I refer to as a neutral position)

Key Notes to Avoid

The most crucial aspect is the five draw note. If we hit that note too hard, it will flat and sound sour. However, when played in a neutral position, it can fit melodically without sounding out of tune.

Tuning Insights

In this day and age, we have access to different tunings:

• Equal temperament
• Compromise tuning
• Just tuning (the traditional option that often resulted in flaws)

Years ago, this was particularly challenging due to the flat notes of certain chords.

Conclusion

I hope you see that the ornamentation and emotional shading in all the notes contribute significantly to this style. The use of half valving really ties everything together.

Thanks for paying attention, and we'll be back with the next lesson shortly!