Long Distance Call - Telelesson With Jon Gindick

I signed up for the October Jam Camp in Irvine, Ca. last week. Part of the package is a 30 minute phone lesson with Master Teacher Jon Gindick. I had mine yesterday at roughly 1600. By 1601 I realized that I was totally unprepared. Which in hindsight I should have expected. The nature of being a student is to be more or less unprepared all of the time. I thought we'd spend a significant part of the time chewing the fat. Hohner or Lee Oskar? Little or Big Walter? Is John Popper a harp genius or just a guy who plays scales at supersonic speed? Is Karl Rove the devil or just a really smart guy with flexible morals?

I was ready to tackle those issues in some depth but Jon, after a brief salutation, played a note and said, "alright, play that". That's pretty much the way it went for next half an hour. Jon playing a riff and me trying to keep up. I was impressed that Jon could tell immediately what I was doing wrong. I guess that's why he's in charge. We spent a majority of the time on the 2 draw, which Jon said was not "a tool" that I could use properly. Yet!

He told me that I was trying to manipulate the reed with my lips instead of my throat. This made my bends a little anemic. I needed to open my mouth, relax my jaw and insert the harp to a degree that showed I meant business. Once in position I was to articulate Keee & Kooo sounds respectively. Keee gives you the unbent 2, Kooo alters the flow of air and bends it down. When you do this with a sense of resolve, using your throat and not your lips, it sounds pretty fat. Not quite Paul Butterfield fat, but the first time I got it right it shocked me. I didn't know my little C harp could do that.

By the time we finished I was sweating freely and my tonsils were sore. Which brings up an interesting question. Do tonsils help or hinder the process? I'm going to ask Jon. I'm not above getting elective surgery if there is some discernible sonic benefit.

PS Today I was able to get a nice thick 2 draw bend almost at will. Whatever Jon's teaching, it works. Can't wait for October.