Rhythms of the Breath Vol. 1 by Howard Levy

Thanks for sharing this recording, @slim. I had never heard it! GREAT STUFF! I received the book on Friday, and opened the package after a 3 hour harmonica gig (Two 1.5 hour sets with a 20 minute break! Whew! :sweat_smile:)

By the time I ate some food and watched a TV show with my wife it past 1:30 in the morning when she went to bed. I was like, “I’ve gotta just read a few pages of this book before bed.” Well I read the first 25 pages, and then find myself down in the studio trying things out.

I’m having a blast with it. @Slim I think you’d enjoy it immensely. It’s trippy for intermediate and advanced players who’ve been training themselves their whole lives to switch from blowing first on the first 6 holes going up, to drawing first on holes 7-10.

This book comes along and is like, we’re just can do breathing patterns - not playing scales or arpeggios - let the notes be what they may.

It’s crazy how hard it was for me to blow-draw-blow-draw on each hole 1-10 and back down. And then draw-blow-draw-blow do the same thing. So hard to “un-train” myself to switch at hole 7, lol!

Howard claims this book is for all experience levels. That may be true for a few beginners who are very motivated to practice things with a deep understanding of the concept of delayed gratification.

But I don’t think his metronome markings are realistic for beginners. He’s saying you should be able to do the above exercise, written as 16th notes, so one click per hole (blow-draw-blow-draw) at 90 BPM as a “moderate” tempo and then work up to 120. I’ll be interested to see if any true beginners can hack that. My guess is it’d be better to start at 60 BPM and work up to 90.

Here try it for yourself at 90 and 70 and LMK whatcha think:

I think it’s pretty typical for virtuoso’s like Howard to overestimate what a beginner is capable of. That’s why it’s better to learn from less accomplished players like yours truly. :wink::joy: Just kidding. I love Howard Levy. I’m so grateful he exists, and I’m very grateful and inspired by this book…

I’ll be sharing a lot more about it over time as my experience with it grows. Thanks again to @RollyJoe for the heads up on it! :raised_hands:t3:

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