[Joanna Funk]

Hi, I am really enjoying all the recordings here.

After reading the forums, I played this without a mouthpiece. I hope to learn to use my lungs better and also how to play vibrato. I’d like to sound like I’m playing just to you.

it-never-entered-my-mind-on-melodica.mp3

Thank you, this is such a great community.
Joanna

[Daren]

Sounds lovely Joanna, very sensitive playing

[Joanna Funk]

Thanks Daren, I’m going to look through the forums for posts about breath control/technique. It’s all been so useful, views on mouthpieces, cleaning instruments, TQ.

[Melodica-Me]

Sounds great Joanna, keep them coming.
Melodica-Me

[Joanna Funk]

Thanks MM, really appreciate the encouragement.

[Alan Brinton]

So nice! It does feel like you are playing just for us. Intimately. No need for anything between you and that Hammond.

I have worked on breath control and lung capacity, but the fact is that these are improved pretty quickly just by playing the melodica.

[Joanna Funk]

Hi Alan. It’s good to know that, just by playing, we get better! Haha.

I play piano, but melodica is the chance to concentrate on the single voice and make it really beautiful. I heard Mario Duenas play My Funny Valentine and thought: that’s it. That’s what I want to strive for.

Thanks Alan. It’s awesome to have melodica conversations. Joanna

[Joanna Funk]

Hey Alan, do you practise vibrato? If so, have you posted anything and can I see the link? I definitely want guidance on that.

I’ve read that you can use diaphragm, throat or tongue. Would love to read some practical advice on that, especially diaphragm, as that’s probably the way I’d want to go.

[Alan Brinton]

I’m not the best person to address the question of vibrato, Joanna. This Mario Duenas recording of My Funny Valentine is a favorite here. I don’t have a clear understanding of what vibrato is. If the question is whether I practice trying to get the kind of effect Mario produces in this recording, the answer is Yes, and I am somewhat successful. I find that I’m best able to work on technique by copying what I hear rather than by trying to follow instructions. I’m quite sure that creating vibrato (a vibration) is not a matter of making repeated muscle movements, as nobody has that kind of muscle control.

The most meaningful explanations for melodica players are likely to come from professional woodwind players, I think. As for imitation, I have spent a lot of time trying to produce effects that I hear in the playing of some of our members, for example Lowboy Bootay, Quetscher, and Bruno. But others as well. I’m doing this by ear. I love this video, by the way, but the vibrato is just a bit too pronounced for my taste.

[Melodica-Me]

I come form the school of “You can never have to much vibrato” But thats just me lol. Mario is primarily a piano player but studied and learned saxophone for phrasing and improvisation. Personally I believe that you must play the Melodica as a wind instrument and phase like a vocalist and not like a piano. Mario is an awesome player and has recorded as special guest with the Monsters of Melodica on our last two World Sessions releases. If you want to learn Melodica Jazz phasing, Mario is definitely someone to whom you should listen. By the way he is also playing piano on “My Funny Valentine” as well. I am a friend and a fan of his music. 🙂
Melodica-Me

[Joanna Funk]

MM, you might as well have said: oh Bill Evans was my best friend. This is THE world to be in! The melodica world! ?

[Author]

Posts