New Max De Aloe Method for Chromatic Harmonica Book

[Danny G]

https://www.shermusic.com/1883217717.php?fbclid=IwAR0p5cYdLfR9Igta7_JlLlXuEwyG5zxWUC2GwsGhoZaCCjzBkGkppAwTbyY

[beads]

I've been working through this book for 3 months. At first, I was disappointed when I didn't recognize any of the music. I had hoped to learn some popular tunes. Most of the compositions are originals by Max. This has turned out to be for the best. Instead of "cheating" by playing things I could already hum, I had to read the scores, count the time, and then play along with the backing tracks while listening to the chord changes. Doing this brings new skills that are useful when playing the music I want to play. Max is a genius! I have progressed more in 3 months with this book than in 3 years of just figuring out tunes I already knew. This method forced me out of my comfort zone and gave some structure to my practice time.

[Danny G]

I saw the ad for it and thought it was a new version so I posted the link. I've never read it but that sounds like a pretty good recommendation

[BeauKim]

That’s a lot of great reviews he has for this book.  I wonder if it’s also a bit better organized than the first one (red cover) which I have.

[Paulc]

I have the earlier edition and find it challenging to say the least. The exercises that make you use all 3 octaves up and down especially so but they do teach you to recognise where you are and where you need to be in terms of position on each octave.

[harp_unstrung]

Looks and sounds quite rigorous - lots of good tunes and techniques - a lot of heavy hitters endorse this book, too - definitely on my list!

[harp_unstrung]

I clicked the 'download tracks' button thinking I was going to get the 2 examples and got all 57 example tracks - guess I have to buy the book now ... ;-)

[AlEx]

The book is actually quite good. I have started learning with it 4 years ago, left it aside for some times, came back to it, and so on... I have the older version, and the new one in PDF (but I eventually never use the pdf one, I like working with the paper version much more).

It's quite challenging, and really requires time and commitment to it. When I work with it, my progress can be very slow but once I have (more or less) mastered a piece, I find it really rewarding. I often find the pieces are not very musical at first, until everything clicks in and I manage to put together the whole thing.

I am currently working on "Bb blues" and can play the "May" song, which means I still haven't reached half of the book  . Guess I'll live another few years in the shed !

[Caraiy]

I like this book, but it gets harder a bit too quickly after a nice progressive first few chapters.  I am also at Bb blues, but cannot seem to crack it - I don't know what this is meant to sound like, and there is no recording on the CD.  Also, most of the tunes he has written himself are unknown to me and have quite a complicated rhythm (I'm rubbish at rhythm), and most are not on the CD.  Maybe it is challenging to learn unknown tunes, but am finding I give up as no idea what they are meant to sound like, or I need to find YouTube performances so I can 'get' the tune.  Wish he had chosen better known tunes, and made the progression more linear, but I will still come back to it from time to time as there aren't any other good books out there it seems for chromatic. 

[Laina]

I like this book, but it gets harder a bit too quickly after a nice progressive first few chapters.  I am also at Bb blues, but cannot seem to crack it - I don't know what this is meant to sound like, and there is no recording on the CD.  Also, most of the tunes he has written himself are unknown to me and have quite a complicated rhythm (I'm rubbish at rhythm), and most are not on the CD.  Maybe it is challenging to learn unknown tunes, but am finding I give up as no idea what they are meant to sound like, or I need to find YouTube performances so I can 'get' the tune.  Wish he had chosen better known tunes, and made the progression more linear, but I will still come back to it from time to time as there aren't any other good books out there it seems for chromatic.

You may find the BLOW series by Alberto Varaldo useful - imv it's well constructed and nicely laid out. All the melodies are both played and have separate backing tracks to play along with.  Available in downloadable pdf and mp3 formats and a range of different levels.
https://blow-albertovaraldo.bandcamp.com/

[Justin K]

You may find the BLOW series by Alberto Varaldo useful - imv it's well constructed and nicely laid out. All the melodies are both played and have separate backing tracks to play along with. 

I was not aware of this. Will check this out, thanks.

[Caraiy]

Thanks Laina, hadn't come across this either.  Looks interesting and you can listen to the tracks before buying the pdf, so you can gauge level.  thanks for posting.

[Vale]

You may find the BLOW series by Alberto Varaldo useful
https://blow-albertovaraldo.bandcamp.com/

Thank you Laina! It seems very interesting. I did not know Alberto and his method.
I actually found out he is from the same city where I was born.

[Ivan]

 I assume that Blow comes with written music or tabs ?

Ivan

[Laina]

I assume that Blow comes with written music or tabs ?

Ivan

Yes, all the material comes with music notation, with the occasional hole recommendation of which to C or F to use. The Instructions module includes a guide to reading notation.

[John M G]

If there's anyone in Australia looking for a copy contact me