AI Is My Jaw Harp Teacher
I use AI every day to enhance my creativity
And note that I said enhance — not do the work.
There’s a lot of ballyhoo and hand-wringing around “AI is replacing artists and creativity.” Some of that is justified.
But remember how quickly the AI-generated action figures trend got old? And how the response was a wave of hand-drawn ones?
Humans will win.
The tech bros are never going to invent anything that makes the drudgery of childcare or cleaning easier.
But we can use the creativity they’ve embedded in their AIs to strengthen our own creative muscles.
Why I'm Learning the Jaw Harp
I’m learning to play the jaw harp — a deliberately low-tech, human, analogue choice.
I already sit in front of a screen for at least 40 hours a week, because my kids need shoes and bills need paying.
So when it’s my own time, you’re damn right I’m going to spend it unplugged.
A quick Google search revealed exactly zero jaw harp teachers in my area. (Manchester, North West England — a musical city, but jaw harp isn’t really our vibe.)
Which brought me to this realisation:
AI can be a teacher where there are no teachers.
How I Use ChatGPT as a Music Teacher
I have a paid ChatGPT subscription. (You can try with the free version, but you'll quickly hit limits.)
One thing to know: ChatGPT doesn’t analyse audio — it responds to videos.
So I filmed myself playing the jaw harp, uploaded the video, and prompted:
Review my jaw harp playing:What's good?What should I stop doing?What should I start doing?
Present your response as a bullet list.
It responded with feedback like:
- Strong rhythmic control
- Good articulation
- Confident attack
…and also notes like: - Relying too much on jaw movement
- Repetitive phrasing
- Over-striking sometimes
It then suggested starting to:
- Explore mouth shapes for overtones
- Play with dynamics
- Add syncopation
(And yes, it immediately asked if I wanted a detailed breakdown with timestamps. I said no. I understood the notes — and I was impatient to get practising.)
Progress, Feedback, and a Few Annoyances
After some time practising, I uploaded a new video with a simple prompt:
How about now?
ChatGPT responded with more detailed feedback:
- Cleaner tone
- Better phrasing variety
- More dynamic expression
It also pointed out a few new things to refine — breathing sounds, spacing between phrases — and gave suggestions to improve overtone isolation and tempo shifts.
Quick note:
ChatGPT tends to always end with a question (“Want another exercise?”).
Personally, I find this a bit annoying.
Often, I just want to absorb the feedback, not get dragged into something new.
(So I reply with a simple no, or a clear instruction.)
Building a Practice Routine
Instead of asking for more exercises, I asked:
Give me one exercise that builds on your notes.
It delivered a surprisingly good drill:
- Silent overtone shaping
- Slow strikes with vowel-shaped mouth movements
- Phrasing with intentional pauses
I worked on that for a while, then sent another video.
Prompt:
Like this?
Feedback came back:
- Clear vowel shape transitions
- Good pacing and overtone separation
- Minor refinements around breath management and pause timing
It also threw in a bonus tip — humming while shaping mouth positions — which was actually useful.
A Few Important Truths About AI "Teachers"
- ChatGPT doesn’t “listen” to your playing.
It parses your video file, but it doesn’t hear or judge the way a human would. - It’s probably not trained on much jaw harp data.
Still, it draws on enough musical knowledge to give solid general advice. - Don’t anthropomorphise it.
ChatGPT doesn’t “think”, “watch”, or “understand”.
It generates plausible responses based on patterns.
But here’s the thing:
Even with those limits, this is incredibly valuable to me.
Without a local teacher, I’m still getting actionable feedback. I’m improving. I’m having fun. And I’m doing it on my own terms, not at a class I have to commute to after a long day.
Closing Thought
In the end, it’s not AI making the music.
It’s me.
Here’s where I’m at (recorded on my phone, not amazing quality)
(And if you’re in Manchester and you’ve been thinking, “If only we had a jaw harp player to jam with…” — get in touch. I also play harmonica. Keep It Country, y’all.)
