What's New!

I'm off the S.P.A.H. (www.spah.org), see you there if you're going!

Early this morning I heard the very sad news that our harp mic expert, Fritz Hasenpusch, passed away yesterday from a heart attack while hiking in Oahu, Hawaii. I've worked with Fritz for about fifteen years and everything he touched was golden. He was a super-friendly and helpful person to all that he met and was a good friend... he will be missed.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/19200806/man-dies-while-hiking-stairw...

Join me for our fifth lesson on Music Theory for the Blues Harmonica Player, where we explore Soloing Scales… scales specifically designed to be playable over all chords in the 12 Bar Blues, guaranty a specific feel when adhered to (Major for the Major Pentatonic Scale and Bluesy/Minor for the Blues Scale), and lay extremely well on the entire range of the harmonica. continue reading...

Congratulations to the following submissions for being judged as the top three entries!

- "Jumba Rumba" by Steve Molitor from St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.
- "Chilean Rhumba" by Erwin Lost from Santiago, Chile
- "It "beta" be a rhumba !" by Ben from the Netherlands continue reading...

David Waldman, in his own words…
“I grew up in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. I started playing harp when I was around 13 or 14. I moved to Chicago in 1976. The first person to hire me for a gig here was Louis Myers. His band didn’t show up at one of his club dates and I happened to be in the audience, so he hired me to help him out on harp. Starting in 1980, I played for long periods in the bands of both Taildragger (replacing Big Leon Brooks) and Big Smokey Smothers. My colleagues in Big Smokey’s band were Steve Cushing and Illinois Slim. We called ourselves the Ice Cream Men. continue reading...

In this lesson Ryan continues his studies on improvising, theory studies and starts the chromatic harmonica lessons on the site.

CHECKING IN - Between Lessons #8 and #9
Lesson 9 - Prep for Student Concert and Memorizing the Harmonica
Lesson 9 - Improvising: Chorus Form Review, Part 1
Lesson 9 - Improvising: Chorus Form Review, Part 2 (Sequences)
Lesson 9 - Improvising: Transformations, Part 1
Lesson 9 - Improvising: Transformations, Part 2
Lesson 9 - Improvising: Transformations, Part 3
Lesson 9 - Improvising: Original Instrumental Assignment
Lesson 9 - Theory, Study 1: Section 2 continue reading...

I recorded and uploaded me playing the folk songs presented in the Repertoire Builder 1.5 lesson.

I just loaded quick charts for the music theory lesson

The entry phase of the Rhumba King is now over... the judging will begin soon. Take a listen at http://www.bluesharmonica.com/rhumba-king and give them your comments and wish them luck!

Join me for our fourth lesson on Music Theory for the Blues Harmonica Player, where we explore melodic development… how chords and scales work together to create great solos. In this lesson you’ll learn about chord tones, scale tones, outside tones, active tones, non-active tones, passing tones, upper and lower neighbor tones, appoggiatura, the hierarchy of note selection, chord scales, sequences and chord-tone soloing. This lesson is for intermediate skill level players. You'll need a C Harmonica for this study. continue reading...