What's New!

Richard Sleigh has 35 years experience playing the harmonica, including studio work for films, TV shows, radio, as well as performing with a wide variety of acts from Bo Diddley to the Bridgeton Symphony Orchestra. Richard is respected as one of the world’s top harmonica customizers, working in the Filisko guild of customization. Richard has developed tools for working on harmonicas (covered in our Harp Tech lessons) as well as written one of the best books on the subject. This interview was conducted in Norfolk, Virginia in August of 2011. continue reading...

Andy Just is one of the great rockin' blues harmonica players in the San Francisco Bay Area. We have a full interview with Andy at bluesharmonica.com, so make sure to check that out. In this Artist Study we dig into "Misery," a great shuffle in the key of A that really showcases his rockin'-fast style. This study is for advanced skill level players. You'll need a D Harmonica for this study. continue reading...

I have rerecorded one of the first video lessons released on the site... Blues Harmonica Fundamentals. I recommend you check out the section on Practice Habits. Lessons include: How Long to Practice, What to Practice, What to Have in your Practice Room, and How To Practice - How to Learn Songs Lick-by-Lick

Gary Smith and I speak about the challenges of playing to the Tramp Groove. In this video we cover the history, rhythmic variations that can be used for improvising and we play a whole bunch. Gary also shares some fun stories, one having to do with Junior Wells' tongue in Gary's mouth!

It’s time to place what you’ve been learning at BluesHarmonica.com into context! The three winners will have the opportunity to perform with Mark Hummel’s band Saturday, Jan 28th at the legendary Yoshi’s Nightclub in Oakland, California. The audience will judge the three performances, with the overall winner given the opportunity to perform in the grand finale with Charlie Musselwhite, Billy Boy Arnold, Sugar Ray Norcia, Curtis Salgado, Mark Hummel and David Barrett!

Rules continue reading...

Click on the LATEST NEWS link (above and to the left) to hear what Charlie Musselwhite, Billy Boy Arnold, Sugar Ray Norcia, Curtis Salgado and Mark Hummel have to do with the latest original blues harmonica instrumental songwriting contest at BluesHarmonica.com, King of the Swing!

In this submission Mark Hummel speaks about about his thought process behind choosing different positions to match the feel or key of a song.

It was wonderful to meet and work with all of you! Visit http://www.facebook.com/bluesharmonica for a picture of the BluesHarmonica.com crew at dinner for Steve Baker's Harmonica Masters Workshop

Students that have been on the site for a long time may have noticed higher video quality in the releases over the last three months. We've been using a new video codec that makes the file size a little bit larger, but is of higher quality. This new codec is also what is needed to make the site viewable by portable media devices (such as an iPod or iPad). All of the past videos are now reincoded and on the site. I suspect you'll find videos now and again that are incorrectly labeled... please let me know if you find any errors. continue reading...

I'm off to Steve Baker's Harmonica Masters Workshop. See you all when I return... I'll login when I can and say hello...