What's New!

Join me and a group of the most experienced harmonica-backing blues musicians on the planet for a lesson on Grooves. Our band for this lesson is Rusty Zinn (guitar), RW Grigsby (bass) and Marty Dodson (drums). In this study we cover all the common grooves played in blues: Shuffle, Double Shuffle, T-Bone Shuffle, Jimmy Reed Shuffle, Backwards Shuffle, Chicago Shuffle, Floater (Shuffle), Box (Shuffle), Lump (Shuffle), Flat Tire, Swing, Two Beat, Mojo Beat (Two Beat), Train Beat (Two Beat), Rock Beat, Funk, Tramp, Slow Blues, Rhumba, Modal, and more! continue reading...

Marl Hummel's newest submission is up. In this submission Mark covers who to find and select blues musicians to play with.

Join me for an informative interview with Bill Bucco, the diatonic harmonica service technician for Hohner Harmonicas. In this interview we cover what a normal day at the Hohner Service Center looks like, common repairs and how to care for your diatonic harmonicas.

- Getting to know Bill Bucco
- Tell us about read failure and gapping
- What causes a reed to buzz?
- What type of maintenance should we do on our diatonic harmonicas?
- What type of services does Hohner offer?
- Why are there different models of diatonic harmonica and why are their different temperaments?
- Closing

I have just updated the lesson plans for each skill level. Take a look at:

Beginning Lesson Plan
http://www.bluesharmonica.com/beginning_study_plan

Intermediate Lesson Plan
http://www.bluesharmonica.com/intermediate_study_plan

Advanced Lesson Plan
http://www.bluesharmonica.com/advanced_study_plan

All entries (16) are now in for the King/Queen of the Chug Contest. Click on the "King of the Chug" link above to listen to and make comments on each entry. Thanks to all that submitted and good luck! You'll start to see comments from our judges Joe Filisko, Tom Ball, Peter "Madcat" Ruth and I soon. Final winners to be announced December 5th.

We have five days left in the King/Queen of the Chug contest... so if you haven't submitted your song, get to work! ;-)

Now up on this site is Joe's latest lesson. We cover...

- Joe's and David's thoughts on the Rehearsal
- How to Figure out the Key of a Song
- Explanation of Positions (1st, 2nd and 3rd)
- Why David Recommend Joe to buy Hohner Blues Blaster
- Bending Review - 2 Draw Focus and Nose Leakage
- Gary's Blues - Choruses 1 & 2

In this submission Gary Smith and I cover Masking the Harp and the Procession of Notes... both great soloing tools.

Submission #7 Part 1: Masking the Harp: Holes 1-2
Submission #7 Part 2: Masking the Harp: Holes 1-3
Submission #7 Part 3: Masking the Harp: Holes 1-4 and 1-5
Submission #7 Part 4: Masking the Harp: Holes 1-6 and High End
Submission #7 Part 5: Masking the Harp: Procession of Notes

Join me for an interview with the inventor of the Tuning Table. In this video Rick shares with us the reasons for its invention and how to use this tool. Location: Equipment > Harmonicas

Good morning BluesHarmonica.com students. We're having issues with our email from the website. It looks like this has been going on for about three weeks. If you've sent an email to me through the site or submitted a song recording for my review and you haven't heard back from me, it means I did not receive it. Please resend to info@bluesharmonica.com. Thank you and sorry for the hassle.