What's New!

Joe's latest harmonica lesson is up. In this lesson we review bending again and pulls for the song "Gary's Blues."

Checking in Between Lessons 11 and 12
Catching Up & Study Song Context
Pull Review & Solo Harmonica Study 2 - Ex. 2.1
"Gary's Blues" Chorus 1, Part 1
"Gary's Blues" Chorus 1, Part 2
Bending Study 2 - "Feelin' for the Blues" Chorus 1 and Bending Review

We have a new section of the website called SHARE. Share your original recordings (no copywritten material please) with the BluesHarmonica.com community! Tell us about the creative process you used for your composition and any details that will help us to appreciate it more. The BluesHarmonica.com community will comment on your composition.

To get this started I just posted a song recording of a song I wrote for the San Francisco Blues Festival.

Mark Hummel's newest submission is up. In this submission Rusty Zinn speaks of how a guitarist approaches the accompanying of a harp player.
Submission #7 - Part 1 - How a guitarist should back a harp player
Submission #7 - Part 2 - How a guitarist should back a harp player
Submission #7 - Part 3 - How a guitarist should back a harp player
Submission #7 - Part 4 - How a guitarist should back a harp player, Playing Example

Quick PC Recording for Song Submissions at BluesHarmonica.com
A key element of education at BluesHarmonica.com is the study songs I have written for you. When completing your study send me a recording of you playing to the provided jam track on the site. For Mac users there's a lesson on how to use GarageBand. For our PC users here's a quick lesson on how to use Music Creator and Audacity, two inexpensive programs (Audacity is free) for the PC.

Born in Los Angeles on Sonny Terry's birthday (October 24), Tom began playing guitar at the age of eleven and took up harmonica two years later. A teenage member of the Yerba Buena Blues Band in the mid-1960's, he played Love-Ins and Sunset Strip nightclubs before leaving the country for most of the '70s. In 1978 he came back to the U.S. and teamed up with guitarist Kenny Sultan - a partnership that still flourishes today and has resulted in eight duo CDs and literally thousands of concerts and festivals all over the world. continue reading...

Submission #4 - Part 1 - Behind the Scenes at the Harmonica Masterclass Workshop: Andy Just
Submission #4 - Part 2 - Behind the Scenes at the Harmonica Masterclass Workshop: Mics & Amps
Submission #4 - Part 3 - Behind the Scenes at the Harmonica Masterclass Workshop: Kinya Pollard
Submission #4 - Part 4 - Behind the Scenes at the Harmonica Masterclass Workshop: Dennis Gruenling #1
Submission #4 - Part 5 - Behind the Scenes at the Harmonica Masterclass Workshop: Dennis Gruenling #2 continue reading...

Checking in Between Lessons 10 and 11
Catching Up
Pull Review
Solo Harmonica Study 2 - Ex. 2.1
Solo Harmonica Study 2 - Ex. 2.2
Bending Study 2 - "Feelin' for the Blues" Chorus 1 and Bending Review

Gary Smith is one of the great classic blues harmonica stylists in the San Francisco Bay Area. In this Artist Study we dig into his great harmonica instrumental "Minor Mambo." This study is for advanced skill level players. You'll need a C Harmonica for this study.

In this video lesson you'll learn all of the common ways to open songs, use breaks within a song and end songs. Whether you're following a bandleader's instructions or giving them yourself, you'll have the tools to be confident when working with others. Thanks to student Richard Gilman for joining us in this lesson!

In this submission Mark talks about accoustic playing and how to play in the duo setting.