harmonica

Professor John Shirley has created "BlueDadi Harmonica Recording Software" to help BluesHarmonica.com students do quick recordings of themselves with the best harmonica tone possible. John has provided two videos for you to watch to get to know the software. Please watch these videos, read the provided PDF and spend time experimenting with everything in the program. Since John has created this on his free time and is not doing this for profit, there is no additional support for this program... have fun experimenting and seeing what you can creatively do. Thanks John!

In Ryan's latest lesson he plays the Bending Study 5 song "Half Steppin'" for my review, learns the fine points of blow bending and we finish Accompaniment Study 9, Due playing. In our next lesson we'll dig into 1st Position playing.

In Gary Smith's latest submission we start a series on understanding the blues bridge.

In Hob's latest lesson he plays the entire tongue block study song Temperature (focus on slaps) for me and I critique. I teach hob the bending technique of the dip and how to breathe through his nose as a pressure relief valve while playing the harmonica (as well as learning how to close the nose on inhale notes so that he doesn't fill up with air). He learns what the note layout is on the major diatonic harmonica and why the notes were ordered in the way they are. Finally we talk about the difference between 1st and 2nd Positions and we play common accompaniment lines in the 12 Bar Blues. continue reading...

Sometimes students change the angle of their harmonica to perform a technique, feeling that the change helps them. Resist the urge to do this, your goal is to use the same angle of attack on the harmonica pretty much all the time.

What angle do I recommend? continue reading...

Sometimes students change the angle of their harmonica to perform a technique, feeling that the change helps them. Resist the urge to do this, your goal is to use the same angle of attack on the harmonica pretty much all the time.

What angle do I recommend? continue reading...

We currently have three resources for casual reading about the harmonica...

1) Harmonicas, Harps and Heavy Breathers: The Evolution of the People's Instrument by Kim Field

2) Blues with a Feeling: The Little Walter Story by Tony Glover, Scott Dirks and Ward Gaines

3) The Encyclopedia of the Harmonica by Peter Krampert

Pete has a public Facebook page for the Encyclopedia of the Harmonica (https://www.facebook.com/groups/321140011413686) and posts daily facts about the harmonica from his "Harmonica Almanac."

We currently have three resources for casual reading about the harmonica...

1) Harmonicas, Harps and Heavy Breathers: The Evolution of the People's Instrument by Kim Field

2) Blues with a Feeling: The Little Walter Story by Tony Glover, Scott Dirks and Ward Gaines

3) The Encyclopedia of the Harmonica by Peter Krampert

Pete has a public Facebook page for the Encyclopedia of the Harmonica (https://www.facebook.com/groups/321140011413686) and posts daily facts about the harmonica from his "Harmonica Almanac."

Join Ross Garren as he wraps up our series of lessons on overbending with a final study song titled “The Stretch.” In this song you’ll use all of the techniques he's taught you http://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/bending_study_15_overbend_study_8_...

Once a player develops good bending chops on one key of harmonica their next goal is to gain proficiency on all keys of harmonica. A simple way to do this is to take a challenging bending song that you can do well on one key of harmonica (a song that preferably uses both deep and half step bends, such as the Bending Study 5 song "Half Steppin'," which has every bend represented on holes 1 through 6 of the harmonica in the first chorus!) and play it in all twelve keys. continue reading...