Blues Harmonica Lessons
Welcome to my series of free blues harmonica lessons, this is something I’ve been meaning to do for quite some time and I hope it will help all you budding harp players I know are out there!
The blues harp is a unique kind of instrument going by many names: diatonic harmonica, mouth-organ, gob-iron, Mississippi saxophone. It has a very direct connection to the player and is a bit like a second voice meaning every player tends to have subtle differences in sound and style. The other curious thing about blues harp is that the harmonica its self wasn’t originally designed to be played in the blues style – it was originally designed to be played quite melodically and set up for playing chords, many of the techniques that make that neat blues harp sound were probably stumbled upon accidentally!
I first picked up a harp because I wanted an instrument to take with me on my travels around the world, such a small and portable instrument, it has deceived many folks in to thinking there’s nothing much to it. Truth is there’s a whole world going on though these ten holes, oddly enough it was the humble harmonica that lead me to the blues and into the world of music.
Anyway, I’d like to share some of my ideas about playing harmonica, hope you find it usefull and enjoy.
Thanks a lot, Will!
I’m just starting to play, so I need all the help I can get :). Good luck with everything!
Cheers Paul, glad to help. Will 🙂
Thanks for these lessons, man.
Wow man this site is perfect! I’m just starting out with a harp and I can see, as a seasoned guitar player, that this site covers everything…the only thing I can think that is missing is how to pose while I’m playing the blues harp 😉
hi man. plz give some tips for buy a good harp. i love harp and want to buy a good one and start to follow ur lessons.. plz help me. thanks. (sorry, i’m not native English, sorry for bad english!)
Hi Al, a Hohner special 20 in C would be a good harp to start on. Have a look here for more discussion: http://www.harmonicablues.willtang.co.uk/introduction/types-of-blues-harp/
Cheers, Will.
hi, do you have the tabs for your solo slow blues blue mercy
Hi Ron, sorry I haven’t had time to tab out my solos yet, not a bad idea to try to play by ear anyway 🙂 Cheers, Will.
Hi Will, simply the best, easy to understand blues harp websites I have found. I’ve been blowing and messing around with harps for a long while now but you have helped me fill in lots of gaps. Thank you so much 🙂 Denis
Great stuff! Thanks v much for the feedback Denis. All the best, Will.