How to Play Rock Harp

Rock and roll grew out of the blues, and rock harmonica playing should grow out of blues techniques. Learn all you can from the great blues masters, but keep your ears open to other sounds. The lead electric guitar is the main solo instrument in rock, so borrow anything you can from your favorite lead guitarists. Most of all, have fun with it! If you don't feel the music in your soul, the crowd won't feel it in theirs.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Harmonica
• Mic
• Amp
• CD player
• CDs
• MP3 player
• MP3s

1. Listen to the classics of blues harmonica. You can learn a lot from everyone, including early country blues players. The great Chicago players are especially important, because they developed the style of amplified blues harp. Rock and blues are close enough that you can "borrow" blues licks from the greats for your rock band.

2. Listen to guitarists. No matter what style of rock you are playing, get inspiration from lead guitarists who play in that style. The harmonica is a lead instrument. What works for lead guitar will often work for lead harp as well.

3. Start when the singer stops. Playing all the time will drown out everything else. Play in the breaks in between vocals.

4. Master the wail. A long, bent draw note with some vibrato can be used to add suspense, start a solo or just give you some time to figure out what to play. It also sounds cool, and is one of the easiest techniques to learn.

5. Play a lot of 2-hole shake. Pick two adjacent draw notes on the lower half of your harmonica, such as the 3 and 4 draw. Shake your head back and forth to move quickly between them. Add a little bend to get a fatter, bluesier sound.

6. Move your shakes around. For example, you can switch between the 2 and 3 draw and the 3 and 4 draw. This adds complexity to your solo without greatly increasing the difficulty.

7. Use simple, repetitive solo lines. Take a short, 2-bar solo and repeat it a few times. This technique is called vamping. It builds tension, and it sounds great in rock music.

Tips & Warnings

• Combine the above techniques to come up with great solos. For example, you can start with a wail on 2 draw, move into a 2-hole shake between the 2 and 3 draw, then repeat the whole thing as a vamp.
• See practices as an opportunity to experiment. You can gain confidence and try new things without risking blowing a solo at a show.
• Don't feel the need to make a part complicated unless you want to. The biggest strength of the harmonica is its ability to sound good playing simple things.

Resources

• Legends of Blues Harmonica