How to Play the Blues on the Harmonica

Blues is the most popular musical style played on the harmonica, as well as the most effective. Before trying it, you should know the basic harmonica technique described in "How to Get Started on the Diatonic Harmonica," under Related eHows. You also need a 10-hole diatonic harmonica.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Harmonicas
• The Blues World Of Little Walter CD
• His Best: Sonny Boy Williamson CD CD
• The Paul Butterfield Blues Band CD
• Ace Of Harps: Charlie Musselwhite CD

Getting a Feel for the Blues

1. Listen to as many blues recordings as possible.

2. Pay attention to the chord changes and try to anticipate them.

3. Try to single out the different instruments.

4. Clap your hands and tap your feet to the rhythm of the songs.

5. Count 1-2-3-4 to find the 4/4 rhythm common in blues.

6. Emphasize the 2 and the 4 (shuffle rhythm), which is 1 and the2 and the3 and the4 and the ... rather than straight 1-2-3-4. (See "How to Play the Blues on the Guitar," under Related eHows.)

Bending the Blues

7. Draw on hole 4 of your harmonica, breathing deeply; avoid sucking. (For breathing technique, see "How to Play the Harmonica," under Related eHows.)

8. Say the vowel "e" ("yeeee...") while drawing.

9. Change your mouth and tongue position to say the vowel "u" ("eyuuu..."). This should lower the pitch of your tone.

10. Go back between "e" and "u."

11. Note how the pitch changes while you're playing. This is called "bending" notes, a technique essential for playing the blues.

12. Try bending on holes 5 and 3 of your instrument.

13. Try it on all 10 holes and note the differences in how difficult they are to bend.

14. Close both hands around the harmonica while still drawing.

15. Open the right hand and note the "waaah" sound - another nice bluesy effect.

16. Practice opening and closing your hand to create the effect.

17. Try the bending technique while blowing - rather than drawing - on different holes. Note how much more difficult it is to create the effect.

18. Draw on the second hole of your harmonica. On a harmonica in the key of G major, that would be the C note, the first note of your five-note scale.

19. Draw on the third hole, bending the note down a halftone; this would be Eb, the second note on the scale.

20. Blow on the fourth hole (F), the third note.

21. Draw on the fourth hole (G), the fourth note.

22. Draw on the fifth hole (Bb), the fifth note.

23. Blow on the sixth hole, the octave of the first note. You've just played the notes predominant in blues music, which would be C-Eb-F-G-Bb-C' in the key of C.

24. Practice the blues scale up and down until you can hit all of the notes clearly.

25. Note that the harmonica you're playing is in the key of G, while the scale (or the song you're playing on that harmonica) is in the key of C. This is called "crossed position" as opposed to "straight" harmonica, where the harmonica you use is in the same key as the song (C).

26. Practice bending notes on holes 4 and 5. These are the bends most frequently used in blues.

The Blues Progression

27. On your G harmonica, play the C-major chord (draw on holes 2-3) counting 1-2-3-4 four times (four bar measures).

28. Play the F-major chord (blow on holes 4-5) two times.

29. Play the C-major chord again two times.

30. Play the G7 chord (draw on holes 4-5) one time.

31. Play the F-major chord one time.

32. Play the C-major chord two times. You've now played the 12-bar chord progression typical for blues: C/C/C/C F/F C/C G7/F C/C.

33. Practice this progression, playing along with different blues recordings using harmonicas in different keys.

34. Put all the elements together: the shuffle rhythm, the bending, and the 4/4, 12-bar chord progression. Presto - you've learned the basics of blues harp playing.

35. Start tapping your feet, put your harmonica to your mouth and go.

Tips & Warnings

• Though blues songs may be played in different keys, the progression will remain the same. Practice in different keys.

[Dogboy]

on 10/10/2007 Drawing on the 2nd hole on a G harmonica gives you a D note (Step 12). Drawing on the 3rd hole of a G harmonica gives you an F# note. Bending it down a half step (if you can even do it) gives you an F note (Step 13). Blowing on the 4th hole of a G harmonica gives you a G note (Step 14). Drawing on the 4th hole of a G harmonica gives you an A note, (Step 15). Drawing on the 5th hole of a G harmonica gives you a C note, (Step 16). Blowing on the 6th hole of a G harmonica gives you a D note, (Step 17).
The information in Step 19 is wrong. When you are playing a scale or a song in the key of G on a harmonica in the key of C, THAT is called "cross-harping" or "2nd position". Use a harmonica that is 4 half-steps up the musical scale from the key of the song. A lot of (if not most) blues players use that technique.
Check out Sonny Boy Williamson, Sonny Terry, and Charlie McCoy.

on 1/16/2006 Jimmy Reed: A great blues harmonica player. I just picked up his greatest hits and it's brilliant!!

on 11/22/2005 Listen to the greats! Some personal favorites: Sonny Boy Williamson II, Sonny Terry, Junior Wells, Little Walter, Big Walter, Sugar Blue, James Cotton, James Harman, William Clarke.

on 11/22/2005 For info on the harmonica, go to http://www.garply.com/harp-l/archives to search for anything you are interested in that has to do with the harmonica. If you have searched for harmonicas on the Internet already, chances are you have found it before.

on 11/22/2005 Klutz Press's "Harmonica for the Musically Hopeless" by Jon Gindick is a MUST if you truly want to learn well and quickly. I have gone through that book and another by the same author and now play in a band because of it.