Harp courses

John Gindick: blues harmonica for the musically hopeless

September 1995 I started playing the diatonic harmonica. My son had an F harp, which he never used and sometimes I took the harp and tried to get some decent sound out of it. One of my neighbours saw me play and told me he had a course on tape somewhere which he never used. He gave it to me. It was John Gindick's course: blues harmonica for the musically hopeless. I bought a C harp and started practicing. It was very easy. What I liked especially was John's explanation about notes that 'fit' the music and notes that don't, comparing the music with a river. Tension is, so he tells, resolved by notes going back into the flow of the river. Very helpful is the fact that all the riffs he teaches have names. For instance the 1D-2B-2D riff is called the 'good morning' riff. The riff: 2D-3D-4B-4D-5B-6B is called 'the six-blow up' and 6B-5D-4D-4B-3D-2D the 'six-blow down'. These names are very helpful in learning. The course progresses very slowly, which was exactly what I needed at the time. The embouchure: pucker. Level of the course: absolute beginner.

Don Baker's (blues harmonica) video course

Alas: I forgot the name of the course. The embouchure is exclusively pucker. The video comes with a booklet with about 25 eight to sixteen bar (mostly twelve bar) harpsolos, written by the author, with 'note' and 'tab' notation. On the video, every solo is played twice by Don Baker, first time alone, second time accompanied by a band. Before playing Don explains the specific difficulty of each song. The course begins with a couple of straight harp pieces: oh Suzanna, oh when the saints, etc. But very soon crossharp comes into the picture. The whole course centers on the very important technique of bending (draw) notes. The first note to bend is 6D, followed by 5D and further down to 1D. Much attention is given to the one and two semi-note bends of 3D and 2D. There's even a song, only using hole 3 (D, Db, Dbb and B): the 'one hole harp solo'. In the first (slow) songs only one note is bent, but as the course progresses more notes per song are bent and it all becomes more difficult. Another important feature he teaches are (fast) triplets. There are fast and slow blues songs on the video. The solo I like most is called: 'early morning blues'. Before playing this song he tells about bars with 'smokey atmospheres', to create an emotional background for the solo. I have learned very much from this course. I like it! I wonder why I never read something about it. Level of the course: beginner to intermediate.

Jerry Portnoy's blues harmonica masterclass

This is the most expensive course I own, but also the most complete: almost every technique I heard of is treated by Portnoy. The course comes on three CD's and a book. The book, as Portnoy states, is 'merely an adjunct', 'everything you need is on the CD's'. This does not mean the book is not worth reading!
The course starts with rhythm playing, because, as the author says, the harmonica is first of all a chord instrument. This idea never came up to me before. For me this concept led to a completely different way of thinking about the (diatonic) harmonica and to a much better understanding and still greater appreciation of the harp music I used to listen to. This was a real guide into the world of harmonica blues! Next topic treated is tongue blocking. Another eye-opener for me. Like I said before, I always thought that tongue blocking was advised to persons who couldn't make a tiny hole with their lips to pucker. So, I was a beginner again. It took almost half a year to master rhythm playing and tongue blocking (including tongue slap) enough to incorporate it into my playing with other musicians. Of course Portnoy also points to the importance of breathing from the diaphragm an keeping 'your entire breathing apparatus open, for greater power, a stronger attack and deeper tone'. Much attention is given to bending draw- and blownotes. The following special effects are treated: octaves, (throat) vibrato, warbles, flutters, growls, barking, kiss pops, rips and glisses, hand effects, diaphragm attack, double and triple tonguing and tongue switching. Most of the techniques mentioned are treated in other courses, but I never saw (except on harp-l, but that's no course) something before about tongue switching. I am practicing this technique for about a month now, feeling a beginner for the third time. Much attention is given to shaping notes, which is very important to create a good sound and give feeling to the music. In the book a few words are said about mics, amps and playing with a band. Jerry has something to say about positions as well. When he plays in a certain position, it is very good of course, but it's better to too look elsewhere for proper information about this topic. There are no riffs in the course, neither in the book nor on the CD's. Portnoy's advise is to listen very good to the thousands of riffs that have been played already. Every technique in the course is explained well by Portnoy and the exercises are played slow at first and then gradually faster. Some exercises (for instance bending) are also demonstrated without harp, for better understanding what has te be done to achieve the technique. On the last CD are nine musical tracks, each played twice. The first time Portnoy plays, accompanied by Duke Robillard (guitar). The second time it's only Robillard who plays, so that the student can play along. There are tracks in first, second and third position (all A-harp). Summarising: Portnoy's course is the best and most comprehensive I ever saw. It treats almost every technique in an understandable and stimulating way. Level: beginner to advanced. Absolutely worth the money!

Steve Bakers interactive Blues Harp workshop

This course comes on CD-rom, without a book. All information is on the multi-media CD-rom. There is no spoken text on the CD-rom, but lots of written text. The first part of the CD-rom (Theory 1 and 2) gives information about the harp (different brands and types are shown) and how to play it. The lay-out of a harp is shown. Techniques like bending, pucker, tonque blocking etc. are illustrated with tabs and with audio files in an understandable way. Steve plays the examples very well, as might be expected. Even the easy licks are played with feeling. In the second part exercises are presented, from easy to more demanding. The third part consists of playbacks to jam along with. The student can choose in which key the jams will be played, but this option doesn't work with my copy: everything is in C. There is also information about other (then the standard Richter) tunings (country, natural minor) and the 'circle of fifth' on the CD-rom and about tuning and gapping reeds. Very clear and informative is the passage about breathing: a good player doesn't blow or suck the harmonica, but breathes through the harp, while the air collumn in mouth and throat form a resonance chamber. It's absolutely essential, Baker says, 'to adopt a mouth and throat form which is as large and open as possible'. As in most courses, the twelve bar blues progression is treated. There is (much) more music theory then in Portnoy's course. Five positions are treated. A technique not covered in Portnoy's course is the overblow technique. Steve Baker treats this technique in an understandable way. Like in Portnoy's course, all kinds of effects: tremolo, hand effects, etc., etc. are shown and played. Unlike Portnoy, Steve Baker has blues licks in his workshop: on tab and on sound files. The licks are from easy to intermediate and sound real bluesy. Information about (types of) microphones and (Fender) amps is also a part of this course. Summarising: The interactive workshops contains information about almost every aspect of the harp and shows many techniques, illustrated with pictures and sounds. What I do not like is the multimedia approach. I don't want to sit behind my computer to learn to play harp. But if someone has no problem with that: it's a good course (if everything works well). Level: beginning to intermediate.

Adam Gussow's ‘You Tube’ and ‘Modern blues harmonica’ lessons

Since about the beginning of 2007 there are new, excellent harp lessons on the internet, from nobody less then Adam Gussow, the harmonica player of Satan and Adam. To You Tube at this very moment, Adam has uploaded 80 video lessons, plus a dozen other videos of Satan and Adam, and there’s still more to come. That’s already about 15 hours of harmonica lessons, by an absolute expert. And the lessons are FREE. Adam is very clear in what his goals are, so here, in his own words, taken from You Tube: “This channel features an ongoing series of free-form lessons in the subtleties of contemporary blues harmonica. Beginners will learn useful things here, but most of my conversation is oriented towards intermediate and advanced players who have learned some or most of the basic techniques but KNOW they are missing something. It's that ‘something’ that I'm going to explore here. I'll also use this channel to share footage of Sterling ‘Mister Satan’ Magee, Nat Riddles, and the other mentors and players from whom I've learned and with whom I've shared stages”.

On his website, ‘Modern Blues Harmonica’, Adam sells lessons: 13-15 minute video tutorials for $5 each. These lessons cover a broader range of difficulty in the sense, that there are more beginner oriented lessons as compared to his You Tube lessons. Besides videos, it’s also possible to buy tabs. And the price is no reason not to purchase these lessons, because, especially taking the quality into the account, they are a real bargain! In my opinion, these lessons, both on You Tube and on Modern Blues Harmonica, are a must for everyone who wants to become a real blues player.

The You Tube lessons can be found by clicking here and Adams Modern Blues harmonica Website is here.

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