ukers guide to blues harp
chapter2
The harp and blues music were made for each other.
Low cost, portability, and being loud enough to be heard were some of the reasons the harmonica was popular with acoustic musicians in the blues genre and in roots music in general.
as in rock music ( see ch 1) the harp was often played in the intro or during lead breaks but could be also used as part of the rhythm section so to speak. In many cases the harp player used riffs which closely emulate the horn section and particularly the sax. This was very common in the Chicago blues style.
For the beginner, listening to almost anything by the blues bros would give you a feel of that relationship, the near interchange ability of the two. As a beginner I would often try playing the harp to emulate sax or horn riffs I had heard.
some examples.. check out the horn and the harp parts..
A person could jam to sweet home Chicago and emulate the horn sect. pretty easy. you can hear the harp in the background playing rhythm.. which would sound good alone also.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlou_2lMLAc&a=GxdCwVVULXe0wjkloFeDbYmY3CjUqxC4&list=ML&playnext=1
another good example.. horns and harp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hB3eCv_FOk
more blues tunes just to get the feeling.
from one of my favourite movies… a must see if you like blues..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9M-RBgPNGM
And just cause I like these guys..
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=acoustictravellersl#p/u/125/vjzQtd6W8FI
and
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=acoustictravellersl#p/u/127/MWGIiuAHveI
all of these videos are songs that I found easy or useful when I learned to play harp.
Now that we have the video sect out of the way we can get down to getting our hands dirty
A couple of points….
Start with a decent harp.. I prefer Hohner Marine bands, Big River harps ,Special 20’s and Lee Oscar harps.. I haven’t experience with a lot of different harp makers since I live in the boonies. I would stay away from Hohner marine band harps at first. They are hard to play if you are starting out….
listen to a lot of blues music…
don’t drive yourself crazy if you cant play single notes.. it usually still sounds good if you hit multiple notes.. single notes will come with practice…
Remember.. most folk music has the harp in first pos. the harp is in the same key as the music.. think melodies or neil young. 1st pos. accents the blow notes.. Music in G, harp in G for example…
Most blues, country and rock is second position or cross harp. accents are on the draw holes. The harp is ( as alanr mentioned) 5 semitones above the key of the music. music in G, harp in C…..
have fun….
In order to get started with the harp you have to learn a riff or two.
Its easier if you understand a few points about what is going on…
first make sure the band ( or your uke as the case may be), is tuned to concert pitch. you cant tune your harp so the band has to be in tune to you
Most harp playing you hear focuses on the holes from three blow up to 6 draw .
To simplify even further you can get started learning a few riffs on only holes 3 and 4.. here’s why..
Take a song in G with the chords G (tonic) C(subdominant) D( dominant)
As a harper the only notes on the harp you need to memorize, and its not really notes it’s the holes you are memorizing is 3 blow, 4 blow and 4 draw.
If you are in second position to the music 3 blow is always the same note as the tonic chord, 4 blow is always the same note as the subdominant chord and 4 draw is always the same note as the dominant chord.
no matter the key of the music, if your harp is chosen to be in second position this relation ship applies.
so in the example above when the music is playing in a G chord if you play your key of C harp( 2nd pos) and do a 3 blow, you will be playing a G note. when the music plays a C chord , four blow gives you a C note and when the music plays a D chord four draw gives a D note.
further more you almost always start and finish with the 3 blow , consider 3 blow home base. you start there , work your way up and down the scale and keep returning to home base.
you always wail on the draw notes particularly four draw
also if you are playing your harp in the right key to the music, again in second or cross pos., almost ( some notes are stepping stones that sound better if you don’t stay on them to long) every note sounds good , no matter when or where in the piece you play it. the rule of thumb… usually you wail and build musical tension on the draw notes and resolve that tension on the blow notes.
In this little tune..
G..........................................................................................
They call me the uke man they say that my guitar is small
C ................................................. G..............................
They call me the uke man they say that my guitar is small
D........................................C......................................... G
but when you play on four strings, you don’t need six strings at a all.
You could do a simple 3 blow during or just behind the G chord , a simple 3 blow again or a four blow during or just behind the C chord ( either works) and a 4 draw ( feel free to wail J ) during the D chord before going back to returning to a 3 blow at the end.
The first riff I learned was just on 3 and 4 blow and draw..if you cant do single notes don’t worry it comes and still sounds ok if you slur.
you have heard this a million times in the blues and is a great warm up and practice riff and it goes like this….
3 blow 3 draw 4 blow 4 draw
4 draw 4 blow 3 draw 3 blow
if that works for you try the same thing but in the middle when you are playing four draw, as you do the 4 draw go up to 5 draw and back to 4 draw in the same breath..it looks like this..
3 blow 3 draw 4 blow 4 draw
4 draw 5 draw 4 draw Same breath
4 draw 4 blow 3 draw 3blow
to be continued…………
good luck