a quick-start guide (with TWO FREE LESSONS just below)
If you're a complete novice and you've ended up at this site, welcome! Nobody is ever too young, or too old, to pick up a harmonica and learn to play a little blues. ALL of us, whoever we are, fell at one point into the "raw beginner" category, as my friend Jon Gindick calls it. We had absolutely no idea what we were doing. We just KNEW that we were called to cup a harmonica to our face and express ourselves. We had that sad, crazy, wild, playful, hopeless, euphoric.....THING inside us. That blues feeling.
If you are that slightly crazed seeker, or merely a curious bystander who loves the sound of a harmonica and has always wanted to do this: welcome! We're happy to have you aboard.
This website, despite all its riches, can't substitute for a flesh-and-blood teacher--somebody who listens to you play and offers feedback, guides your development in a hands-on way, etc. But my videos, tabs, jam tracks, and music can take you surprisingly far, if you're willing to put in the work. And the priorities I set--including the techniques and idiomatic styles I introduce through my lessons and the list of Top-20 players I point you towards--can save you valuable time. (I'm an internationally-known blues performer and a widely-respected teacher with more than 20 years of experience ministering to players of all levels, including hundreds of beginners just like you. Not many blues harp instructors can make both claims.)
LEARN HARMONICA HERE? YES YOU CAN!
Just below, you'll find a number of useful resources that can quickly send you on your way.
FIRST, if you need a harmonica, please visit my "HARMONICAS for sale" page. The reference standard for beginning players is an instrument in the key of C:
SECOND, if you haven't already watched these two videos on YouTube, please take 20 minutes and watch them here. They're an excellent example of what I mean by setting priorities. I quickly sketch the basics, as I see them, for any novice player hoping to make a serious investigation of blues harmonica:
FREE INTRODUCTION TO BLUES HARMONICA:
FREE INTRODUCTION TO BLUES HARMONICA, cont'd
THIRD, think about purchasing my BEGINNERS SPECIAL, a collection of four key videos for beginners, with tabs thrown in for free. They're all available HERE, in the form of one easy-to-download zip file:
FOURTH, if you'd like to start a little more modestly by purchasing a single lesson, you might want to pick up one of the following videos and/or tabs for raw beginners. EVERY VIDEO requires no more than one harmonica in the key of C:
"Oh Susanna": a classic American folk song, adapted for harp.
"Bending the 4 Draw": For most beginners, the 4 draw bend is easiest--and therefore the first that I've always introduced to my students. This video offers a wealth of tips, metaphors, and suggestions to get you bending and bending well.
"Counting and Playing Your Way Through a 12-Bar Blues": an extra-long (45+ minutes) and extra-important lesson for beginning players. In response to popular demand, I've done my best to demystify the 12-bar blues format and help you navigate your way through a foundational experience. This lesson contains one video and two FREE tab sheets!
FIFTH, you'll need some jam tracks so you can take the licks and grooves I teach you and begin to put them into action. I offer two sets of jam tracks, one featuring a solo guitarist and one featuring a whole band in a music-minus-one format. You can find them HERE:
