Today is the 10th anniversary of my first blues harmonica upload to YouTube. Here's a video in which I reflect on my own ignorance at the start and on the many surprising things that entered my life after I decided to, as the saying goes, give it all away.
Thanks Adam, for giving it all away. I tried to learn for many years in a virtual vacuum without success, only your videos really gave me the tools I needed. Good on ya!
since you asked for our story, here's mine:
I was hooked on blues harp when I heard what was to me an amazing player at a concert in the bush one night, way back in 1986. The band had finished, and it was a had been a pretty ordinary night, when the local characters occupied the stage, and a new friend of mine, Mal, pulled a harp out, cupped the mic and blew it away. The night took off after that.
I resolved to learn harp and for many years tried and tried, with no instruction, except for a couple of books which made no sense to me. I'd sit around with friends and wail away, but a very poor version of Roadhouse blues was as good as it got. I travelled a lot, and always carried a harp, I could play BoB Dylans song about the dream he had about St Augustine, but that was about it.
Fast forward to the internet age, and your tutorials. I had plenty of time on my hands and I was passionate about practicing now that I felt I could get somewhere; scales, exercises, songs with tabs, theory, concepts and the stuff beyond words.
Our town had a river boat that would take tourists up and down the river and every Sunday afternoon we'd have a Blues Cruise (which became known as a the Booze cruise), a big boat full of drunken and stoned idiots playing music, dancing and being human. What a great apprenticeship it was for me, and it helped me connect with many great people from the community.
My best mate from the cruise was a bluesman from the French riviera who had left the life of a journeyman to discover the didjeridoo in Australia. He was a bass player and was hypnotised when he first heard one. He discovered the didj, but also ended up married with kids, which put his old life on hold. When his marriage fell apart he hit rock bottom and was about to drive his motorbike head on in to a truck, when he saw the light: 'The Band!'
Long story short, at the ripe old age of fifty something I find myself the harp player of 'Howlin' Dingoes'. We don't play a lot of gigs, but when we do, my god, we have fun. We've got a long way to go, but we're not in a hurry, and the band is like a brotherhood. We're pretty fussy about where we play, but have had some great festivals (on the same bill as Kevin Borich!) and done some studio recording. The end game is an overseas tour (or two). Jimmy, our frontman always says: 'Live your dreams, don't dream your life'
I've had a lot of different passions and some great experiences, but being on stage with a tight band and an audience going wild has beef one of the best.
Being able to play, thanks again Adam, has made a huge impact on my life.
here's one of our songs on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Howlin'%20Dingoes%20bring%20it%20in ---------- Lucky Lester
Last Edited by didjcripey on Feb 22, 2017 8:31 PM
Thanks Adam for all your lessons. Like most on this site, I learned harp by your videos. I've always been a lover of music. I always wanted to play an instrument. I had all this music in me, but I couldn't seem to find a way to get it out. I picked up a cheap harp just before Christmas five or so years ago and figured out Silent Night..... from there I found your videos and was able to get the music out. I didn't know about this forum until I emailed you and you emailed me back (which shocked the hell out of me) and told me about MBH. Thanks to you for all this.
I've been following your lessons and this site since summer 2008. Aside from just getting generally better at blues harmonica, the thing I've picked up from MBH is an interest in alternate tunings.
It just so happens that my latest experiment works really well for the tune you go over in this video.
It's a seydel big six with a repeating 4 note pattern:
3b 7b 3b 7b 3b 7b 5 1 5 1 5 1
You can bend the 5 down to 5b and 4.
So the riff in your video can be played with the same pattern in two octaves.
2 -2 3 2 -2 1 2 -2 3 -3'' -3 3 -2 2 -2 or repeat two holes higher.
Thanks for all your education. All the best!
Last Edited by AW on Feb 23, 2017 4:35 PM
Congratulations Adam. I remember the first time I saw you on Youtube. You started off by saying that you liked to do a litte warm-up and you proceeded to play some riffs that blew my mind. I thought, "If that is what this guy calls a warm-up I gotta listen to what he as to say." Thanks and I hope the next few decades are just as good to you. ---------- Tom Halchak www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
Here's Ronnie's "Funky Blues Harmonica" video. This was THE one good video out there in early 2007, apart from Sonny Boy Williamson and James Cotton clips. Not an instructional video, but still good stuff.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Feb 24, 2017 8:53 PM
Thanks for all the great videos, and congratulations on the milestone. And thanks for attracting a collection of people to populate the forum with great conversations.
I actually found you first on... MySpace! It's been a long time. I may not have buckled down and taken the time to become a master like some of the people who have blown past me over the years here, but I've got to the point where I feel if there is another harp player at an open mic most of the time I can more than hold my own, and like I can play my songs well enough that I convince non-harp players I'm a rock star. (And if I can't, I'm really going to enjoy listening to them!) I owe that to this place. Thanks again!
I haven't released much in the way of video tuition, but I did launch Harmonica Academy in 2008. At the time it was the biggest online teaching site, the only real competition was harmonicalessons.com, by Dave Gage.
Much has changed since then. Adam burst on to the scene like a meteor, here we are on his forum, his YouTube channel has had around 16 million views. Dave Barrett has taken his successful (and excellent) teaching books online, at bluesharmonica.com. The incomparable Howard Levy lays it out at Artistworks.com. Ben Hewlett has good online stuff at HarmonicaWorld.net. And others besides.
In short, the sparse online harmonica space that I added to in 2008 has become a fairground. We're all better for it.
In the midst of this, Harmonica Academy chugs along very nicely, along with its Spanish and Chinese counterparts, at Armonica.com.es and Kouqin.com.cn respectively.
Noting the more crowded online harmonica scene, I sought out another uncrowded online space, and found one. The recorder. So, in 2014, I launched LearnRecorder.com. It's doing very nicely.
---------- Tony Eyers Australia www.HarmonicaAcademy.com everyone plays...
