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Published:
July 21, 2020

Blues Harmonica For Dummies

Overview

Breathe the blues into your harmonica!

Blues harmonica is the most popular and influential style of harmonica playing, and it forms the basis for playing harmonica in other styles such as rock and country. Blues Harmonica for Dummies gives you a wealth of content devoted to the blues approach—specific techniques and applications, including bending and making your notes sound richer and fuller with tongue-blocked enhancements; use of amplification to develop a blues sound; blues licks and riffs; constructing a blues harmonica solo; accompanying singers; historical development of blues styles; and important blues players and recordings.

The accompanying website features all the musical examples from the book, plus play-along exercises and songs that let you hear the sound you're striving for.

  • In-depth coverage of major blues harmonica techniques
  • Blues song forms, improvisation, and accompanying singers
  • Information on blues history and personalities

If you're intrigued by the idea of understanding and mastering the compelling (yet mysterious) art of playing blues on the harmonica, Blues Harmonica For Dummies has you covered.

P.S. If you think this book seems familiar, you're probably right. The Dummies team updated the cover and design to give the book a fresh feel, but the content is the same as the previous release of Blues Harmonica For Dummies (9781118252697). The book you see here shouldn't be considered a new or updated product. But if you're in the mood to learn something new, check out some of our other books. We're always writing about new topics!

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About The Author

Winslow Yerxa is a widely known and respected harmonica player, teacher, and author. He has written, produced, and starred in many harmonica book and video projects, and provides harmonica instruction worldwide. In addition to teaching privately, he currently teaches at the Jazzschool in Berkeley, California.

Sample Chapters

blues harmonica for dummies

CHEAT SHEET

From the beginning, the harmonica has been an integral part of blues music. The blues is a uniquely American art form that got its start from the collision of African and European cultures in the American South. And the harmonica has a natural genius for the blues, with its ease of producing the moaning, wailing sounds often associated with this style of music.

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Articles from
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From the beginning, the harmonica has been an integral part of blues music. The blues is a uniquely American art form that got its start from the collision of African and European cultures in the American South. And the harmonica has a natural genius for the blues, with its ease of producing the moaning, wailing sounds often associated with this style of music.
Blues is played mostly on two types of harmonica, diatonic and chromatic. Either way, the really important things about a harmonica are that it be airtight, in tune, and not likely to make you bleed, turn green, or otherwise endanger your health. If it also plays easily, makes a big sound, looks cool, lasts a long time, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg, then it's a winner.
Harmonica players sometimes get up onstage alone and perform as true soloists, and unaccompanied virtuosity has a long tradition in blues harmonica. But playing with accompaniment and accompanying others can be very rewarding experiences. You're bound to wonder where to look to find other musicians to play with.
Most blues songs follow a form called the 12-bar blues. In addition to being 12 bars in length, the 12-bar blues has its own internal logic. After you grasp that logic and use it to shape your phrases, playing the blues on your harmonica will seem as natural as talking. A verse of 12-bar blues has three parts, and each part is 4 bars long.
When you play the blues on your harmonica, you use short sequences of notes called licks and riffs as building blocks for longer musical statements. Both riffs and licks usually emphasize the notes of the chord being played in the background. Blues musicians often emphasize the notes of the home chord (the I chord), even when another chord is being played.
Along with its cousins, the accordion and the concertina, the harmonica got its start around 1820 in the German-speaking parts of Europe. Right from the beginning, harmonicas were called mouth harps (or mundharfe in German). No one knows for certain who invented the harmonica. Early harmonica history in the United States At first, harmonicas were made by hand by part-time workers in semirural areas of Germany.
Performing for an audience can be a major thrill; you just might get hooked on it as a harmonica player. But it can also be nerve-wracking, and it can be humiliating if it goes badly. To ensure that your musical performance goes well, spend a little time figuring out how to get ready, have a good time playing, and enjoy the results.
Jam sessions are for players to interact with other players and make music in a freewheeling environment, without having to be concerned about pleasing an audience. Some jams are impromptu, one-time occurrences, while others are weekly events that may happen in a private setting or in a public venue. Jams may focus on a particular style of music or even a particular instrument, and every jam has its own culture and etiquette.
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Frequently Asked Questions

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