Although I'm sure many of you picked up a harp because of the Blues (chicago, piedmont, delta, whatever), I personally wanted to play harp becasue of Johnny Marr (The Smiths, The The, Johhny Marr and the Healers, now in Modest Mouse) and Ryan Adams (NOT Bryan Adams). I wanted to play what I heard these guy's playing. It turns out, I could basically play all of it after only a little while (almost all of it was first or third position, with little or no bending). I wanted to do more, so I started searching the net (this was almost two years ago). After a bit, I found Adam's YT lessons, and it was only THEN that I got into blues. Now, I'm still wrestling with the blues (Like Adam says, "It's devilishly hard"!), however, I'm still intertested to play things like punk, alt-country, ska, reggae, new-wave, etc.
Anyway, I'm just curious about how all you other folks came to start playing harp...
Johnny Marr's amazing - I love the Smiths - there actually some great YT stuff.
Personally I saw the Stone's live on their Bigger Bang tour and Jagger played a harmonica. That sort of sparked my interest - and it just followed on from there.
It was Bob Dylan for me...but then I was on a business trip in Vancouver, BC and stumbled into a club and saw a local bluesman Harpdog Brown and that is what really started my journey into blues harp.
Oddly enough, I did it backwards. I was at another point of musical frustration in life, and realized a harmonica would be inexpensive, portable, and force me to learn som music theory above percussion. Once I bought one, I began to seek out the music that I'd heard with harmonica, and artists/genres which featured it. Little by little, one thing led to another and I still trace backwards into where the instrument leads me. Finding one harp player or band, and then finding their influences and idols, and so on...
Fairly broad taste in music. Started out mainly on Irish, Folk, Traditional, Country & Popular Classical numbers. All, nearly all, 1st position.
Over the years my taste has drifted mainly towards Country ie thats what I really want to achieve.
I only rediscovered the harp 3 years ago and since I am retired have the time to put into practice. The Internet is also a great resource.
There doesn't appear to be any specific Country resource on the net however I was told that the progression or way into country was via the blues.
Am a huge fan of Mickey Raphael who plays harp for Willie Nelson. Love the way he unobtrusively adds to the overall sound - sort of less is more. Very sensitive player.
Last Edited by on Mar 23, 2009 4:31 PM
In college, I had a friend who played guitar, banjo, and some harp. He'd bring it with him and mess around with it between classes. That got me into Whammer Jammer and Room to Move. I gave this friend a Yamaha harp my dad gave me when I was about ten. About three years after I graduated college, I started playing myself. I'm trying to organize a 25th year college reunion, and I'm looking forward to seeing that friend again to show him how I play harp.
I've always liked the harp in "Roadhouse Blues" and in "When the Levee Breaks." I starting hearing harp I liked in a lot of TV commercials and in the theme to "Rosanne." Those sparked my interest even more, and that's when I started mentioning it when I heard it. I ended up getting a harmonica for Christmas. Then I started noticing the harp in more rock songs. I like rock harp and blues harp. Pretty melodies are nice, too.
Always thought that blues harp sounded cool. Too old to bother with Sax - love smooth jazz sax - but to me harp is to Blues what Sax is to Jazz and maybe something I could learn easier. I hear a blues song, I hear the harp. I hear Jazz, I hear the sax. Cannot listen to a lot of Jazz but find myself enjoying a lot of Chicago style blues, delta stye, and Some rock type as long as there is some harp in it.
Probably various sources grew my (what was) soon to be conscious desire to play harmonica.
Probably early rock music like Led Zepplin, Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, etc.
Some movies with harmonica either featured in the movie or soundtrack as well. Or even movies without harmonica Blues Brothers really made me desire to learn more about blues music.
I also made the mistake that this was a cheaper, simplar instrument that was more in my grasp of learning then some other instruments. Now I believe that in the end it is the same investment (learning & cost) in the long run as piano or sax. Both also interested me a bit. But the portability of the harmonica still stands! Plus all the sounds in the palm of your hand.
So glad I did (actually it was my girlfriend who bought me my first one for a gift knowing I had an interest) start playing/learning harmonica. Now I can play all non OB/OD notes & if I know the rhythm and notes I can play something. Still working on jamming/improvisation but I guess that comes in time & no way to speed it up.
I'm pretty old. For me,the first song that made me sit up and take notice was John Mayall's "Room To Move". Then I discovered J. Geils Band and Magic Dick. That was it,I was hooked. I "noodled" with the harp for a year or two.Then life intruded and I didn't touch a harp for 20+ years. In spite of that, I never stopped listening to harmonica players, even though I didn't play.
Great thread, Isaac. I always liked the sound of the harp, but mostly was exposed to the folkie stuff of Bob Dylan and Neil Young. (I am still a huge fan of both those guys, BTW. They know how to use a harp effectively to puctuate a song. It's a different style, and it's easier to learn, but it still makes great music).
When I first picked up a harp about 10 years ago, I also picked up Gindick's book "Natural Country and Blues Harmonica" (I think that is the title), because that was what was handy. From there, I started picking up some of the albums he mentioned in the back, and got into James Cotton, etc. I also came across the "Heavy Breathers" book around then, and got plenty of good leads from that.
The blues struck a (dis)chord with me and now I pretty much only listen to blues and blues-rock.
Last Edited by on Mar 23, 2009 2:05 PM
I first started liking harmonica stuff because a good friend of mine who is also a professional musician (guitar and harmonica) wanted to have me work on a recording with him and also use me for performances. He sent me some songs and from there, I worked on my own to teach myself how to improvise blues, etc. I really got to love delta blues. I worked with cds with various harmonica players. However, the one who really made me fall in love with blues music was Eric Clapton, even though he's a guitar player. Now I have a nice little musical library of blues cds - harmonica and also guitar. And so many Clapton cds! I also grew to like choromatic harmonica music as well, and I have a number of cds by Toots Thielmanns. He's at the top. Randy Singer is also excellent, especially in his rendition of "Bluesette" with Toots on youtube.
Rock N' Roll. Which means that the guys whose harp playing I first got turned on by, would probably be objects of derision from many if not most of the MBH membership. I seem to remember seeing a name or two on the list of players MBH forum members think they play better than on a different thread.
But of course as I start listening to more and more harp as I try to learn how to play it, it keeps leading me deeper and deeper into the blues (hey, who's your daddy?).
As an aside, I also thought harp would be easier to learn than guitar, which I was getting nowhere with. Silly me. So here I am a true believer in the "5 minutes to play, 5 years to master" philosophy (that's Jon Gindick right?). Though I will say one thing, I got to the point where I could play something resembling music on a harp A LOT faster than I could on guitar (which is never).
Last Edited by on Mar 23, 2009 12:27 PM
Great Topic Isaac, I'm a big country fan, and even like the old stuff, so I first "noticed" the harmonica from old songs like Willie Nelson's. His harp player Mickey Raphael is excellent at filling in between vocals. I always just thought it sounded cool, it didn't necessarily make me want to play it. What sent me over the edge was the Ozark Mountain Daredevil's "If You Want To Get To Heaven".
So I guess I would say that Country and Southern Rock got me started, but then as I began to familarize myself with it I got into Blues. If this ever did become something more than a hobby, I would want to do more southern rock / rock.
I suppose I would dabble in punk with my guitar head neighbor too. I've had an idea for about a year to redo an old blues song with the original 12 bar progressions and then let him break into a punk solo after each turnaround. Just haven't got off my lazy ass to do it yet.
I suppose that like most people, I'd always loved the mournful sound that a harp could make. Being little more than an extension of the human voice, it seems to be able to express things in a way that really reaches people, some atavistic quality.
Anyway, I first got into playing harp in my late twenties. I went to see a local band in London, a trio called Wild and Frantic. Their gigs are now legendary in the part of London I come from. The band was double bass, guitar/vocalist and harp. They were all incredible. What stood out for me on that night was - you've guessed it - the harp. When the band dropped out and the guy played on his own, I thought it sounded as big as an orchestra. I was blown away and thought that I had to learn how to make those sounds. I thought, 'How hard can that little thing be?' Yeah, right.
Well, inspiration gave way to frustration, and I gave up 3 or 4 times over the years. Last September, when I picked up a harp again, I was lucky enough to bump into kudzu's YT lessons. I think the early ones really did break that cycle of despair at learning the thing. Since then, I've had one small breakthrough after another, along with some frustration, which I doubt will ever completely go.
Now, I'm completely obsessed with the thing. It's become a journey that gives me more pleasure than all the wildest dreams of avarice and luxury ever could. ---------- 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchen; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty' - Frank Zappa
I've always been passionate about music and I suppose blues was the music that gave me the most exposure to the harmonica. But I must say music didn't spur me to playing because I always loved whatever genre of music tickled my fancy given my age and life experience. What got me to take up the harmonica was a need to replace my former hobby/passion which was baseball. I played for 18 yrs. in an old man's hardball league and was privileged enough to get to play down on the spring training facilities in Phoenix and Tuscon for 14 of those yrs. That was a blast! When my body told me I could no longer pitch I needed something to try to master to fill the void that baseball filled. I've learned that we never actually are satisfied with any degree of mastery we get despite of our efforts and relative successes. We always want more and I thought a re-entry into music would accomplish this need for me to fulfill with less of the frustration sometimes felt in competitive sports. Well to my surprise my premise for taking up the harp has been magnified to many degrees. What I once thought would be fun is now something I am passionate about and I am so grateful for throwing myself at this effort. No, I am not anywhere near as good as I want to be, but hopefully I'll get somewhere near my skill goals if I am lucky to have many more yrs. to see the fruit of my labors.
Snakes, are you still in Arizona? I live in Tempe...
It's really cool to see the diverse musical trajectories that have brought us all to this point. It's also cool to see that there is quite a bit of variation in terms of what kind of music people want to be playing... This is a great community we got going on here!
On another note, I suppose I was also turned on to harmonica by Woody Guthrie's songs. I still can't play well in that style (super fast in-out chords and fiddle styles), but I defiantely like it! ---------- -------------- The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
Preston...me too...Ozark Mountain Daredevils' "If you Wanna Get to Heaven" (you got to raise a little hell) really kicked me into overdrive. I recall I launched into an impromptu solo jam with that base riff at a backyard party between band sets - must've been around '79. It took me many more years to find the classic blues guys but J.Geils and John Mayall were fun for a long time. I knew I wanted more of that groove but just didn't know who was out there. Touch of laziness I suppose.
I'm another one who let it go for a long stretch, only to revive it again a few years back.
The First Harmonica Blues that i knew as a harmonica, was Ronnie Shellist's "Slow Blues".
What Got me into it was one of Gussow's videos. As soon as i saw that he was teaching tricks of the trades i said, "I'm Learning". and i went out bought a "Hohner Blues Harp" key of "F" and started learning.... ---------- ---Go Bears!!! (Richard Dent for Hall of Fame)---
I developed my taste for Harp just in the past year. Sure I've heard it in various songs by the Beetles, Aerosmith, U2, Stones, Neil Young ... but with most of the top 40 stuff it's not stellar and not noticable. It wasn't until I got my Champ 600 and was browsing You-tube to see what others thought of the amp that I hear some guys blowing through it. It was the sound of the amplified harp that grabbed me. I had to make that sound! As a guitarist I was into SRV, Eric Clapton, BB King ... the harp has taking me back into the early days of the blues to explore ... it's a fun trip. My grand father plays Fiddle and now I find myself being pulled down a contry/celtic path as well to see how the harp was involved there. As I develop as a harpist and guitarist I find I have to go backwards before I can get anywhere forwards with these instruments!
Last Edited by on Mar 24, 2009 6:02 AM
No music, really. I was oblivious to the harp until somebody just laid one into my hands. It was a big tremolo, 15 years old, that had never been played. I had to cough a lot because there was so much dirt inside, but I loved it from the first instance.
I bought a diatonic harp because it was the only one I could afford (I think a Blues Harp in C) two days later.
Once I knew the sound I also started hearing it in music (and movies, etc).
I didn't really listen to blues previously, but I am happy that the blues and the harp are so much intertwined. Now I love the blues..
I think the diatonic harp is one of the coolest instruments. For one it is totally underrated as people still think of it as a toy. But on the other hand it has evolved to an incredibly fascinating complexity which leaves close to limitless room for personal improvement.
Wherever you are: you just take it out of your pocket and literally blow people away. Especially here in Germany where most people are (just as I was before) totally oblivious to this wonderful little instrument.
My big bro played a lot of Canned Heat when i was about 16 and although i was totally into hard rock, The sound of the harp on those songs really got under my skin, Then i had my appithiny (i know that's not how you spell it!)I was Pissed up on home brew at my big bros shitty dump of a flat when i saw the Blues Brothers film for the first time, Yahoo!, Great songs, Great action, Big laughs, I was entranced As Jake said, "Jesus H Tapp Dancing Christ" I saw the light, And i've been a blues man ever since
Last Edited by on Mar 24, 2009 2:17 PM
Key of "F". I'm sure I can do so much more with that little ditty now. I was pretty impressed with myself at the time that I could so easily could play that shuffle. I gotta blast this tune out now and see what I can do... Hey - it ain't terribly sophisticated, but it's fun stuff.
I'm not sure about this video in particular, but I think the original album recording is actually key of C# played second position on an F# harp. It could be the original was actually done on a F harp, and through the recording process it was sharpened up. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, 'cause I may be.
The repeated riff is incredibly simple, but infectuous all the same.
We were driving to WV from NYC in 1999, when we stopped at a Cracker Barrel restraunt. To pass the next 6 hours I bought a $5 harmoinica, but then I paid $15 for a Jon Gindick book on how to play it. I only got so far and was a poor player. In 2001, 2 guys in our town started a Harmonica Club. I started going, They showed me the right way to play (kinda) and it stuck. The club still meets ever Tuesday night for a 2 hour jam and I'm there in the middle of it.
No music got me into Harmonica, It was some overpaid business exec I met on a group camping trip. The guy broke my Chi when he pulled out a small generator, I-pod and speakers and bragged how he had spent $1,000 so we could have music... Come on dude we are camping... Anyway, being quite drunk I complained quite vocally about how I was not impressed. Anybody could bring a radio and disturb the peace. I would be more impressed if he were to pull out a guitar and play us some songs. He asked where my guitar was.... Since I don't play guitar I told him where he could stick his I-pod. The next day on our ride home my wife proclaimed what I has said moved her and she wanted to learn guitar. A week later she bought one. Well I wanted to play to. Best to put my $ where my mouth is, but didn't want to step on the wife's toes, so I got a harmonica to play along with her. I started out with sing along tunes like Jet Plane, and Dock of the Bay. It was from online lessons that I was introduced to the blues and got hooked
Back in the late 70's, I worked with a guy, who all I knew about, played bass in a band. The first time we really discussed his music, he asked me if I liked Muddy Waters? I said "WTF does muddy water have to do with playin bass?" That's how ignorant of the blues I was! We kept talking about it and he talked me into coming to a club and seeing him play.
Well I went and he was sitting in, playing bass, with none other than the great Albert King. I didn't even know who he was other than he played Stormy Monday which I had heard the Allman Brothers band play.
I was totally blown away that night and it changed my music tastes. Ever since then I've loved the blues. I took up guitar and played for a long time, never getting really good, but could play some good blues riffs. I always heard a lot of blues tunes with Harmonica and since this was in Austin, TX, Kim Wilson and the T-Birds were based there at Antones, I always thought someday I'll learn some blues harp.
Well I finally got serious about it 7 months or so ago and have really enjoyed it. Especially when I discovered MBH and Adam. It has really made me want to work hard and get better for no other reason than I enjoy it.
So here's my official "Thank You" to Eddie Stout in Austin who owns Dialtone records, for inluencing me without even knowing it.
isaaculah, I never lived in the Phoenix area. I just played in the annual MSBL tournament down there. It was the most looked forward to eight days of every year for me. Those spring training fields are AWESOME.
Wow, it's amazing what a variation of influences we have here. For me, it was Butterfield. I was watching "The Last Waltz" and saw him on Mystery Train and thought it was completely insane. Ironically, it wouldn't be until years later that I found a harmonica in my top drawer of junk and realized I should try to blow through it.
Well, I got this book on the guitar style of a guy named Brownie McGee--then I bought a record to hear him play--there happened to be this pretty cool harp sound on the record--it was a long time before I got around to really playing it myself, but I always loved that sound from that moment on. . .
I can't even say when this thing started.. But now, my 18 year old soul can't live without it... :)
It all started, I believe, in the young days. When i was little. About 4-6 years, i think. Then my grandmother bought me a cheap chineese tremolo harp in some sort of toy store, i believe. Then it was interesting for me, just as a toy, but not as an instrument. Then i noticed i can play some of known notes on that thing, because my sister was going to musical school, and she tried to teach me to play piano too. But soon the covers were off, some reeds were broken, and that harp was just thrown to the corner. That was it. The first time I met with this thing. Then i just forgot about it. But i hadn't met with the blues yet. Some years passed, and i started to go to musical school, learning to play piano. Then, i remember, I saw a film. Sergio Leone's "Once upon a Time in the West". There i heard the harp howling and screaming. It sent shivers down the spine, and i was very very very keen on that little thing he had in his hands... But then it passed away too. But even before this, i believe, i saw "The Blues Brothers". Here, in Lithuania, we have had something like "Big Friday Movie", in which the TV would give us two movies to choose and vote for. I voted for the Blues Brothers of course. I called seven times, i don't know why, but i just had to watch that movie... And i loved it.
Of course, i had met Blues in the musical school. I didn't like the classical pieces very much, so i was keen on something else. But when i graduated the musical school, it just ended... For that time..
And it got very serious couple of days before the 2009 january 1st. I've been youtube'ing, and i found James' Cotton' - Slow blues. It just blew me away. Few days after i got my first harp, and started blowing it. And for four months i can't let it go... That's my story... And that's pretty much all of it... :)
