I’d been looking for an old newsletter I’d written about this video, and finally just found it. Check it out:
They Laughed When I Picked Up the Harmonica — But When I Played!
Many of us play for our own pleasure, but also many of us deep down would love to wow other folks with our harmonica skills…
The above ad (from 1926!) got me thinking: what actually makes a head turning, eyeball grabbing performance — with harmonica?
Beyond basic technical chops, there are tons of elements that go into a captivating performance, such as:
→ Varying tempo from slow to fast.
→ Varying dynamics , from quiet as a whisper to loud as a roar.
→ Varying arrangement from dense to sparse, utilizing breakdowns and hits.
→ Varying using space , only playing a few notes, versus playing lots of notes leaving little space.
Chicago harmonica legend Corky Siegel nails all of these elements in this awesome chamber blues video. But he does so much more. He puts on a visual performance too. Visuals matter. Here’s a breakdown for you:
- The band is fun to look at . String quartet with…tabla? And harmonica? That’s different. Corky is wearing a beautiful purple shirt, grey vest, black pants, and black shoes with green souls. He looks appropriate, he looks sharp, and he stands out from the group. He’s here to do serious blues business.
- Trading between harmonica and violin, the segments get shorter, and eventually they’re playing at the same time. This is a common arrangement technique that generates great excitement.
- At 3:05 he plays a long high note and raises his arm high in the air to signal a dropout of the harmonica, so the texture goes from dense, to sparse — only harmonica — but the body movement accentuates the moment visually .
- The song already starts fast, but at 3:43 it accelerates. Then at 4:00 another harmonica breakdown, this time with Corky jumping to signal when the band should play hits . The tabla player is having so much fun with this, he’s grinning ear to ear.
- At 4:34 He lets out a “Woo” and falls to his knees, and he finishes the performance on his hands and knees .
I’m not recommending that we all adopt these antics. But when playing live we should think about giving the audience a great experience by how we dress, act, and interact with other musicians.
The showmanship in this video is the kind one develops after having played concerts for almost 5 decades. I wanted to pay homage to Corky Siegel, a master not only of the harmonica , not only of composing & arranging , but of showmanship . Bravo!
That was the end of the the segment in my newsletter. Since that time I’ve had the honor of “meeting” Corky (through the miracle of modern technology) and I just want to say that you couldn’t meet a more humble, authentic, and kind rock star.
YOU are the MAN @Corky_Music! 
And if you haven’t seen my post about Corky’s awesome course on Harmonica expressiveness, check it out here.
Rock on harmonica fam! 