Harmonica Solo Guide

Theory
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Hi Luke,

I got your group email, and have just watched the ‘Ultimate Solo Guide’ video. Great advice for soloing on any instrument, in fact.

Do you have a video that goes through which notes to play during a solo.

Sounds like a dumb question when I say it like that…

… anyway, what I mean is, something that describes the effect of playing certain notes relative to the chords being played in the song.

As a simple example:

In Sweet Virginia the harmonica starts with a D during the D chord, then E (mainly) during the B7 chord then a long drawn out F# note during the A.

In the last phrase, the harp has long notes D, E, F#, A, D, F#(high), E, D, corresponding to the chords D, B7, A, D, A, E, A.

So the D is the root of the D chord, E is the V of B7, F# is the III of A etc

What I’m wondering is how that all meshes together to create the overall feeling of the piece.

Hope the question makes sense…

Cheers!

Jeff

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@JeffSims seems like you’ve already caught on to the principle that playing notes in the underlying chord will always sound great! This is why practicing arpeggios is smart.

Here’s how to practice arpeggios: Practicing Arpeggios for Beginners

Here’s a long post on the subject as it relates to the Blues:

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Thanks Luke,

I actually like doing practice drills.

Sometimes if I feel I’m not in the mood to play I run through a few drills, and before I know it I’m back in the groove.

Jeff

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@JeffSims Cool! I’m the same way. Love it all. LMK how it all goes for ya…

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Hi Luke,

Both of those links are very helpful, just what I was looking for. :+1:

In one of them you talk about outlining the chord changes. This is exactly what I want to do, in songs with other chords as well as I IV V.

I don’t want to do classic blues harp solos (yet), just to be able to play something during my songs that follows a chord sequence and provides a break from the singing.

I’ve got plenty of homework to go on with now!

thanks,

Jeff

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