I have a classical music background - I am able to make my harp wail and cry, but I cannot seem to grasp playing a decent blues, even with a backing track. Anyone else run into this?
Does having a classical background just screw up people when they play a more loose folk style?
Not at all, you just need to listen and absorb it all. Start from the earliest guys you can find. Then progress through thereâs a wealth of good music, Blues comes in different styles Louisiana is lazy loping blues, Texas stinging guitar and horn sections. And so on . Blues might be called blues but it has many colors and styles. I love 50âs Chicago blues and West Coast blues. But I think that Iâve listened to almost every style there is.
Blues is something that is all about feel, as has constantly confounded me in playing guitar for many years before it started confounding me playing a harmonica.
I like youtubeâs Gusso (classic blues harminca and modern blue harmonica) whoâs done some good good videos just talking about the blues as well as having lessons up.
Well you certainly know how to play the blues, I wish I was just half as good as you, that would make me happy
Itâs also an attitude, much like any working/class blue collar music, whether itâs the country music of the outlaw singers and players like Johnny,Willie,Kris, etc, or if itâs Rock of the kind from people who come from my backyard Plant,Bonham, Ozzy, Judas Priest, or Punk from either the USA with bands like the Ramones, Blondie ( she had a ton of attitude before she became a pop icon) or here in The UK with the Clash or or the Buzzcocks. Most of it is rebellion whether itâs the Black man on the plantation singing about how that woman treats him mean ( when actually heâs talking about the plantation owner or the field boss) or itâs jobless kids in 80âs suburbia railing at the generation before for screwing things up. Or itâs old geezers like me with the absolute intention to grow old disgracefully and embarrass my grand kids ( not really my grand kids love me but it is the attitude) that really is a very important part of the blues. And getting out there and supporting live bands who play it if your fortunate to have a place to see them. Thereâs a lot you can learn from live bands. But most of all its actively listening to the music, playing and replaying it asking why does that phrase work how does it work and importantly when does it work best? And if you have to do that many, many, many, times just to suss out whatâs going on well, youâre part the way there.
I accidentally deleted my post while editing it. To re-write it,
I studies classical for undergrad, directed bands and orchestras for a decade. When I set out to learn blues, it took me about a year for it to feel natural.
Depending on how you studies classical music, it might take more or less time. Mainly, if improvising and composing was part of you education, youâll find adapting to blues to be a little quicker. If not, itâll take a little longer.
It was a good 5 years before I started getting a really solid sound & solos.
Just like classical music, immerse yourself in the music, the culture, the people, and study what the masters did in-depth. At the same time, make improvising a big part of your life.
@Hogie.Harmonica @Andy2 @Piglet
Thanks everyone for the responses - Its funny, I played classical so long, even when I noodle around my harp sounds classical!
I can play things that can make people want to cry, but thats hardly blues. I guess I get it eventually!
can you please put your recording back. Pretty please
I feel fortunate as my dad bought a lot of blues and early British Blues stuff I remember singing along to Little Red Rooster when I was around 5 and thereâs was lots of other stuff too, a lot of Old school Rock n roll Rockabilly stuff, Little Richard, Fats Domino so although I hadnât got a clue what it was called or very probably what half the lyrics meant I was absorbing it at an early age, as I grew up and finally discovered the blues in all itâs glory, I just got
it! I find the blues comes very natural ( if you met my ex- wife youâd probably figure out why!
Something to consider: just because you are playing harmonica doesnât mean you have to play blues.
Iâm taking lessons from a professional classical harmonica player. Iâm really, really enjoying it.
I ditto that. I remember a long time ago that I tried force myself into the âbluesâ box, but I couldnât stand with everybody basically sounding the same. There are a few unique blues players, but the majority of them are not open to playing any genre of music nor outside influences other than Little Walter. I was told by a big blues artist that I needed to throw out Terry McMillanâs influence and start listening to some ârealâ blues players like James Cotton. So I switched to country because Iâd rather want to see myself happy than to please harmonica players.
Even then, blues purists made fun of me for not wanting to sound like Charlie McCoy or Little Walter. In fact, I remember two people on a Facebook group hating one of my posts featuring a Garth Brooks song with Terry McMillan on it and me saying that Terry was a bluesier player than Little Walter. A lot of blues harmonica players donât like anything new or changes to the status quo, which was why I pissed them off so much. When I was trying to find players with unique playing styles, I kept on getting recommended traditionalists and way older players that donât go with the sound Iâm looking for. I want to look for more fresh sounds, but people are trying to pull me into a different direction.
The thing is Iâve heard that saying trapped in the blues box before.
Apart from classical, folk, and some indigenous music, ( I donât include Arabic, Sudanese, or a lot of West African music here because that was a Direct influence on the blues) All modern popular music, Jazz, Soul, Gospel ( and this was not only influenced by blues itâs also been an influence) Country, Bluegrass pretty much anything you can imagine is influenced by the blues, you stated in one of your posts that Terry McMillan was influenced by blues players, and pretty much every country harp player thatâs ever been was influenced by blues. The blues is there whether itâs the latest electro pop or Rock n roll. âThe Blueâs is the root and everything else is the fruitâ so really if you are playing any modern music you may vary it a bit but you are still in the Blues box.
YeahâŚI went down that road already!
It was kind of âWell, everyone else can play bluesâ type of bandwagon.
I just got a Chromatic - And I donât think I am taking blues within a mile of the thing. Classical music in general is beautiful, especially on a Chromatic!
I am not trying to make fun of you - But have you seen Charlie McCoys Orange Blossom Special?!? Yikes - I wish I could play that good!
Probably one of the few songs that gives Whammer Jammer a run for its money!
@Andy2
When I meant by âbeing trapped in the blues boxâ, I meant that blues players were trying to force me into something Iâm not. I already told you about them trying to remove Terryâs influence in my sound. Theyâve also tried to get me to play 100% tongue blocking and make up excuses to why they think I should completely switch like âlip pursing causes wrinklesâ, âyou can play fast/have a bright tone while tongue blockingâ, âtongue blocking adds more expression than lip pursingâ, and âyouâre gonna miss out on so muchâ as if Iâm gonna experience FOMO. The stuff that I want to play doesnât have major tongue blocking in it if at all. I learned how to do octaves and slaps, but the music I play doesnât require it and they treat tongue blocking as the âright wayâ to play the harmonica and call me lazy because I âdidnât learn it properlyâ. I have a distaste for the majority of exclusively tongue blocking harmonica players for this very reason. They try to force me into something Iâm not.
I wasnât directly talking about you, I was saying that the Facebook âharmonica playersâ were making fun of me. Also in regards to âOrange Blossom Specialâ, I have seen it and Iâm not a fan. Itâs just playing fast for the sake of playing fast. Iâm not into this style of country playing. Iâve talked to Charlie in the past and he said that I should just be myself. I would rather listen to his advice than any âharmonica playerâ who has a hive mindset into which players I should like. A big chunk of his âfansâ hate the fact that I like and want to sound like Terry McMillan instead of following traditions.
Nothing wrong with that!
Just try to tell that to the Facebook players who think that only their opinion is the right one and that everybody should play their way. I actually was banned from the biggest harmonica group on Facebook, Modern Blues Harmonica, because I said I wanted to sound like Terry McMillan rather than Charlie McCoy, but people were attacking me for not being a fan of his playing. If I found Charlie McCoyâs playing to be boring, I shouldnât get attacked for it. People were telling me that I needed to sound like him in order to be âsuccessfulâ as a harmonica player and how many accolades heâs achieved or that if I imitated Terry, I would be unhireable as a session player.
Iâd just bin Facebook I havenât been there for years and my life is a lot better for it. Itâs a very toxic environment and a playground for narcissists and all sorts of unsavory people. Not worth the time if day
Iâm the same way. My favorite harp players all have one thing in common- they are alive.
I make this choice because the âpreserve the old waysâ crowd is very robust. We are not in any danger of that knowledge being lost. At least as concerns Chicago blues harmonica.
But we do have some risk of losing relevance as an instrument. If everybody plays just the blues, and thinks of Rock as âout thereâ then we have a cultural issue that prevents people from making new music.
Iâm not saying we shouldnât learn that older stuff. In fact pre-war blues like Blues Birdhead are on my list of new things to learn.
But I am saying that thereâs âlearn the foundationsâ and thereâs âfetishize days gone byâ, which is perfectly innocent, but becomes a problem when coupled with âonly the music I like is goodâ which probably hurts the harmonica community more than helps. Itâs actually a phenomenon I hope to tackle in the coming years. I foresee a future where harp players build each other up more than they tear each other down.
An example - a harp hero of mine who has since passed liked to take issue with a number of other players, all of whom where dedicating their life to the harmonica. I remember being captivated by one of them because they were doing something very interesting. But my harp hero would go online and trash the guy anytime his name came up.
This kind of behavior I feel is legacy from harmonica playerâs learning journey. We really do sound pretty rough in those first few years. The self-consciousness this generates, people separate themselves from it by doing âitâs not me, itâs that other guy! Look how bad he is!â I think if we show people that you can build a bigger and stronger network by being more open, more people will be drawn to the instrument, and more people will stick to it.
I think itâs awesome you are focused on Terry - and Iâm also looking forward to what youâll add to that style in years to come.