I just realized I never replied — thank you so much for the resources! I reached out to Joe Filisko, and wow, what a great guy. I picked up some of his song studies and they’ve been really helpful.
I also got a month of free access to David’s course. You were absolutely right — it’s very dry in presentation, but the content is amazing and incredibly valuable.
I’m really drawn to Sonny Terry’s style. Do you know of any other courses or resources where I could learn some of his songs or dig deeper into that approach?
Do you know of any other harp player that do lots of one man banding stuff/ tongue block?
So glad that worked out — Joe Filisko is awesome, and those song studies are gold. For Sonny Terry style and tongue-blocking one-man-band approaches, check out Junior Wells, Little Walter, and Big Walter Horton (all great with rhythm and expressive tongue block technique). Also, JP Allen’s courses go deep into blues harp phrasing and tongue blocking. They’re not Sonny clones, but they’ll really help expand that style.
@kamelhamoudi7 So you got both of Joe Filisko’s ST study songs? Ask him if you can get the ORIGINAL Chasin’ Lost Sonny - I’ve been working on it for 3 or 4 years and still a long way from mastering it. From a ST one man banding perspective, it’s really all you need imo. Totally has unlocked Sonny’s playing and allowing me to hear and understand what’s going on much more easily.
Sonny’s Shuffle is also amazing for the other side of his playing.
I’m planning to work on a free Sonny Terry YouTube lesson this year, but I’m still in the studying phase. Likely won’t be for awhile.
Are you referring to Breakthrough Blues for JP’s course? If not can you send me a link please? thanks for the tip of the Greatest Player. I got to find time to listen to them. Thanks
Yes, I’ve received a lot of study songs from Joe, and they are amazing. I started working on his Core Songs a couple of weeks ago and just wanted to make sure I have the basics right.
Right now, from Joe’s other songs, I’m mainly just listening to Sonny Shuffle, Chasing Sonny Terry, DeFord’s Dream, Henry’s Lament, Jerry Cajun, and Mississippi Groove, along with some of the other songs. I also really like the Zydeco style—it’s such a great way to work on splits. I had never even heard of that style until recently, and I discovered it through Ed’s courses.
I listen to these songs every day at least once, trying to really engrave them in my head before learning to play them. I’ve also been emailing Joe, and he has been incredibly supportive and amazingly patient in answering my many questions.
I’m not someone who usually uses forums (this is actually my first time, starting with my first post), but the harmonica community has been truly fantastic. It’s really refreshing to see such a strong sense of friendship, especially given everything going on in the world these days.
I’m really looking forward to your upcoming course on Sonny Terry. Thanks again for all the help—I truly appreciate it.
@kamelhamoudi7 Wow we have the same taste. I’ve worked through /am working on all of those same ones. Except Henry’s Lament. I’ll have to go check that one out!
SO smart to really get your ears on those. Such great stuff.
I agree on the cajun stuff man. I love it! My friend and I actually used that riff and wrote a song around. Will probably get it recorded this year!
