The power of the Chord

Chords and Chordal Effects- By using chords (holes 1, 2, and 3) in a skillful way to make the harp:

  • sound bigger, & more full,
  • create contrast, and
  • play tasteful accompaniment,
    we can add much more texture and nuance to the music.

This is part of the tradition of Chicago blues and is found in many of the great and well known recordings. There are generally two ways to use chords when playing blues on the harmonica.

The first is rhythmic chording characterized by its staccato and tight rhythmic discipline imitating a snare drum, a very percussive sound. Examples of rhythmic chording are the hard shuffle, ghost chording, chord bombs, hambone/clave’ and tramp grooves to name a few.

The second is non-rhythmic and should be thought of as padding or something akin to an organ sustaining. Laying down a continuous wall of quiet accompaniment that follows the chord changes can be very tasteful. Examples of non-rhythmic accompaniment are the organ sustain, train whistle sustain, padding, shakes, and round rhumba chording.

Listen closely to some of the classic Chicago blues harmonica recordings. You will hear the mixing of single notes and chordal sounds. The best playing incorporates these effects to create a more powerful overall sound.

Playing tastefully behind other musicians when they are singing or soloing is another critical skill for any good harmonica player and part of the Chicago tradition. Chords are the easiest thing to play on the harmonica and something the harp does very well. If you can breathe you can play chords. If you can breathe with rhythm you can make music with them. Do you love the sound of the chords as much as I do?

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I play chords a lot. Trouble is not always on purpose. It does give a much deeper sound and also helps get in or out the air in a hurry.

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@toogdog I play chords a lot. Trouble is not always on purpose
Ha Ha, that literally made me laugh out loud. I can empathise.

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I think this is called chugging. It was one of the first things I ever learned how to do under the guidence of my teacher, Todd Parrott, as the first song I learned with him had some it in. This isn’t just exclusive to Chicago blues, country players do it all the time, mainly Terry McMillan who was also a drummer and percussionist, therefore he did chugging all the time in country and gospel music, even in songs where he didn’t play any licks at all.
Here’s non-blues examples of Terry McMillan’s chugging in action:

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This is not chugging, although some will characterize any chordal repeated pattern as chugging. No, these are specific chordal effects found in Chicago blues. Not saying they are exclusive to blues but they are heavily featured there and each one should be understood for it’s specific use and execution -in my opinion.

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To be fair I’ve heard it called chugging also shock the doctor!??? And a few other strange things, this is an area I am trying to work on with vamping and super vamping and also following your vid on different rhythm methods as soon as I’m better, I fully intend to have a crack at those too.

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Shock the doctor! I love it,

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I’ve always thought it would make a great band name

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@davidkachalon great post! I LOVE CHORDS :100:

Harmonica is one of the FEW instruments that we can play chords on, and we need to use this to our advantage.

The longer I play, the more I FALL IN LOVE WITH CHORDS.

At the beginning, there is so much work on being able to isolate notes as @toogdog hilariously alluded too.

But then later, I feel like I’m just always trying to figure out out: how many of these notes can I make NOT single notes by use of a dirty note (double-stop,) split, or chord.

These are the things that INCREASE BLUES HORSEPOWER (along with bends.)

Of course, recognizing the power of chords is kinda inextricably intertwined with recognizing the power of tongue-blocking. Why? Because when we are tongue-blocking, at the drop of a dime, in any given moment we can lift our Tonge to allow a chord or a split to drop in.

I’ve been learning Big Walter’s Walter’s Boogie and the subtle chordal stuff he’s doing there is so nuanced and beautiful. And I believe as harmonic players we have just barely scratched the surface of the power latent in these type of techniques.

So I think the power of the chord cannot be emphasized strongly enough.

And I’m very grateful to you for starting this thread.

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I think Joel Anderson is digging quite deep in chordal playing in Irish music :slight_smile:

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@Adam1 Can you share a link to an example?

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His YouTube Channel is full of amazing examples :smiley: https://youtube.com/@irishharmonica?si=Ekhu_fxpXmAEsxjT

One example of Irish kesh Jig:

Sharing this one because he provides free lesson with advanced technigues on patreon (link in description of that video)

Or another amazing example:

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@Adam1 Holy smack! Yeah, he’s a total MONSTER. Super cool! Thanks for sharing.

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