Tom Petty's technique

Technique
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Hey, it’s me again, Collin. Apologies for this SUPER long post; I just needed to get some advice/help from others because I really can’t figure this out myself! :melting_face:

I have finally sat down and listened to Tom’s home demos from 1994. They have some brilliant harmonica sections in them. His general technique really intrigues me. :star_struck:

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Tom and his harmonica + rack - 1994

Just from listening to these songs, my main assumptions about his technique are:

  • Bending when transitioning notes? (not sure what to call this)
  • Tongue vibrato/vibrato
  • Lots of growl in some sections.
  • Multiple-note playing and single notes (typical harmonica stuff, obviously)

But at the same time, I need some clarification, and some of you guys who are more knowledgeable about this stuff to review it! :folded_hands:

Here are all the songs with the most prominent harmonica. Plus my general guesses about what he’s doing in each section.

California: First section: 2:06 - 2:29. Second section: 3:23 - 3:33. Seems like the most basic one, just simple blows and draws.

You Don’t Know How It Feels: Same as the original song, just with an added harp solo at the end. I think we all know how this song goes; it’s a tad bit different here but pretty much the same.

These next songs are where it gets fancy, and I honestly feel a bit set back and humbled for not being able to play them with a similar tone/technique.

Leave Virginia Alone: First section: 0:03 - 0:17. From my ear, he seems to be doing that “transition bending”, and it is most apparent at the note at timestamp 0:09, almost giving this wah sound. With a slight growl at the end of the harp intro. Second Section: 3:22 - 3:41. Here he does mess around with a couple of single notes, I feel like, and with those weird “in-between note bends”, as well as some tongue vibrato.

Only a Broken Heart: First section: 0:00 - 0:17. Very rich and soft playing from him here, again with those “bend transitions”. Second section: 1:34- 1:38. Seems like he just used a part of the intro/first section here to play.

A Higher Place: First section: 0:00 - 0:14. Now this is what I call a stellar riff! Very energetic and seems to be using the slightest hair of bends and mid-range to high notes. Throughout some of the song: Seems like he has the slightest and almost inaudible harmonica when he’s singing some parts or in the in-between guitar sections; you can barely hear it, but it’s there to add depth, I suppose. Second section: 1:56 - 2:10. Really just seems like the intro but has some slight normal bends in a few notes; getting major Bob Dylan vibes from it. Third section: 2:52 - 3:08. Same deal as the intro!

There Goes Angela (Dream Away): Probably the softest playing from Tom ever. First section: 0:13-0;20. Seems to be maintaining the low notes here, and again with a pinch of that “transition bending”. Throughout the song: Same deal as “A Higher Place” adds that almost inaudible harmonica to add depth to his voice. Second section: 1:55 - 2:36. This is the most “transition bending” I have heard in any of his songs; it is very heavily used in this part. As well as some great high note playing and a slight vibrato on a couple of notes. Third section: 3:23 - 3:43. Seems to just be like the intro. Same typical techniques as the other sections from this song!

If anyone read all of this, I really appreciate it! I rarely do big posts like these, but I love to be extra specific when trying to recreate and replicate my idol’s harmonica work! :heart:

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I think Tom Petty is a hidden jewel when it comes to harmonica . But IMHO , his playing sounds like Dylan / Young to me . A lot of straight harp BUT … It’s genius on Mary Janes Last Dance - 3rd position / G harmonica / song in A minor . Pure genius

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Exactly – nothing more needs to be said. If that is what one likes then fine, but originality or difficulty are not particularly present. :thinking:

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Yeah, that is totally fair. I still would consider myself a harmonica beginner, and I just needed some clarification on his actual techniques because I thought his playing sounded cool :slight_smile:

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As I said, that is fine. I would suggest searching around for some tutorials/lessons about playing in this Bob Dylan style (because I doubt that you will find any with a focus on Tom Petty). And this style is very approachable for a relative beginner. I’m sorry that I cannot point you to any specific lessons, but I’m certain that on YouTube there are some to be found.

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As somebody who does like some of Tom Petty’s songs, I will never listen to “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” or any of the songs from Wildflowers because I’m not a fan of his harmonica playing at all. It’s that very stereotypical “blow and suck” sound popularized by Bob Dylan and other very popular rack players, but it’s ear-gratingly loud. In songs where he didn’t use the rack, his technique was very sloppy as the only clear single note he could do is the 4 draw and its respective bend. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a really good songwriter and guitarist. However, I don’t think he was that great of a harmonica player in my personal opinion.

This sounds ironic coming from me because I play “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” whenever I’m playing in the cover band I’m in. But as a session musician, I must do what I have to do. Compared to the original, I do things a little bit differently. I keep the central hook, but I use a cleaner single note-focused technique than the original. There’s also more emphasis on the harmonica in two different ways: mainly with playing the actual chords of the song in a more rhythmic way (which is Am, G, D, then back to Am) and I was given permission to actually play a solo right before the original guitar solo. For that, I stick to the 3rd position minor blues scale and improvise a solo within that scale. I do use a G harmonica like in the original too.

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Oh yeah, I totally get that his stuff is the typical playing. It’s just those in-between bends when he goes to a new set of notes with the home demos that just make it a bit more dynamic than your typical just multiple hole playing. Not sure how to really get that sound.

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Thank you! No worries!!

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For a lot of the techniques he and most of the people, who I dub as Bob Dylan clones (which they all play in the style of Bob Dylan) use, I actually recommend Ed Hopwood’s tutorial. Check out his channel, The Harmonica Barge, if you can because he focuses more on folk, bluegrass and acoustic style blues harmonica than most harmonica YouTubers which are more focused on traditional electric blues. I’m actually subscribed to his channel for his country harmonica tutorials (though it’s more traditional country than the stuff I grew up on).

As for the little growl, that is actually quite an uncommon technique. I couldn’t find an actual harmonica growl tutorial that actually explains how to do it as most of them are about double stops. Adam Gussow’s video being the worst one as he doesn’t explain the technique at all and denies that it exists. I actually made my own YouTube tutorial for harmonica growls a few years ago, but I need to make an update because my explanation for how I do it has improved so much since then. However, the way that I use growls in my playing is more aligned to the blues-influenced country and gospel sound from harmonica players like Terry McMillan.

Here’s Ed’s Bob Dylan Tutorial:

Here’s my (now outdated) video explaining my growl technique:

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Thank you so much :pray:

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So fun to hear all these demo’s. Man even the demo’s sound great. Tom played great stuff on the harmonica. Great tone, he could bend and it always elevated the song a lot. Thanks for sharing this!! And don’t demean yourself, You got this! :oncoming_fist:t3: