Goin' To The Woodshed: Rock n' Blues Harmonica Part II

Woodshedding is, from what I've been able to discern from copious reading in the "everything harmonica related" genre, harp talk for practicing. It probably shouldn't be used without ironic intent unless you're a real musician or you can trace your lineage back to Little Walter, Big Walter, or the lesser known Medium Walter. Come to think of it, indiscreet use of irony can result in some pretty painful consequences too. So, let's be careful out there.

I've already told you that the $17 you spend on Jon Gindick's RNBH will be well spent. It will give you a basic understanding of musical theory in about 30 minutes. You'll learn straight harp,
cross harp, slant harp and if you want to play Amazing Grace in twelfth position you can do that too. You'll learn to bend, warble, trill, gliss, vibrato, attack, decay, articulate and dozens of other things that I don't have the time to chronicle. It contains enough easily understandable riffs that you'll be able to accompany your guitar playing buddy within a few weeks and you won't have to repeat a riff before you get exhausted. It's 223 pages and has everything you need to know for at least the first year. But as much as I love the book, the real genius of RNBH is the Jamming Buddy. This is where you really learn to play!

The JB is a 74 minute CD that has Gindick (in his Dr. John soul voice) talk you through the lessons in the book to the backing of his band. The band plays a constant I-IV-V blues progression in the key of G (for your C harp) in 4/4 time. I don't understand exactly what 4/4 time is but for our purposes it means that the music is slow enough that we can play along. An that's just what we're going to do. Next.....

Harp Alert: Watch Out For That Key!

A short detour to address an issue that only those in the anti-authoritarian, "I'm smarter than you", rules are meant to be broken crowd will probably encounter. I'm an unapologetic member of this society. Benjamin Franklin, Eli Whitney, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein are a few of it's most august alums. Unlike me, however, they were really, really smart and had drive, dedication and a preternatural ability to envision a greater future for mankind. Me, I like to watch baseball until my eyes bleed. Dedication or pathological avoidance? It's all semantics. Either way, my discovery will rank below the invention of the light bulb and cotton gin but may save you a few minutes of frustration and a few million cilia in your inner ear.

To the point. Do not use a harp to accompany that doesn't match or compliment the key of the music! Ever! For 1st position A to A. For 2nd, count up four keys (including the key that the tune is being played in). In this case, music in the key of A calls for a D harp (A1, B2. C3, D4). I thought I'd practice with my new A harp on a roughly 200 mile drive today. The music was in the key of G. I knew this. I also knew it called for a C harp. But I wanted to get some time in on my A because I've been asked to bring it along on a surf trip next week. I didn't think it would make much difference. It did and my practice session lasted about 45 seconds. It was the aural equivalent of someone beating on a trashcan with a 2 X 4 a few bars into the Moonlight Sonata. Apparently the rules of musical accompaniment exist for reason. But that's why I'm here. I make the mistakes so you don't have to.

Harmonica Basics - Let's Play

You've got your C harp. It's rests gleaming and full of promise in your palm. The engraved silhouette of M. Hohner is staring you down from the cover plate, telepathically daring you to wail away. Right? Go ahead, I'll wait. If you just heard a sound that resembled a wolverine choking on a chicken bone you got an A harp by mistake. If it sounded like a sack full of alleycats at least you've got the right harp.

At this point we need the assistance of an actual harmonica player/instructor. You can opt for personal instruction if you have a qualified teacher in your area. I'm one of those people that likes to attain a degree of proficiency at a discipline before actually performing in front of another human. That leaves written and recorded lessons. In my usual obsessive manner I spent roughly 12 hours doing online research before finally deciding to order Jon Gindick's Rock-N-Blues Harmonica. RNBH offered by far the best quality to price ratio of anything I found. It turned out to be a very good choice.

The first thing you'll notice about RNBH is the cavemen. Yep, that's what I said. Gindick uses a fictitious band of troglodytes going through a series of musical progressions as a teaching device in the 200+ page workbook. Some people, who otherwise loved the book, were put off by this. A few felt patronized. If you have an adverse emotional reaction to Gindick's method then you're missing the point. We're here to learn something that is relatively difficult in the simplest manner possible. And anyway, I defy anyone to create an easily digestible explanation of basic music theory without the use of cartoon cavemen. In short, cavemen, good.

In the few weeks that I've had this book I've experienced what I would call a pretty miraculous degree of success. Next up I'll break it down by sections and also discuss the hidden gem included at the back of the book: The Jamming Buddy.