Blues Harmonica Secrets Revealed (Gussow.003)

Clear, strong single notes (cont'd). 1 Hole Draw. The secrets of good vibrato.

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Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• blues
• harmonica
• harp
• lessons
• Satan
• Adam
• Gussow

[jorritsmit]

hmm i'm a beginner at playing the harmonica, but i've played sax for many years and i always use my jaw to play vibrato, but offcourse that makes sense with the reed on the sax. but the strange thing is that i used it on the harmonica too, automatically, and the strange thing is that it sounds perfect and i make the same throat movement as in the video too.

[KudzuRunner]

@jorritsmit: The difference between sax and harp, of course, is that sax players make all their notes on the exhale. Harp players make half their notes on the inhale, and when they're playing cross harp (the most common blues position) they play more than half of their notes on the draw, since the root, 3rd, 5th, and flat 7th are all draw on the strong lower and middle octave notes. The sort of vibrato I describe here--deep throat vibrato--is superior on the draw notes, I think.

[KudzuRunner]

@jorritsmit: .......(Part 2)....but on the higher blow notes, I've come to agree with you that jaw vibrato is superior.

[ArtofDreaming1]

By any chance do you have I want you and or sweet home chicago tabbed out exactly the way you play it on harlem blues. P.S any one reading this that doesn't Adam and satans Harlem blues should get IT!!!

[KudzuRunner]

@ArtofDreaming1: You know, I don't have that, but I really should. I'm glad you like that solo. It would be a b---h to tab, actually, because the timing is tricky. I'll make a note and do that sometime in the not-too-distant future.

[TanatakaCorpusDomini]

"common! shut up, amp!" super

[gxcope]

"come on, shut up, Amp!"..love it...

I feel like i owe you now...

great lessons...

i have sent several local blues musicians to this playlist...

[bottleofhatered]

ok so ive been learning how to play for the last few years, only in the past summer till now have i been searchin the videos on youtube to get some good stuff down. i guess what im trying to say is thanks for all the help, got lots to learn and im just scratching the surface of your lessons. oh and bravado, excelent ive been baffled as how to do it just as you were thanks for that as well.

[bluesologistdan]

I have been playing for over 20 years and have never broken down the anatomy or mechanics of of playing. Thanks Adam! I'll be back for more!

[deathoxy]

i am a novice harp player, and still struggling getting a good vibrato. Anyway, there seem to be a handful of widespread approaches to producing it: using diaphragm, throat, mouth or tongue. IMO, mastering them all would be a good idea. Thanks for inspirational video, Adam, and now it's time for me to go back woodshedding :P

[journeyquest1]

Your vibrato explanation didnt do it for me. I just started playing and have got the single notes, bending and some overblowing but yet to perfect these techniques. Vibrato is still a mystery to me.

[clrn2mt]

Adam! My problem is vibrato on blow notes. I can get that cool wavy sound drawing because the note is slightly bending and going back into clean. Maybe that is temolo, whatever. I want my blow notes to vibrato, not just shut on and off!

[terr3nce]

I love it, you are confirming how and what i play, people always ask me if i am playing "this or that" i reply, nope I am playing me :) your the best

[NickeyWhitfield]

So basically you're telling me to practice for 7 weeks.

[tcmzueck]

"In other words, I was going to do what meditators do when you come up against who you are, and what you are, and you just sit with it. You just confront exactly where you are, you don't try to hide from it, you just say, I'm going to do what I do, then I'm going to work on it."

You are awesome. And intense. I'm not kidding when I say these videos are sheer genius. I may not know much about harmonica, but I know you sure do. Thanks for this.

[skywardism]

I love that part about your student playing vibrato for hours.Funny yet dedicated too.Thanks for the passing on of knowledge. It's like discovering the personal ' feel'

[jaegermeester]

@ArtofDreaming1 I got a tab, the bad news is: it's the one from 'Adam Charlie' album don't know if it's the same (it's great though) and it's not digital. Also no time scale..if you'd really want it, I can see what I can do with a scanner. Another option is downloading the free program 'best practice' so you can slow it down and figure it out.