How to Play the Blues Harp
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Beyond Blues
It is possible (only slightly of course) that you may not be interested in playing blues or you may be unsure or you may want to take the harmonica further.
I can thoroughly recommend this compilation put together by French Harp maestro J J Milteau which opens up your ears to the wide range of musical expression of which the harmonica is capable.
It includes blues classics such as Sonny Terry's "Lost John", Sonny Boy Williamson's "Trust My Baby", Little Walter's "That's It" and Big Walter's "Christine". It then goes on to the theme from "Alfie" by Stevie Wonder, through to Country music from "Orange Blossom Special from Charlie McCoy to De Ford Bailey's "Ice Water Blues".
It also includes a track by Toots Thielemans as well as "Body and Soul"played by Larry Adler with Django Rheinhardt.
I have had it in the CD player in my car for the past six weeks and I still haven't tired of it.
It's interesting that it has been compiled by a French harmonica player since, although the term "harp" is a contraction of "French Harp", there was a time when la belle France was not at the top of everyones' mind when it came to thinking of great harmonica playing.
Now, possibly due to the influence of M. Milteau, you can see some breathtaking performances on YouTube from French harp players. Here is a selection:
Christellester (and her bedspread)
Christelle Berthon aka Christellester first came to my attention on the US Harmonica players' bulletin board Harp-L. Since her first posting (in February 2008?)she has uploaded more than 100 videos. She's not really a mainstream blues player but she's very competent as well as being outspoken as this parental advisory clip clearly shows.
A lot of harp players would kill for her tone and fluency. Her take on Gary Moore's "Parisian Walkways" is a superb example (and the bedspread looks particularly nice.) Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely " is another tour de force. (What's the French for "Tour de Force?" I wonder)
Does she do blues? Try Cat Blues. Move over Jason Ricci!
It's interesting to note that she claims to play everything by ear and does not produce tab. This is to stop lazy harp players from pestering her for more information.
Yet another French diva of the harmonica is Rachelle Plas - here is her MySpace. and here she is with her quartet performing Orange Blossom Special. Fantastic! All she's missing is a bedspread.... You should also check out her take on Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke"
Jason Ricci is the Yngwie Malmsteen of the harmonica - there is blues in what he plays but he plays so fast he finds time to play a lot of other stuff at the same time.
If you haven't heard of him, you must be a real newcomer to the harp world. Here's a taste of him in full flight. If you haven't heard of Yngwie Malmsteen, look him up on YouTube and you will see what I'm talking about
No consideration of new directions for the 10 hole diatonic harp would be complete without mentioning Howard Levy whose video "New Directions in Harmonica" pointed the way to playing the diatonic chromatically.
Since releasing "New Directions in 1992, Howard has released a 90 minute DVD where he plays every single tune on a "standard" 10 hole diatonic. Here is a the promo video on YouTube.