I have worked on several blog posts on ‘great blues harp players’…which have tended to be those players who have since died.So I thought I would explore those who are still living and could be developing into one of those greats …but what criteria to use?
Our harp guru, Adam Gussow, stated his criteria for great blues harp players..so let me re-state:
ORIGINALITY. I call this the three-second test. If you turned on the radio and heard this player, could you tell within three seconds that it was them–assuming you knew their music to begin with? Lurking within what harp players call “tone” is the absolutely individuated voice, if you’re lucky enough to develop one.
INFLUENCE. Are the players in question central to the tradition of blues harmonica as it has emerged over the past 100+ years? Are they foundational in some way? Do they help modernize, consolidate, or conserve the tradition? Have they spawned imitators, including very good players who never escape their orbit? If you leave them off the list, has an injustice plainly been done? (John Lee Williamson changed the way everybody who came after him played harp. Billy Branch and Sugar Blue are, in very different ways, both the inheritors and modernizers of the Chicago blues harmonica tradition.)
TECHNICAL MASTERY. Does this player make music at a speed or with a complexity that sets him or her above the rest? (Little Walter in “Back Track” and “Roller Coaster,” James Cotton in “Creeper Creeps Again,” and Paul Butterfield in “Goin’ to Main Street” set a standard here, and Sonny Terry wins admission on the basis of pretty much any thing he’s every recorded. Sugar Blue raises the bar yet again. And please don’t forget DeFord Bailey.) Or, alternately, does this player have an extraordinary ability to hit the deep blues pitches, especially the so-called “blue third” that I discuss in many of my videos? (Junior Wells exhibits this sort of mastery.)
SOULFULNESS. In some ways, this criterion should lead things off. We’re talking about blues harmonica, after all, not basket weaving. We’re talking about an extraordinarily expressive instrument. The thing it seeks to express is a range of passions and moods, many of them very powerful and a few of them downright ugly. Does this player attack his or her instrument with ferocity that makes you shiver, or jump? Or with a late-night hoodoo-spookiness that makes you feel your own loneliness? Or with some magical combination of all those things that makes you cry? (Howlin’ Wolf makes the Top-10 list for obvious reasons; so does Rice Miller, a.k.a. “Sonny Boy Williamson II.” Rev. Dan Smith, who may be less familiar to you, is the definition of soulful)
RECORDED EVIDENCE. In order to earn a spot on one of the lists below, a player (or the partisans of a player) must be able to convince with the help of recorded evidence. Buddy Bolden was the greatest trumpet player ever to come out of New Orleans, many say, but he never made a recording. Obviously the best and most influential players can’t be fully summarized by 10 minutes’ worth of vinylized or digitized performances, and some players–John Lee Williamson in particular–don’t benefit from this exercise. Still, it has its virtues as a teaching tool and a way of guiding the conversation.
I think technical mastery is a good starting point, but without soul or feeling the harp player would not be my sort of player and without creative and innovative playing -which often comes out of technical mastery plus ‘feel’ for the song, then they also would not appear in my list.
So let’s start and see if you agree with some on my list. I will mainly let them play and see what you think. Of course there is a great spawning ground for harp players in the States, but I have to include some European players as they are also influential.
In some ways we are in a transition -some of those who played with the likes of Muddy Waters are now getting on ,such as the great James Cotton, so while placing them still towards the top of any list we can start to introduce some of the younger players who maintain the tradition, while exploring styles and crossovers for themselves.
Let’s be traditional and begin with those who experienced their formative years with Muddy Waters who always ensured he had a good harp player.
James Cotton (called Cotton by his friends) was born on the first day of July,1935, in Tunica, Mississippi. He was the youngest of eight brothers and sisters who grew up in the cotton fields working beside their mother, Hattie, and father, Mose. On Sundays Mose was the preacher in the area’s Baptist church. Cotton’s earliest memories include his mother playing chicken and train sounds on her harmonica and for a few years he thought those were the only two sounds the little instrument made. His Christmas present one year was a harmonica, it cost 15 cents, and it wasn’t long before he mastered the chicken and the train. King Biscuit Time, a 15-minute radio show, began broadcasting live on KFFA, a station just across the Mississippi River in Helena, Arkansas. The star of the show was the harmonica legend, Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller).
The young Cotton pressed his little ear to the old radio speaker. He recognized the harmonica sound AND discovered something – the harp did more! Realizing this, a profound change came over him, and since that moment, Cotton and his harp have been inseparable – the love affair had begun. Soon he was able to play Sonny Boy’s theme song from the radio show and, as he grew so did his repertoire of Sonny Boy’s other songs. Mississippi summers are ghastly, the heat is unrelenting. He was too young to actually work in the cotton fields, so little Cotton would bring water to those who did. When it was time for him to take a break from his job, he would sit in the shadow of the plantation foreman’s horse and play his harp. His music became a source of joy for his first audience. James Cotton’s star began to shine brightly at a very early age.
By his ninth year both of his parents had passed away and Cotton was taken to Sonny Boy Williamson by his uncle. When they met, the young fellow wasted no time – he began playing Sonny Boy’s theme song on his treasured harp. Cotton remembers that first meeting well and says, “I walked up and played it for him. And I played it note for note. And he looked at that. He had to pay attention.” The two harp players were like father and son from then on. “I just watched the things he’d do, because I wanted to be just like him. Anything he played, I played it,” he remembers. (Jacklyn Hairston)
After that illustrious start, he never looked back, working with Muddy Waters for 12 years before cutting out on his own -his awards and many recordings provide the evidence for a great and influential harp player.
Got my Mojo Working -with Muddy Waters
Dealing with the Devil -1995 -nice acoustic track
James Cotton and Sax Gordon 1992
Slow Blues:
Cotton won a Grammy Award in 1996 for the Traditional Blues Album “Deep in the Blues”
Jerry Portnoy was born in 1943 and grew up in the blues-drenched atmosphere of Chicago’s famous Maxwell Street Market during the golden age of Chicago Blues.
Wilson was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1951, but he grew up in Goleta, California, where he sometimes went by the stage name of “Goleta Slim.” He started with the blues in the late 1960s and was tutored by people likeMuddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Albert Collins, George “Harmonica” Smith, Luther Tucker and Pee Wee Crayton and was influenced by harmonica players like Little Walter, James Cotton, Big Walter Horton, Slim Harpo and Lazy Lester.
He now plays with the fabulous Thunderbirds
slow blues
Not a bad accolade to be called by Muddy Waters – “The greatest harmonica player since Little Walter”
Blue began his career as a street musician and made his first recordings in 1975 with legendary blues figuresBrownie McGhee and Roosevelt Sykes . The following year, he contributed to recordings by Victoria Spivey and Johnny Shines before pulling up stakes and moving to Paris on the advice of pioneer blues pianist Memphis Slim .
sugar blue,muddy,BB and Taj
Hoochie Coochie Man -Switzerland 1995
SB and Willie Dixon
Interview with Romanian Television
SB and Sunnyland Slim
He won a Grammy in 1985 for his work on the Atlantic album, Blues Explosion, recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Was born in 1947 . He has been playing with his band The Mighty Flyers since 1980 which he formed with his pianist wifeHoney Piazza.Their boogie sound combines the styles of jump blues, West Coast blues and Chicago blues. A great chromatic player.
Being British, I have to add at least one player from these islands -Paul Lamb , who was first influenced by Sonny Terry, who he had the pleasure to work with.
“The only difference between Paul Lamb and the great harmonica players from the States is that Paul doesn’t have a U.S. passport.”
– The Great British R & B Festival , Colne , U.K.
He has played with the likes of Buddy Guy and Junior Wells and was inducted into British Blues Awards Hall Of Fame
Here he is chatting and playing:
Playing in Denmark
Playing in the style of Big Walter Horton
and back again with his band, the Kingsnakes
This is the end of part 1 with part 2 coming soon where we shall look at players such as Mark Hummel, Rick Estrin, Steve Baker and Eddy Martin just to name a few.
Who would you put in your top 20 living blues harp players?
I did not forget Charlie Musselwhite, who I admire, but I have highlighted his playing in earlier blogs…but just to finish, enjoy one of his great songs -Christo Redemtptor
Apart from bending notes ,wah wah must be the next key ‘effect’ that belongs in the blues harp player’s basic toolbox. Many players can produce a wah wah effect but do not have the control to provide the variety of sounds that more advanced players can achieve. Adam Gussow, once again, provides those specific hints to give any learner the power to produce a really professional sound, with practice.
Just sit back and listen to the lesson. Following the lesson we can sample those players who have mastered the different wah wah effects , such as Sonny Boy Williamson II , Big Walter Horton and Sonny Terry . Lastly, pick up your harp, go back to Adam’s lesson and practice.
One of the best exponents of the wah wah effect on harp was Sonny Boy Williamson – particularly the first type illustrated by Adam:
With Sonny Boy II and ‘Your funeral and my trial’ have a look at his hand positions whn making his different wah wah sounds
Check out Big Walter Horton in the next video s he shows you many ways of holding the harp and what difference it makes to the sound , particularly wah wah.
This is Sonny Terry’s Hooting the blues -check out the variety of sounds he gets with his hand movements (see type three in Adam’s classification)
r
Sonny Terry helped Paul Lamb get started -takee a look at how the student progressed:
Some great wah wah in the middle and a little more teaching from Paul Lamb….
lYou might like to look at how other teachers approach the wah wah sound (but not as good as Adam for me)
Watch and listen to another teacher -Ronnie Shellist
Listen to others,watch others and just practice so that you develop ‘muscle memory’ and eventually you can get your own sound.
As reported in other posts on this site, there are many opportunities for beginners to learn the harp. We need now to explore some of the sites that give intermediate players some tips on techniques for bending, developing a good tonal range and playing in different positions just to mention three. I have selected some samples from the popular sites.
The intermediate draw bends (2′, 3′, and 3″) are more advanced techniques because it is difficult to hit them cleanly on pitch with good tone. It takes good diaphragm support, resonance, and control of your playing pressure. You need to develop your ear so you know the correct pitches and can easily recognize the note relationships. Repeat these patterns over and over, paying attention to distinguishing the bends in the same hole from each other. It’s good to use a tuner or a piano to check that your are hitting each note on pitch.
1 2
1 2′
1 2″
1 2′
Exercise for Hole 2 Bends
2 3
2 3′
2 3″
2 3′”
2 3″
2 3′
Exercise for Hole 3 Bends
1 2″
2 3′”
3″ 3′”
2 2″
1
Exercise for Hole 2 and 3 Bends
It is extremely valuable to play simple little tunes you are well familiar with utilizing the intermediate bends, because you know how each note should sound before you play it. For example, try it with “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, and try to make it sound good. Don’t forget that part, making it sound good. Don’t just stumble through the exercise quickly. Take your time with this or some other simple tune, and work to make it sound right, and good. Come back to practice like this from time to time, and see how well you’re doing. Don’t expect to get it sounding good right away, and don’t get discouraged because is “should” be so simple. It’s not easy to play simple things and make them sound good. It’s a major goal.
3 3″ 3> 3″
3 3 3_3
3″ 3″ 3″_3″
3 4 4_4
3 3″ 3> 3″
3 3 3 3
3″ 3″ 3 3″
3>
Draw Bend Exercise – “Mary Had a Little Lamb”
Here’s something a little blusier. As you get better at it, double up on each note and swing the beat. Repeat these each over and over, don’t just play it once and go on.
1> 2> 3> 3″
3′ 3″ 3> 2>
1> 2> 3> 3″
3′ 3″ 3> 2>
Exercise for Hole 3 Intermediate Bends
2″
3″
4>
4
5
4
4>
3″
Exercise for Whole Step Bends
Common Elements of Good Tone
Good harmonica tone sounds good with the rest of the music, and changes according to the demands of the musical expression.
Playing in tune. This includes draw bends, blow bends, intermediate bends, and overbends–all the note types.
Also, the tuning system used, such as equal temperament or just intonation or some compromise between the two, affects the tonal characteristics of passages and chords.
Resonance works with breathing to produce a loud or complex full bodied tone.
Effective use of vibrato works with the rhythm of the music to add variety and life to the sound of a note. Consistency of vibrato through the different note types can be a key to maintaining a cohesive tone through a passage, and mask the playing techniques used to create the note.
Consistency among note types in a passage contributes to the sense of a controlled and motivated tone.
Note types on the diatonic include:
Draws
Blows
Draw Bends
Blow Bends
Full bends
Intermediate bends
Overblows
Overdraws
Single-reed “valve” style closing reed bends.
Open airways, including the mouth and throat help get the thick round tone. Pinching of the air stream makes a note weaker and thinner and less confident.
Effective hand cupping techniques add resonance and variety and shape to the note. For amplified play, a tight hand cup fattens up the sound, makes the note louder, adds compression, and contributes to a powerful, edgy distortion. A leaky seal makes the note thinner, softer, more shrill, less biting. A poor cup around the harp and mic can be like playing an electric guitar with the amp turned off. A good tight cup is like turning the amp on.
Proper equipment for amplification enhances the sound production system–but the player is still the key. If you have poor acoustic tone, expect to have poor amplified tone as well. If you have good acoustic tone you have a chance to get good amplified tone, but you have to master those additional amplified tonal elements as well.
Proper amplification and electronic effects to work with the player’s tone to enhance the intended feel of the music. For example, if you’re going for a big fat full tone, don’t use amplification that emphasizes high notes and brittle or piercing sound. If you want to sound like a distorted electric guitar, don’t play through a clean rig like an SM57 through the PA. If you want a clean acoustic sound, don’t hold a bullet mic cupped tight and play through an overdriven guitar amp using effects pedals.
Even, consistent, and controlled volume (loudness) for all note types, blown, drawn, bent, or overbent. If your notes are not consistent or controlled as to how loud they are relative to each other, the result will sound chunky, choppy, and strained, and the sense of good tone will be greatly diminished.
Good use of dynamics consistently for all note types contributes to an overall sense of good tone. Dynamics is about controlling loudness, softness, and pulsing of volume, and about changes to the loudness–gradually, or suddenly, playing louder or softer, while keeping any pulsing heartbeat intact.
Good phrase-related tone adds a sense of cohesiveness and consistency to each phrase and to the music as a whole.
Effective use of variety, especially among musical phrases, to add interest, add spice, add color, and convey different feelings works together with the effective use of consistencywithin musical passages to become the work of musical art painted by the tonal palette and different tonal colors. If you can’t maintain tonal consistency within a passage, you cannot paint a smooth red stroke; if you can’t add variety to your tone, you can only paint in blue.
Effective use of the strengths of the differences among the note types–their individual voices and character adds variety and provides expressive capabilities. Elements you may wish to downplay for the sake of consistency sometimes, you may want to emphasize for the sake of expression or variety at other times.
Attention to the details of note attack, formation, sustain, and shaping is the key to controlling your tone.
Tongue slaps for note articulation can help thicken up the sound with brief chords and add punch to the rhythmic heartbeat of the music.
Controlled use of slurs to let in small amounts of air and sound from adjacent holes can thicken up the sound and add tension.
Effective use and control of difference tones generated with double-stops (2 notes at a time) can add to the overall sense of musical harmony or dissonance, and thicken up the sound with these created, extra notes. This is an advanced technique that requires very precise control over the bends of both notes when two notes are played at once to “tune” a third note that is automatically generated as a function of the frequencies of the notes being played. Control over difference tones is especially important for amplified play, where the created difference tones are much louder than during acoustic play.
Good musicianship in general contributes to the overall sense of good tone.
Description:
For INTERMEDIATE and ADVANCED INTERMEDIATE players. A zip file containing a video tutorial and PDF tab for the harmonica intro to Junior Wells’s and Buddy Guy’s “Early in the Morning,” from the HOODOO MAN BLUES album. Transcribed and adapted by Adam Gussow of Satan and Adam.
This is a special introductory lesson, priced at a special rate. (The tab sheet covers only five bars’ worth of music, but they’re a densely packed five bars.) The video takes extra time to explain the Gussow tabbing format. Players new to Modern Blues Harmonica will get a good sense of my teaching method; others will find a surprisingly challenging workout that helps them master a very useful 12-bar slow blues intro.
Technical challenges include 2, 3, and 4 draw bends and tongue blocking.
Harp key: D
Running time: 22:28
Another Modern Blues Harmonica production (www.modernbluesharmonica.com)
And some more insights for the intermediate player: find your space in a song…..
“Number and Arrow” system of notation– The “up” arrows indicate blow (exhale) notes and the “down” arrows are for the draw (inhale) notes- The little “b’s” under the bent arrows are flat signs. One “b” is a half step bend and two “b’s” are a whole step bend (as shown in the graphic below).The number and arrow system.
All riffs are played in the 2nd position– For more information on 2nd position, visit the General Overview section.
Use your own timing– Except for the triplet riffs, you can use your own timing with these riffs to make them fit into whatever song you are playing with. Listen to the sound file below the riffs to help get you started.
Problem with the hole 2 draw– If you have a problem with the hole 2 draw you can substitute the hole 3 blow until you have the ability to make the hole 2 draw come out correctly.
For Intermediate and Advanced players– you can add a 4 draw bend between the 4 blow and the 4 draw of the “Almost Blues Scale” riff. This will make it a complete one octave blues scale.
“Jam-To” Blues MIDI File– If you would like a quick, easy background song to begin jamming to, you can use the “Jam-To” MIDI File in “G” to try out the different riffs and ideas outlined here. Additional MIDI files are also available.
The next two rhythms are designed to teach your tongue to dance.
The “T” and the “K” sounds can create well-defined rhythmic accents that will enable you to play at high speeds.
The “T” sound creates an accent in the front of the mouth, and how the “K” sound creates an accent in the back of the mouth.
I like to think of the “T” and the “K” sounds as the harmonica player’s drumsticks. When you effectively learn to combine the two sounds you can increase your speed dramatically.
For tone you should really listen to Paul Lamb (see below) he spent some time with Sonny Terry and believes tone is what separates the musician from the harp player who can only play amplified.