New Blues Harmonica Lesson

Fri, 11/22/2013 - 4:45pm
Written by AW
Topics: harmonica, Howard Levy

blues harmonica lesson

Greetings, we've got a new harmonica lesson up: "Blues In A - On a C Harp". Click on the image to have it open in a new window, or find it in the Advanced or Jazz lesson areas. 

Harmonica Heroes on NPR featuring Howard Levy

Wed, 11/20/2013 - 10:56am
Written by AW
Topics: harmonica, Howard Levy

harmonica show on npr

Howard Levy was recently featured on the NPR program "The Colin McEnroe Show" along with some other great harmonica players including Don DeStefano, Chris DePino, Trina Hamlin, and Ryan Hartt.

This is a really cool show that gets deep into the history of harmonica and tackles topics like diatonic vs. chromatic, female harmonica players, different genres of harmonica music, and a whole lot more.

Click here to listen to the show on NPR!

Playing Harmonica 7/8 - Intermediate Lesson

Sun, 11/17/2013 - 8:33pm
Written by howard
Topics: harmonica, Howard Levy

harmonica lesson - playing in 7/8 time

Sometimes the concept of playing in "odd time meters" can be intimidating. In this informal lesson, I try to show some easy ways of playing in 7/8 rhythm. 7/8 is a very common time meter in Eastern Europe, parts of the Middle East, and is getting more and more popular in music in general. Once you understand how to divide the 7 beats into two 2's and and a 3, it becomes much easier to play and to improvise in this time meter. You can find this lesson in Intermediate and in the Indian/Middle Eastern/Eastern European area (or just click on the picture).

G Dorian Blues- Intermediate Harmonica Lesson

Sat, 11/09/2013 - 2:31pm
Written by howard
Topics: harmonica, Howard Levy

harmonica lesson on g dorian blues

This is a great tune to learn for many reasons. It uses the Dorian Mode for the 1,4, and 5 chords. The melody has a slightly mysterious feeling to it - it's easy to play, there is a .pdf document of the melody and chords in standard music notation AND harmonica tab (!), as well as a backing track to play along to. It is a different way to play the Blues and will introduce Blues players to the modal Jazz approach in a very simple and direct way. Find it in the Intermediate Harmonica area (also the Jazz area), or just click on the picture to jump right to it.