Adam George “Harmonica” Smith was the first Blues Harmonica Master that I got to meet, hear and play with in 1968, I’d been playing since 66’ only knowing 2nd position. That night he calls me up to do a harmonica duet, well we’re playing and Big Mama Thornton is singing! George Smith turns to me saying let’s switch harps so I did finding myself not being able to play his harp, but he kept wailing on my harp! He’s laughing at me as I’m trying desperately to find note’s to play but couldn’t! Afterwards I asked him to show me what he was doing and he said “I’m not gonna so you a got damm thing”!!! I couldn’t believe it as we were the only two Black Men in the club, well like Jr. Wells it put a fire in me more to wanna know about playing Blues Harmonica! George Smith was playing in 1st position that night so when we switched harps I didn’t know what was going on my Bluesharpbrother Lol! A few years later Blues Harmonica Master Cary Bell showed me how to play 1st position! Loved this video which speaks the truth and different ways to learn about the Blues Harmonica!!! Now Big Walter Horton was my mentor from 1974-77 but that’s another story!!!🎼🎶♥️🎤🎵👌🏿

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for that incredible story, Dr.! Wow. "I'm not gonna show you a godamned thing!" BUT: he got you up there AND let you put your mouth on his harp. That story is deep. The fact that you had direct contact with all three blues harmonica masters puts you in a category of your own. I got the chance to meet and hang out with James Cotton several times, and I got to see Jr. Wells and Carey Bell live, multiple times, along with William Clarke, Bill Dicey, Nat Riddles....I'm losing count. Nat was my mentor, but that is another story, too. Thanks again for weighing in here.

@DrDixonBhD

Жыл бұрын

Appreciate your kindness Adam as it’s truly humbling to have direct personal experiences with real life Blues Harmonica Master’s! I’ll forever be a student of the Old School because of Big Walter Horton and Muddy Waters who on my first meeting him he tells me to come up with the band on their first set, I’m in the dressing room with the band as their playing cards and talking trash. Muddy lays down his cards stands up and Sammy Lawhorn, Pinetop Perkins, Calvin Jones, Willie Smith and Mojo Buford all rise heading to the bandstand and Muddy turns to me saying “Come on son I wanna see what you can do”! It was my first time playing through a Super Reverb and a JT-30 as Mojo plugged in his microphone switched on the amp handing his mic to me. Muddy Waters turns to me called out “E”, this is the late 60’s as I pulled out my “A” harmonica as The Best Blues Band On The Planet broke into “Baby Please Don’t Go”!!! From that night on whenever The Muddy Waters Blues Band came to my hometown of Atlanta GA I got to set in with them and in 1976 I rode to Chicago with the band (Muddy would fly) I’m riding with Willie Smith, Calvin Jones and Guitar Jr. When we arrived on January 13th the sad news all over Chicago was that The Great Howlin’ Wolf had gone on to Blues Heaven. Nat Riddles, Adam oh how I would have loved to have known him! What a beautiful soul and awesome Blues Harmonica Master!!! While living in Chicago I got to play with Jr. Wells many times and of course Big Walter! From 1976-79 I got to play with The Who’s Who of then the Chicago Scene basically 7 day’s a week, Southside, Westside and the Gold Coast where on the rare occasion when Muddy Waters was in town from touring I got to watch Blues Harmonica Master James Cotton with The Muddy Waters Blues Band play songs from Muddy’s Grammy Award Winning “Hard Again” album and it was so freakin’ good that it brought me to tears! Muddy then calls me up after Cotton had blown the roof off the club “Quiet Knight” and Muddy breaks into “Long Distant Call”, Adam if it wasn’t for Big Walter Horton I was able to keep the roof that James Cotton had blown off from falling back down! Leaving the bandstand with Muddy, his arm over my shoulder saying “I’ve been hearing a lot about you here in Chicago and I’m proud of you son you got that Sound, a Voice with it”!!! Tone is what Muddy Waters was saying to me and it’s what we all aspire to in our love of Blues Harmonica!!! Adam Gussow you have inspired and helped thousands of harmonica players around the world with your awesome KZread channel!!! Keep Shakin’ ‘Em On Down my Bluesharpbrother!!!🎼🎶♥️🎤🎵👌🏿

I listened for many hours to Little Walter, James Cotton, junior world Sonny boy in the early 70s and that’s how I got good by listening

It took me five years to figure out that james cotton was playing straight harp on his high end playing. After that and learning 3rd position, i could fly.

I wish I knew about that book in '82 when I started playing - I didn't know anyone - I had to wait until youtube - Very grateful for teachers like you, Jason Ricci & Ronnie Shellist!

I think much of what has been missed during those times was discipline, not having the master there to really push you; but a new generation having to use their own discipline with the amount of resources given to them through books and other media. The best way of learning I think will always be hands-on experience and really getting a feel of your instrument and not being afraid to play around with new techniques

Tony Glover harmonica was an audio tape I had since about 1972. I came a cross a bootleg cassette in the closet last week but don't have a player. You are teaching me now. Tony and I didn't click without you. thanks

In 1967, I bought the book BLUES HARP by Tony "Sun" Glover. That got me started. I never had a lesson. That book instructed me. Within a year, I was playing (and singing, as I had always been a singer) with bands.

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

24 күн бұрын

I bought the same book in 1974. It got me going, too. It was mostly his hipster voice--knowing but friendly--and the players he pointed me towards.

Thanks Adam, I"ve been following you since I think 2009 or 2010, I learnt to play blues harmonica from you bub. For that thank you very much Adam, you are the Master / Journeyman and we are your apprentices out here.....

That’s the book I started with. With the marine band on the cover.

That same book got me started, learned to bend with it brother 🙌👊

That was some great history. Thanks for sharing.

I started my education just before the internet. It was still about listening to the old duffers who'd been out there a long time as a pro. I'm still learning from them and others daily. 25 years and I'm still obsessed and excited about harmonica music. Thanks Adam.

This is a great video of how I learned how to play clarinet. I had a teacher in elementary school. It was still kind of like a master apprentice situation but it was public school instruction. I’m 51 now and I’m just picking up the harp. And I found a teacher close to me.

I was taught by Joe Filisko in Chicago,and jammed with Shirley King ,BB Kings daughter on State street a few times after she heard me busking down the Chicago underground in 1993.I used to busk outside O Hare airport after Junior Wells horn players where you could make stacks.I saw Junior Wells twice in Chicago.I saw him also at "The Jazz Cafe",which was inspiring.

Adam, thank you for your insight and time... Many channels just want to "teach" a learner a thing or two blowing the harp. You go much further and give the viewer an appreciation for the background of the instrument as well. Once again, thank you!

@silkroad1201

Жыл бұрын

Which can be annoying when you just want to learn how to do something, and the guy goes on a 15 minute rant about how ancient Mongolians won a battle with a harmonica made of bamboo and mud

I'm a guitar player and a bass player I recently just picked up the harp. I am completely enamored with it. A girlfriend of mine gave me a c harp then I bought me a marine band and took off. I even got a chromatic and started messing with that. I still can't believe how fast I'm learning. I started playing electrified too. These videos are a huge help. Thank you my big 5 are Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells, Paul Butterfield, and Big Walter Horton.

@Viktor-wn2ch

2 жыл бұрын

I'm having a similar experience. Guess it becomes more easy when you know what you want the harp to sound like and know how to play guitar by your ears. Getting the hang of it sure requires practice though.

@hypnoticjazzincorporated2362

2 жыл бұрын

@@Viktor-wn2ch Yes it does my friend, it really does practice is paramount. I keep it in my pocket at all times and when I'm at work I play my harp when I get home I switch to my guitar or bass. It keeps a good balance of rotating the practice of both

@markjankowski2151

2 жыл бұрын

Nice one mate

I got my start with Tony Glover's 1965 book "Blues Harp". It helped that I lived in Minneapolis, and had heard Koerner, Ray and Glover play.

"Fathers and Sons," 1969, Muddy and Otis Spann with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, Duck Dunn, paid their dues and made friends with the legends, drank and smoked and played in dangerous dives with no guarantees. Tony Glover, Dave Shaker Ray, Spider John Koerner - classic, mostly acoustic folk blues album Koerner Ray and Glover.Tony's book was the first attempt at any formal written instruction for serious musicians intent on learning legitimate blues. Of course, he listed the essential records you needed to listen to, since most folks didn't live where the blues was played. Sonny and Brownie in Chicago, around 1969, lit the fuse.

I learnt to play harmonica by first playing along to beatles "love me do" at around 16 or 17 yo..then i specifically went out to 2nd hand record shop looking for music with harmonica on the front cover. Got lucky and spotted "Blues Alone" by John Mayall..my first blues record ( which I still have). Then realised I needed help. Went and bought a harmonica book by a guy called Tony Glover..had a flexi disc record and all. I had bends and trills down in the first week, I remember. Luckily my brother played guitar and we figured out what harp, went in each key. That was back in the early 80s in highschool. I still love the blues to this day. I can't believe how easy stuff is to learn these days. But there's something said for doing the old way, just listening to records and trying to emulate what your hearing..gives you a better appreciation for the music...

Me not knowing how the gate keepers work. This story totally changes my understanding of an interaction I had with a Harp player when I was 15. Should have known this before I talked to him. Missed opportunity I am afraid. Thanks for providing a place for an old guy like me to revisit an earned form of expression and make it better. Now I will wonder about that moment 30 years ago in a different way.

@hilariousname6826

Ай бұрын

Yeah, it got me thinking back to a few 'missed opportunities' .... But, to be fair to my younger self, I was hustling trying to feed my kids and keep a roof over their heads; I didn't really the time to chase around after harp masters ... !

Amazing subject matter and an amazing lesson. So unique.

I was fortunate to have 2 masters take me under there wing, I learned more in one Summer than I did in a year on my own.meet them both the night i went to my 1st blues jam. I will never forget the 1st time I was on stage.

Wow, you're right about that Blues Harp book by Tony Glover. I learned from reading that book in the early 1970's. I lost the book long ago and had forgotten the title. It was just like you said! I would then go to blues concerts and see the likes of Sonny Terry, Charlie Musselwhite, Paul Butterfield, John Mayall, and Corky Siegel. The rest I learned by jamming with amateur blues guitarists. One of my favorite songs for rhythm guitar, harmonica and vocals was Walkin' Blues by Butterfield. Don't know exactly why but that tight arrangement stuck in my head. Thanks for the fascinating presentation!!

Your storytelling is as good as your playing, top notch inspiring,thanks so much!

I remember a book by Tommy Morgan how to play the blues back in the '70s. That's where I learned all about the vibrato and how to do it excellent explanation as you are as well Adam.

Theres another book"The Harp Handbook" by Steve Baker.This is good about the US and UK blues scenes,pre-war and post-war.Sam Peckinpah had lots of good harmonica in his Soundtracks.

in that book, Tony told us to put your harp in water to make it sound louder, not suggested nowadays.

Great video Adam! I like the dispatches you do that are not just about how to play but about the life around blues harmonica, it's history, the philosophy and so on.

Thank you Adam for keeping Harmonica Blues alive..I bought all your lesson (package deal) on your web site...I'm learning songs feels good to have tabs and a teacher to talk and play as they teach...i think time, patients, and practice is all I need now. fyi I got that PC for the lessons

I’m 16 and learning harp. In my whole life I haven’t met a single other person who plays blues harp. But I watch you, Tomlin Leckie, Jason Ricci and a few others

I'm 17 years old I've got a mix of Old school and new school, I've Got a few old heads teaching me how to play. Feels Good to know I'm still being thought the same way they were thought back in the day!

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

3 жыл бұрын

The old heads are invaluable--but at some point you'll have to head out on your own and test what they've taught you against the realities of the world. Usually some updates are needed.

Awesome video. .. i bought that same harmonica book when i was 15 or 16... it was a lot harder to learn harmonica back then... Ive been watching your videos since your first uploads... you've helped me a lot.. thank you Adam..

Thank you for giving of your time and knowledge. Respect from Louisiana

You don't just give info but present it with the personalized touch of the original mentor method explained here. Great style🤟

Definetly, nowadays we got way more harmonica materials and speacially these kind of valious informal talks you are bringing in. Thanks Gussow

One of my favorite videos! Thanks for asking!

Sure am glad we live in an age where I download your lessons and you don't give me a hard time about it!

Thank you master Adam! I play harmonica for my soul and try to learn best I can. I watch a lot of your and some others videos but I also try to playing by ear. The more I play, I realized how much I dont know to play! :-) Thank you for your teaching, for your KZread videos and God bless you! All the best from Serbia!

He didn’t teach him anything, he motivated him, which is worth a lot more. Just because a man is taught doesn’t mean he will apply it, but if a man is motivated he will teach himself AND apply it. Nothing can stand in the way of someone who’s driven.

@anoicinfo4414

2 жыл бұрын

If threatening a child with getting his throat cut with a knife is such a Great motivation to learn, why isn’t it used in schools and universities? Probably because it is horrible child abuse. Sonny Boy Williamson 2 was obviously a mean old drunk.

Great answers Adam)

Obviously this survey doesn't mention every key player in the evolution of blues harmonica teaching in the past five or six decades. In the longer talk I gave at NIU, from which this mini-lecture is drawn, I talked about Billy Branch, who has been hugely influential in spreading the blues harp gospel to school kids in Chicago for the past 30 years, and Joe Filisko has been teaching weekly classes there for years. And of course there are the books: Richard Hunter's JAZZ HARP was innovative. If you search Amazon books for "blues harmonica," you'll be reminded how important Winslow Yerxa"s BLUES HARMONICA FOR DUMMIES and HARMONICA FOR DUMMIES are. David Barrett has written many indispensable blues harmonica instructional guides. Tommy Morgan, Steve Cohen, Tom Ball, Steve Baker, David Harp. In the dot.com era. J. P. Allen and Ronnie Shellist. Please use the comments section to fill in the history. What were some other influential blues harmonica instructional books from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s?

@chrisjaybecker

7 жыл бұрын

Tony Glover's "Blues Harp Songbook," Gindick's books, especially his "Rock and Blues Harmonica" Caveman book, and Charlie Musselwhite's "Blues According To Charlie Musselwhite" book. Glover's "Songbook" and Charlie's book even came with those little acetate demo records!

This is very cool Adam. Learned from Curtis Salgado and traded what I should have never had for harp lessons. Went on to work, stay, and tour with R.L. Burnside 1981 - 1994. And, at times Eddie "Guitar" Burns, Robert Belfour, and others. And, yeah Tony Glover's "Blues Harp" was "it." But, it wasn't until I met Curtis when he was with Robert Cray that I began to really play the harp. And, you're right about finding a living, breathing player to really "get" what you're after. "Human to Human transmission." Like you said.

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

Жыл бұрын

I've never met Salgado or seen him live, and I regret that. I've heard from everybody who has seen him live that he's scary-good--the class of the field. You're lucky to have had that experience. Eddie Burns & Robert Belfour are serious old-school. So you've had the professional training!

@jonbeckleymorrisblues

Жыл бұрын

@@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726 Yes Adam the "performance training" is I believe necessary to really play well. As, you know personally with Satan. Around the early years learning from Curtis I was able to apply it in coffee houses playing with Eagle Park Slim from near East St. Louis. (Autry McNease) This was in Eugene where we both had moved to. Though I can still be better at everything harp, guitar, piano--at least I feel I studied it all the best way--including going to Blues jams even still on occasion. I could never have figured out how to play harmonica the "right way" with R.L. Burnside for all those years 81 to 94, some in 99 without Curtis' help. And, he really is good. He's a great singer. He still helps me get better today. And, now I'm showing him 4th, 5th positions. Scott Barretta is helping me with a writing project down there. And, I'm in contact with Dave Evans and Jim O'Neal on occasion. It would be great to speak to you, or email you so I'm including my email. Lou Erlanger who produced ACOUSTIC STORIES and WELL...WELL...WELL the 2 Burnside CD's I'm on playing harp and some guitar told me about you years ago. I know you've written a book about your days with Satan. That's great! My email is: jonbeckleymorris@gmail.com Good hearing from you.

I'm 46 and after 33 years of playing the guitar have decided to learn to play the harmonica. I know a good teacher or a bad teacher in any subject when I see one and you Sir are a brilliant. This lesson on history has really filled in a space in my mind that has made learning the harp quite serious. I look at my harmonica in a different light. A more serious view with substance and history. I would just like to say thank you for taking the time to make the videos you do and may I just say you are a great player. I only hope that one day I may be able to play one competently. All things take time and effort I know that and with your help I feel like I have someone by my side. Just to add. "Blues Harp" Book, Ordered. I'm less than the apprentice, but if you the Master says the book is the one.. Then it's the one..

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad to have shed a little light on the subject.

@harryvernon4850

7 жыл бұрын

You are more than welcome Sir. Again, Thank you so much.

@rocowolf918

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much.

How far it's come in such a short time. Great story!

Thank you!! Great discussion by a great blues player.

Don't forget J J Milteau here in France. His material is great :)

Love your stories and lectures. Guess what I found last week in a used vinyl shop? "Harp Attack!" for $4.75 CD! Going back and buying more next week.

Outstanding... Thanks for sharing.

Fantastic story, I some sort of the same thing with a great bluesharp player John La Grand ...hahaha,... best thing he did, he said... "Sodemieter op man,ik heb het ook allemaal zelf moeten doen"...

Adam, I had the same book in 1973 and tried to learn to play on my own. I believe the book came with a record in the back . I could not get it. I was 16 when I tried to learn but I did not get it until 2 years ago when at 57 I picked up my old marine band and found your gracious teaching videos and I got it. Thank you for all you do.

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

7 жыл бұрын

Yes, at least one version of the book had a tear-out super-thin vinyl record. My original 1974 version did not, but I'm sure you're right. There was a second book, BLUES HARP SONGBOOK, I believe, that had a record. There's also a big LP with a blue version of the original cover; I've got it. Great point, though.

John Sebastian has a good DVD instructional video learning system. Annie Raines did Blues Harmonica Blueprint. I ordered Blues Harp by Tony Little Sun Glover, which is not available in CD but I bought the book because I don't want to miss anything you did.

That hazy thing you talked about is so true through my life and my children and grandchildren,best way to learn 👍🎶

@Phil144gbp

Жыл бұрын

Anything

cheers Adam, I Really Enjoyed this Video

In 1970 I went to a "Blues Night" at the Nite Cap Lounge in Brooklyn. Paul Oscher was playing harp and on a break I was playing some. He gave me 3 'tips' - 1. Keep your hands open for volume 2. Always 2 draw, never 3 blow 3. Stop listening to country music. I couldn't obey that 3rd one because I was already playing banjo and would be playing pedal steel guitar in a few years. I also met Blackie Shackner once. He worked at the big Library. I should have pursued Oscher.

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

3 жыл бұрын

I knew Paul fairly well; he was an occasional figure at the Dan Lynch jam sessions in the 1980s, and we traded the blues harmonica teaching gig at the Guitar Study Center. I visited his classes several times. He had his own style, a sort of Wolfman Jack autodidacticism that made him a figure of great mystique for those who took his classes. I don't get the "stop listening to country music thing," and it's worth pointing out that Bobby "Blue" Bland and Muddy Waters both loved and sang/played country music.

@elcoh

2 жыл бұрын

I do remember the Night Cap!

Hi, Adam. I met you here in Clarksdale at Levon's when you were playing there recently. I'm from Houston most recently. I really enjoyed this video. I had almost forgotten the book I read so many years ago, Blues Harmonica by Tony Glover. I bet I still have it laying around somewhere. Also, I had wanted to talk to you about your classes on Southern Culture. Years ago, I tried and tried to find some kind of formal structured program to study the blues. I'll be heading to Oxford soon to spend time in the library. Thanks again for being you. ron

Brilliant video,i am hopefully emerging out of a very severe depressive episode so have not been able to practise much.However i watch your videos and love the website too,but this video has a lot of really good advice and information in it.One particular thing(hobby) etc can open up many strands of thoughts and ideas.Really interesting stuff thanks Adam :)

I still have my copy of the book and record.

I "learned" and was inspired by listening to Mayalls Room to Move. I bought an F# harp from fullerton music (ca) the day Lee Oskar happened to be visiting the store and he showed me off some of his harps. The store owner seemed agitated, Lee said dont worry I'll replace the ones I blew on, but I think the owner was more worried about his wife who seemed past the point of starstruck... I tried a book by Tom Ball but couldnt get into it despite the thoughtful exposition. So I am dependent on just listening to songs I like and trying to copy. And all the great videos by Adam, Jason, Will Wilde, Sankey, that guy in the trailer explaining overblows, and Filisko. Hope to find a teacher soon!

Great info. Thx for sharing. Just snagged a copy of Blues Harp on eBay. Can't wait to thumb through it. Now I just need to find a face-to-face master.

I'm 67 and learned Black Sabbath Wizard, Cream Spoonful and John Mayhall Room to Move. 50 yrs ago. Those are the only 'songs' I ever learned. I just played to and for myself all those years. But, I got good enough improvising that I have been invited to sit in with several pro bands.

very good . i love this kind of stuff .

My master was Jerry Portnoy, and we taped each lesson on cassettes

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

7 жыл бұрын

I did exactly the same thing with my teacher, Nat Riddles. Still have the tapes.

important video and love the story

Old thread but still pertinent. Answer: Records as in LP's, trial and error, occasionally you ran into somebody who knew something

Oh gosh. Just look at my last vid. Learned from Adams video. He's made me cool. Keep watching Adam. He's great. I'm going to have to sign up for some lessons from him.

Tony Little Sun Glover's book and a Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee album (I'm thinking it was a 78 sized LP) 1978 or so. I had taken some guitar lessons, later learned blues guitar from a Stefan Grossman book and LP combo.

love this thanks!

I was given a book by Tony "Little Son" Glover;"Teach yourself Blues Harp",by one of my Grans flat tenants in 16 Oakley street,Chelsea,now sadly out-of-print.In America there must have been much more radio stations to listen to as well.

@robbiefrantz8170

24 күн бұрын

@@Harmonicamatt2 I bought this book in 1967 and it was my instructor. Fabulous book. Can't praise it highly enough. I had always been a singer and was the lead singer and front man of a band at Penn State University, though I had so knowledge of the guitar as well as bass guitar through lessons as a child. It familiarized me with many music theory concepts.

@Harmonicamatt2

24 күн бұрын

@@robbiefrantz8170 Theres another good book;"The Harp Handbook",by Steve Baker.Sam Peckinpah always had lots of good harmonica on his film soundtracks.

Thought inspiring and insightful. Makes all the sense ine world. For every other thing in life I got "good" at, I always had a human master of relative sorts. Why would playing harp be any different I ask myself.... The truth. Thanks for all your hard work.

Just play. That’s what i did. Simple chords on guitar and finding harp key that matched, even if you had to primarily draw, or blow, for your song/melody you made-up. And, i played along w/ harp solos on records or on radio. Or, u play along with a guitar or piano player. To me, for me, it’s like Ringo who listened and played to the song. He did not know sheet-music. He used his feel, his pocket, his fills…for the song’s benefit.

how about teaching me, I am 73 and love the harp, I will travel to learn, been watching videos for quite a while but having a hard time learning by myself

Finding a blues harmonica mentor is tough but then again how hard are we really looking

Cool video i need to go too more blues clubs

Your videos are great, your learning style is great ! and I see you have a lot to teach about life , that is my style.I would like to be the grasshopper, can you be my master , and pass down all of your knowledge .

What about LPs. I learned quite a bit from blues albums. Just thought I’d mention that. Thanks for your great lessons.

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

9 ай бұрын

Yes, 95% of my early learning was from copying LPs. I've still got pretty much all of them. At some point I'm going to do a series of lessons about them.

Oral transmission, to me, is truly something deeper and more intense/ real. Obviously not to say you can't learn something in several other ways but, I dunno, seems almost 'mystical'. BTW, thanks for the history lesson!

I have studied mixed martial arts for 42 years. Harmonica player since 1969. There are great martial arts teachers and some real punks. Just like harmonica players. I once gave after a show a compliment to Rod Piazza. Punk...rude...cocky...did I say punk. Its All Good

As a martial artist, hearing the story of Sonny Boy and Junior reminded me of many Master-Apprentice "introductions". Many a would-be student has had the door slammed in his face by the master...often more than once. It's a way of testing one's dedication, weeding out those who aren't truly serious. In a world full of people who would have taken Sonny Boy's words to heart and given up, kudos to Junior for turning that rejection into fuel. On top of all the different permutations of Master-Apprentice relationships, one cannot overstate the importance of comping, another tool in the pre-digital age...and today. If one's ear and basics are solid, it's amazing what one can learn by just sitting in a room and listening to "the good shit" again and again, sometimes just a few seconds at a time, "Building your vocabulary by studying and emulating the great poets." Of course, when it comes to that human-to-human connection in the digital age, formats like Skype and Facetime, while not in the same room, offer one-on-one real-time interaction...for those with the time and money for such lessons. Otherwise, I know I've said this before, but I will never be able to thank you enough for all you given away via KZread and www.modernbluesharmonica.com.

Thumbs up!

hi Adam I love your channel I'm going on a year since I first picked up my harp and i haven't put it down since. My question to you is how do I find a master harp player to learn from where are some places I might wanna look? I live in Albuquerque nm

@ER-me1ii

7 жыл бұрын

Albert Segura go online. Lots of guys teach via skype. Unless you live in a place like Austin. Then it's easy to find one. Michael Rubin is a great teacher. Tell him I sent you. Google him.

Fantastic Video Adam. Gave me alot to think about. Ill tell Steve Guyger to blame you when I start following him everywhere. 8^)

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

7 жыл бұрын

He's definitely a good choice for a blues harp master. I still remember the first time I saw him, in 1985. I saw about three feet away, directly in front of him. He was a badass, even then. I think he'd just come off the road with Jimmy Rogers.

@killahertz257

7 жыл бұрын

Guyger has an incredible tone. He is Amazing. Dennis Gruenling is another player thats within a few hours. Its just hard to spend that kindof time watching and learning from a player like that ... all while working a full time job. Especially if you have to drive an hour or two just to get to them. Guess the only solution is to quit my job and live in Jason Ricci's basement. He & Kate would be cool with that right?

@b.l.u.ea.s.m.r6672

7 жыл бұрын

Gussow's classic blues harmonica videos Thank you Adam. I hung on to every word! I remember you told a story once where you said that harmonica cant be written exactly. where you had a couple of drinks in you and you were trying to figure out A Rythm technique in a Book kinda like Ah Eah Ah Eah and you figured it out. sound Familer Friend. Thank you for this

THANKS YOU GOODNESS 🌟❤️🖤💚🤎 FAMILY DAPHNE COTTON ALWAYS 💜,

one important resource in the 60s-70s was Tony Glover's Blues Harp book.

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

3 жыл бұрын

Yes! I got that when I began playing back in 1974 at age 16.

Can u make jazz harmonica tutorials please

Thanks for your input.I have watched your harp videos, they have helped me greatly on the harp. I mainly play guitar, drums and piano. Self taught, except for piano.It has always been; either you have it in you or you dont.All good musicians will not waste their time on someone that has not taught themselves about time signatures and intonation. Then they will take the time to show tou a few things.Until then they played WE.C Fields. Get away from me son you bother me. Case in point the best guitar that I ever knew took me under his wing until I played Jeff Beck "Led Boots"..

@jeffmiloanonimity5758

3 жыл бұрын

There is a great book. I cannot remember the name. Was about Motown and the race riots. Black musicians would put their lives on the line to protect their white musician friends.

@jeffmiloanonimity5758

3 жыл бұрын

I lived in Austin for 10 years. Everyone wanted to play withe Double Trouble. SRVs band. kzread.info/dash/bejne/hWlhs7Gon5SeqLQ.html. Me on the guitar. My friend was drunk and called her his whatever and played it. My friend, her drummer wanted me to sing it but she has a grand eggo..

@jeffmiloanonimity5758

3 жыл бұрын

One more addendum. SRV played in Lou Ann Barton's band. He never sang on stage until that b didnt show up for a gig one night and he sang. The rest is history.

I got some basic lessons from a David Barrett beginner series and then I was just copying licks of the record

I kept dropping that needle back to the beginning of Roller Coaster and Whammer Jammer. I asked James Lincoln Gordon (in my high school) - check him out if you can find him on YT. I played whatever I was learning over and over, trial and error to get the sound.

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly. That's how I learned. Beating my head against the recording, again and again, until I began to get a lick or two. Check and recheck what I was playing against the original.

Sonny seems like a real gent...

Can someone Please send me photos or pdf of this book? Because where i live this book is priced around $35 and I cannot pay this much.

Yeah, people used to talk to each other face to face. Nothing against the internet but you wouldn't believe what a hard time I've had getting people to play music with me face to face. I'm not some kind of a🤬hole or anything. I'm a nice enough person. But music is a social thing. People are supposed to do it with each other. So many musicians either think they're not good enough or maybe they think they're too good to play with you and they just want to sit on their own and play their own music their own way. But that's not how you learn. Get out into the real world every once in a while. Meet people. Play music. Make love. Live.

Teach me sir, where are you?

Beginning riff?

Hey man. Hope you remember me, I live in Egypt and you know there's not much harmonica going on around here. I learn from online resources and I am sure that they are by no means enough. So I was wondering if you could give me any advice or alternatives for finding a living breathing mentor.

Wow. That is some story told by Junior Wells.

@anoicinfo4414

2 жыл бұрын

Sad story. Another creepy old guy abusing a child.

Reaching for Tony Glovers book brought some sweet memories back because that book was the only key I had to unlock blues harp door in spirit as well as playing. Love those photos. King Biscuit outside in a dirt field, and it's hot as shit too I bet. But it's a good gig. I'll just repeat what sonny boy said to the yardbirds whilst touring with them , " They want to play the blues so bad, and they play the blues so bad! "

I still have Butterfield book

@Phil144gbp

Жыл бұрын

Never had CD

Started playing in '75. Imitated LP's. That's it. Had a buddy who was a good player. Encouraged me but simply told me. You gotta teach yourself by feel. No such thing as a harmonica teacher.

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

6 жыл бұрын

I was self-taught for the first 10 years, but then I met a guy, Nat Riddles, who transformed my playing by showing me a few key things that I couldn't have figured out on my own. So I'm a believer in doing the hard work by yourself, but I also think that a good teacher can make a huge difference.

@donschmitz2412

6 жыл бұрын

I had the same experience actually with a single lesson from a very good harp player who is totally self taught. He specializes in old timey stuff. He drew a diagram of a harp with all the bends. I had been playing for years and I didn't even know how many draw bends were on each key. When I was 9 I heard a blues harp song on the AM (was no FM) radio and was blown out of my chair. I told my parents that I wanted lessons. My Dad went to the local music store guy who was a straight up blues guy. He sold harps and he owned a record store as well. Remember the days they were always combined? Told my parents the same thing, "No such thing as Harp lessons. Gotta teach yourself." He sold them a Marine Band for $4.50 and I was totally baffled by it. If the friggin' guy had simply sold them a blues harp record at that time, I think I would have started. Shame and it just doesn't make sense that he didn't wanna simply make the sale of an album. So of course I agree with you. But where I lived there was no true harp players that would have taken me on especially at 9 years old. Began playing with an obsession at 17. Muddy, Little Walter. Charlie Musselwite, Butterfield, Magic Dick etc. Saw all those guys multiple times in small venues. We bought up the discount racks. Unfortunately that's where the black blues guys pretty quickly ended up - on the discount rack. I remember the white guys like us started making bucks and I was kinda pissed. Felt the black guys got ripped. On the other hand white guys started banging and listening to the blues. I also remember listening to 'rock.' Years later I realized it was straight up blues.

I started learning by "insult" then found Justin Quinn for face to face and your youtube channel 10 years ago, thank God! the downside is harps cost too much now

@chrisjaybecker

7 жыл бұрын

In 1980, Special 20s cost $10.95 but Lee Oskars cost $35. That was scandalous! My first Chromonica cost $50.

Hey Adam! Truly amazing all your videos are. A true inspiration. What are your thoughts on learning the Harmonica from scratch as an adult? In music education, there is this "vibe" that only young kids and maybe teenagers can truly learn an instrument because their brains are more malleable. Just curious how you feel about learning instruments not as a kid.

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

7 жыл бұрын

I've had quite a few older students who've started from scratch. I think that it's not that different from starting as a younger person. If you've got the fire in you, you can do it. I had one student who started from scratch at my current age (58). He took my beginner's class (6 students) at the Guitar Study Center in NYC. Within two years he was playing in TWO bands and making money at it. He used to talk about how obsessed he was. "I play when I'm on the can," he said.

I truly hope nobody sees that type of instruction as valid anymore, referring to Sonny and Junior. I've taught in other disciplines and that type of toxic authority has no place. Trust, diligence, sincerity, involvement, commitment, creating challenges, motivation, assessments, modifying, building up, are all teaching/mentoring skills. The greats will become great and with the right instruction everyone else can excel, open new pathways, and spread their passion to others. Weed em out and toughen em up is weak garbage.

@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726

2 жыл бұрын

Have you read Joseph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey"? All the words you use are great; I admire them. But they're historically conditioned and reflect a far more rationalized E-school perspective than I think you realize. What you're smugly dismissing as "toxic authority" and "weak garbage" may not be certified by the FDA, but I've played with Larry Johnson and Sterling Magee, and those men, who came out of that school of hard knocks, carried both a fierce rage and a trickster's wisdom that would have laughed, richly, at many of your terms--even as they played incredibly powerful, nuanced, kick-ass music. Sincerity? Sure: you better believe I'll kick your ass. Assessments?!?! If you can't play, get the fuck out! Building up?? Never. That won't toughen you for the road ahead. I can't speak about how they teach jazz ensemble performance at the Eastman School, but I do know how serious blues guys communicate what the music is about, and the term "opening pathways," if I had dared to use it during the days and years I sent with those men, would have earned me an angry laugh, then a groove that forced me to step up to the plate. I have many teaching stories. Your pedagogical vocabulary can't begin to contain or account for them. This isn't to say that they're without value, just that they offer an incomplete, inadequate account of what the music, and education into the music, is about.

@therandomstorebox

2 жыл бұрын

@@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726 I am surprised and appreciative that you took the time to respond to my post. You have over a decade of high quality detailed and nuanced videos posted for everyone in the world to see. Your channel has helped rich, poor, black, white, American, Brazilian, Eastern European, men, women, young and old all learn to play harmonica; to express themselves musically through a style that hits them in the soul. Your workshops are first rate, patient, and enabling despite background of participants. The methodology and technique of your teaching implies more than doing this to pay the bills. You're also a university professor. Despite coming from the school of hard knocks it seems you have seen the error in that pedagogical style, maybe not in your youth, but as demonstrated now. Truthfully I only wrote that in case there was a young 14 year old who came to this page looking to find a teacher and didn't have the vocabulary to know what a good teacher looks like. I'm not dismissing the skills of the the guys who came from that system, but it has long since passed it's hayday; if someone has the passion they don't need to be toughened up, they need to be lead.

@anoicinfo4414

2 жыл бұрын

I respect old blues players for developing the music under difficult circumstances. If some exhibited bad behavior, well, that’s in the past. Their methods of teaching would generally be considered abusive. I don’t think today’s learners need to be “toughened up” in order to play great music. Unfortunately many great musicians suffered childhood abuse. That is terrible. The KZread harmonica community is great.