by: Kyle Vallone
My first harmonica instructor told me there are two ways to play blues harmonica. One is with your head and the other is with your heart. When you wrap your mind around that statement, it is like anything in life. You have a technical side and an emotional side of almost anything you are confronted with.
Playing the blues using your head
There are many fine books and DVDs that will show you how to play blues harmonica. They will show the 1-4-5 cord structure and the correct notes to plug into the correct cord. You can learn to play a song note-for-note or a lead pattern note-for-note. I have seen many a harmonica player whip out note-for-note versions of many blues classics. These are all incredibly important things that you must learn. But they only tell part of the story. The real challenge is how you make playing the harmonica personal to you and communicate that to the audience.
Playing the blues using your heart
To really understand the blues, you have to tap into deeper and powerful feelings of emotion. The blues is music steeped in emotion. It forces you to let go of some musical structure and play with your gut. Playing with your gut involves understanding the technical aspects of playing but the art is how you apply these learned skills in the making of music. It is the difference between listening to one player who is doing a nice job playing with the band and the player who can burn the house down with the pure emotion of what he is trying to convey musically to the audience.
The harmonica is an instrument of expression pure and simple. No two players sound the same and we all have an equal opportunity to be great at any given moment.
So how do you play with your heart? You have to practice and be proficient musically with your instrument. You have to be brave. You have to be willing to take a chance when you are playing with your friends and later in public. You have to be willing to make that connection with the audience. Make eye contact with the audience and let them know you are not just playing a song. You are playing this song like your life depended on it.
An old blues man I used to sit in with said to me once “Son, play this song like it was the last song you are ever going to play.” Those words became my credo. They are the hallmark of the real blues player because they are tinged with the reality that our time on this earth is limited and we need to make the most of it whether you are playing music or in your life. That is the power of the blues.
Now get that harp in your mouth and burn the house down!
