Easy Blues Scale Video Lesson
One of the key secrets to playing the blues… well… you might have guessed it… is being able to play the blues scale. Here’s a simple lesson to get you started:
If you’ve not nailed the core harmonica fundamentals yet then I can heartily recommend my beginners lessons which also includes several more blues lessons.
Happy harpin’
jp
JP Allen
JP Allen believes that anyone can learn to play harmonica. Are you a beginner or intermediate who is looking for an especially easy approach to getting good fast? Do you think it would be fun to play blues or some of your favorite songs with minimal practice? Then CLICK HERE for JP's Beginners Harmonica Lessons, the world’s only 100% play-along harmonica video lessons.
Comments (30)
bigtime
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Show me more
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Richard Binkowski
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what key should this blues scale be played in
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JP Allen
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Key of C my friend. Most all my personal lessons will be in the key of C diatonic. Have fun with it. jp
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evelyn
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would love to learn to play the blues. I can play the single notes. How do Ben trying so hard
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JP Allen
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Try this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv1bQDdpOIs
jp
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David
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Would this not actually be playing in the G if you’re playing with a C harp? Thanks I enjoy your ideas!
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JP Allen
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Hey David…not sure I understand your question exactly, but if you were playing along with a guitar the guitar would be in G and your harp would be in C, this is called cross harp. Have fun with it! jp
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Abe Sloan
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Helpful lesson for building habitual patterns. Will require some effort on my part to master but is what I needed to keep me interested.
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JP Allen
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Great Abe! jp
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Jim
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Great scale showing the basic building blocks, those are “blues Legos”. …oh,love the end, did you get the milk and butter like she asked?
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JP Allen
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Absolutely…can’t be a harmonica slacker and forget my husbandry duties. jp
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LIGHTNINGLEN
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Met john popper other day
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JP Allen
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Cool!! Great guy…one of my mentors for sure. jp
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Harry Stewart
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Lots of fun playing these Blues.
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Chipper
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Any particular reason I shouldn’t to do a blow 3 instead of the draw 2? It makes breathing easier 🙂
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JP Allen
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Draw two has the potential to bend, 3 blow does not. Therefore draw 2 is shapable, 3 blow is not. jp
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Rick
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Great
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Jayanta Banerjee
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Can I get the keys to play you are my theme for a dream of cliff Richard by my hermonica marine band key of c
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Joe lima
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Harmonica makers need to revolutinize their instruments. Make them more air tight, change the design, etc. the technology is out there. Use it.
Why is there no chromatic in these smaller blues harps?
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Frank Speer
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It would be cool to have a video with a bunch of Blues Harmonica licks that we could practice and apply. Like 25 Blues Harmonica licks in the key of C.
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JP Allen
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Cool idea Frank! My new Breakthrough Blues series, although much longer, has a ton of awesome licks. jp
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BL Hamm
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saw this post on FB and had to break my harp out and blow the dust off
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JP Allen
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Right on BL, blow your dust off! jp
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Chris azzopardi
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Where can I find tabs for C harmonica for the song ‘ it’s you it’s you it’s you’ from Joe Dolan
Thanks
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Melisa M
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Hi JP Allen. I made a mistake and got my major diatonic labeled in 1st position key instead of the 2nd. My goal was to play the blues on it. What should I do? Thanks
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JP Allen
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Hey Melisa, the Circle of Fifths clockwise from left to right is: C G D A E B F# C# Ab Eb Bb F
2nd position is the easiest way to play blues but not the only way.
With a C harp,find C on the Circle of Fifths and go clockwise once, tell the band to play in the key of G.
If the band is playing in key of G, find G on the Circle of Fifths andd go counterclockwise (left) once. Pick up a C harmonica to play in the key of G in second position. Hope that helps, jp
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R.P Mcmurphy
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every beginner do this
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Doug
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I was giving a C
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Al Robinson
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What about the Blues Scale in the upper register… would love to see a video on that.
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JP Allen
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Cool idea Al. For most we like to keep it in what I call the safety zone. jp
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