SouthKev
Verified buyer
01/20/26
Brilliant
Strait forward and just brilliant really good value for money.
Harmonica Styles Guidebook
Performance Studies for Harmonica Across a Variety of Styles
Get this course and 1,000+ more with All Access
Try 14 days free. Cancel any time.
About this course
Whether you're playing the harp in a blues band, a country setting, or complementing a singer-songwriter performance, the vocal-like quality of a wailing harmonica solo never fails to grab the spotlight and command the audience’s attention.
Steven Troch’s Harmonica Styles Guidebook thoroughly examines the techniques and stylings of eight iconic harmonica players: Sonny Boy Williamson II, Bob Dylan, George Harmonica Smith, Jimmy Reed, Charlie McCoy, Big Walter Horton, Sonny Terry, and Little Walter.
An accomplished vocalist, songwriter and monster harmonica player, Steve Troch leads the Steven Troch Band, which is widely acclaimed as "one of the finest bands playing some of the best contemporary and vintage style blues you will hear in Europe today.” We're thrilled to welcome Steve to the family with his first TrueFire course, the Harmonica Styles Guidebook!
”We’ll play our way through a series of lessons unraveling the approaches of eight legends of harmonica. Six of these players are blues players like Big Walter Horton, the electrifying Little Walter, with his saxophone like phrasing; Harmonica Wizard Sonny Terry, with his rhythmic whoopin; George Harmonica Smith, using tongue splits to create an organ-like sound; Jimmy Reed with his piercing high notes; and Sonny Boy Williamson II playing low down and dirty. But we'll also dig into the beautiful melodic country style of Charlie McCoy. And last but not least the oh so effective playing of Bob Dylan.
Phrasing, sense of timing, how to use octave playing and harmony splits, thrills and shakes and bending in the higher register. All these concepts will be discussed and demonstrated ad we play our way through the course.”
For each series of lessons, Steve will demonstrate all of the harmonica performances standalone, and then again along with the accompanying guitar part. Learn the harp parts or learn the guitar, or learn them both! Plus, both the harmonica parts AND the guitar parts are tabbed out. Along the way, Steve will also dig deep into six key harmonica concepts and techniques.
Steve will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You’ll get standard notation and tabs for the guitar parts, PLUS you’ll get harmonica tab for the harmonica performances. You’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video and can also loop or slow down the videos to work with the lessons at your own pace. All the backing tracks are included to work with on your own as well.
Grab your harp and guitar and let’s dig in with Steven Troch!
Steven Troch’s Harmonica Styles Guidebook thoroughly examines the techniques and stylings of eight iconic harmonica players: Sonny Boy Williamson II, Bob Dylan, George Harmonica Smith, Jimmy Reed, Charlie McCoy, Big Walter Horton, Sonny Terry, and Little Walter.
An accomplished vocalist, songwriter and monster harmonica player, Steve Troch leads the Steven Troch Band, which is widely acclaimed as "one of the finest bands playing some of the best contemporary and vintage style blues you will hear in Europe today.” We're thrilled to welcome Steve to the family with his first TrueFire course, the Harmonica Styles Guidebook!
”We’ll play our way through a series of lessons unraveling the approaches of eight legends of harmonica. Six of these players are blues players like Big Walter Horton, the electrifying Little Walter, with his saxophone like phrasing; Harmonica Wizard Sonny Terry, with his rhythmic whoopin; George Harmonica Smith, using tongue splits to create an organ-like sound; Jimmy Reed with his piercing high notes; and Sonny Boy Williamson II playing low down and dirty. But we'll also dig into the beautiful melodic country style of Charlie McCoy. And last but not least the oh so effective playing of Bob Dylan.
Phrasing, sense of timing, how to use octave playing and harmony splits, thrills and shakes and bending in the higher register. All these concepts will be discussed and demonstrated ad we play our way through the course.”
For each series of lessons, Steve will demonstrate all of the harmonica performances standalone, and then again along with the accompanying guitar part. Learn the harp parts or learn the guitar, or learn them both! Plus, both the harmonica parts AND the guitar parts are tabbed out. Along the way, Steve will also dig deep into six key harmonica concepts and techniques.
Steve will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You’ll get standard notation and tabs for the guitar parts, PLUS you’ll get harmonica tab for the harmonica performances. You’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video and can also loop or slow down the videos to work with the lessons at your own pace. All the backing tracks are included to work with on your own as well.
Grab your harp and guitar and let’s dig in with Steven Troch!
What you'll learn
- Execute clean bends appropriate for country style
- Execute the signature Sonny Terry whooping technique
- Master complex breathing patterns combining blow and draw notes
- Understand how to use repetition effectively in blues performance
- Develop muscle memory for complex lick sequences
Release date: 10/07/2019 • 1h 38m runtime
Sample lessons
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Introduction
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Performance
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Performance w. Guitar
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Breakdown
What's included
40 lessons • 18 charts • 7 Jam Tracks
Harmonica Styles Guidebook
Hi, I'm Steven Troch. Welcome to the Harmonica Styles Guidebook.
The vocal-like quality of a wailing harp is what touches people's hearts and puts the harmonica player in the spotlight. Whether you're playing in a blues band, a country setting or just adding it to your folk songs, harmonica solos and backup vamps get the attention of the listener.
In this course, we're going to be looking at eight iconic harmonica players and study their styles in depth. Six of these players can really be called blues players, like Big Walter Horton, then there's the electrifying Little Walter, with his saxophone like phrasing, and harmonica wizard Sonny Terry, with his rhythmic whooping.
Another great blues player was George Harmonica Smith, using tongue splits to create an organ like sound, and we'll study Jimmy Reed with his piercing high notes and Sonny Boy Williamson II playing low down and dirty. We'll also dig into the beautiful melodic Country style of Charly McCoy, and last but not least the oh-so-effective playing of Bob Dylan.
Phrasing, sense of timing, how to use octave playing and harmony splits, thrills and shakes and bending in the higher register - all these elements will come to light in this course. Make sure that you have some experience with bending notes and position playing before you dig into this one; you can dig into Annie Raines' TrueFire course Blues Harmonica Blueprint if you're just starting out. As a bonus, we'll also show you all harmonica performances together with the backup guitar part. All harmonica parts AND guitar parts are tabbed out for your convenience, and I'll throw in the backing tracks for you to solo on. Now, let's dig in!
The vocal-like quality of a wailing harp is what touches people's hearts and puts the harmonica player in the spotlight. Whether you're playing in a blues band, a country setting or just adding it to your folk songs, harmonica solos and backup vamps get the attention of the listener.
In this course, we're going to be looking at eight iconic harmonica players and study their styles in depth. Six of these players can really be called blues players, like Big Walter Horton, then there's the electrifying Little Walter, with his saxophone like phrasing, and harmonica wizard Sonny Terry, with his rhythmic whooping.
Another great blues player was George Harmonica Smith, using tongue splits to create an organ like sound, and we'll study Jimmy Reed with his piercing high notes and Sonny Boy Williamson II playing low down and dirty. We'll also dig into the beautiful melodic Country style of Charly McCoy, and last but not least the oh-so-effective playing of Bob Dylan.
Phrasing, sense of timing, how to use octave playing and harmony splits, thrills and shakes and bending in the higher register - all these elements will come to light in this course. Make sure that you have some experience with bending notes and position playing before you dig into this one; you can dig into Annie Raines' TrueFire course Blues Harmonica Blueprint if you're just starting out. As a bonus, we'll also show you all harmonica performances together with the backup guitar part. All harmonica parts AND guitar parts are tabbed out for your convenience, and I'll throw in the backing tracks for you to solo on. Now, let's dig in!
Sonny Boy Williamson II
We'll do a song in the style of Rice Miller, aka Sonny Boy II. SB2 stole his name from well-known harmonica player John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson. He just took the name Sonny Boy to give his career a boost. Nowadays, it would be called identity theft.
Because of the many lies Sonny Boy told, his early life is clouded in mystery. But, what we do know is that Sonny Boy II wrote some classic blues songs with witty lyrics and his harmonica playing is outstanding. He plays with a rich tone and has great sense of rhythm and phrasing. Some of the licks we're going to use are similar to the ones sonny boy played on a song called "99".
Because of the many lies Sonny Boy told, his early life is clouded in mystery. But, what we do know is that Sonny Boy II wrote some classic blues songs with witty lyrics and his harmonica playing is outstanding. He plays with a rich tone and has great sense of rhythm and phrasing. Some of the licks we're going to use are similar to the ones sonny boy played on a song called "99".
Sonny Boy Williamson II
We'll do a song in the style of Rice Miller, aka Sonny Boy II. SB2 stole his name from well-known harmonica player John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson. He just took the name Sonny Boy to give his career a boost. Nowadays, it would be called identity theft.
Because of the many lies Sonny Boy told, his early life is clouded in mystery. But, what we do know is that Sonny Boy II wrote some classic blues songs with witty lyrics and his harmonica playing is outstanding. He plays with a rich tone and has great sense of rhythm and phrasing. Some of the licks we're going to use are similar to the ones sonny boy played on a song called "99".
Because of the many lies Sonny Boy told, his early life is clouded in mystery. But, what we do know is that Sonny Boy II wrote some classic blues songs with witty lyrics and his harmonica playing is outstanding. He plays with a rich tone and has great sense of rhythm and phrasing. Some of the licks we're going to use are similar to the ones sonny boy played on a song called "99".
Sonny Boy Williamson II
We'll do a song in the style of Rice Miller, aka Sonny Boy II. SB2 stole his name from well-known harmonica player John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson. He just took the name Sonny Boy to give his career a boost. Nowadays, it would be called identity theft.
Because of the many lies Sonny Boy told, his early life is clouded in mystery. But, what we do know is that Sonny Boy II wrote some classic blues songs with witty lyrics and his harmonica playing is outstanding. He plays with a rich tone and has great sense of rhythm and phrasing. Some of the licks we're going to use are similar to the ones sonny boy played on a song called "99".
Because of the many lies Sonny Boy told, his early life is clouded in mystery. But, what we do know is that Sonny Boy II wrote some classic blues songs with witty lyrics and his harmonica playing is outstanding. He plays with a rich tone and has great sense of rhythm and phrasing. Some of the licks we're going to use are similar to the ones sonny boy played on a song called "99".
Sonny Boy Williamson II
We'll do a song in the style of Rice Miller, aka Sonny Boy II. SB2 stole his name from well-known harmonica player John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson. He just took the name Sonny Boy to give his career a boost. Nowadays, it would be called identity theft.
Because of the many lies Sonny Boy told, his early life is clouded in mystery. But, what we do know is that Sonny Boy II wrote some classic blues songs with witty lyrics and his harmonica playing is outstanding. He plays with a rich tone and has great sense of rhythm and phrasing. Some of the licks we're going to use are similar to the ones sonny boy played on a song called "99".
Because of the many lies Sonny Boy told, his early life is clouded in mystery. But, what we do know is that Sonny Boy II wrote some classic blues songs with witty lyrics and his harmonica playing is outstanding. He plays with a rich tone and has great sense of rhythm and phrasing. Some of the licks we're going to use are similar to the ones sonny boy played on a song called "99".
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is a not considered one of the great harmonica-players, but his harmonica is perfectly effective. Bob played in much the same style as Woody Guthrie, with the harmonica used as a form of "rough coloring" to his songs. It doesn't have to sound sophisticated, but with a little understanding of the techniques he used, you'll be able to play the harmonica to great effect. We'll also be looking at using a neck rack, as Bob Dylan is one of the people who in the sixties popularized the idea.
Neck Racks
In this clip we'll look at neck racks, also known as harmonica holders. They gained popularity around Bob Dylan's time, but they've been around since the end of the 19th century.
+ 33 more lessons
Reviews
15 results
Christian J.
Verified buyer
12/09/24
Hello I'm very very satisfied of these four last courses of true fire Thanks for TI Larch , Steve Trochs and true fire Christian Joulain
EastcoastAndy
Verified buyer
01/17/23
Great Class
Amazing harmonica course. The instructor is extremely clear, concise and he can really play!
DKropp
Verified buyer
01/16/23
Explained and knowledge shared with great attitude to the music and the great harmonica heroes! Thanks!
Stratotao
Verified buyer
08/21/22
Harmonica
Just started and this one is great!
Stop searching. Start improving with All Access.
Try 14 days free. Cancel any time.
