preferash
Verified buyer
06/27/26
Highly recommended
Lot of useful information. Fun and interesting course.
Blues Harmonica Blueprint
The definitive learning system for blues harmonica
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About this course
If your life is sucking in any of the ways that really matter, prepare thyself for riches beyond your wildest dreams. Don’t get a lot of playing time at the jams? Start bringing a few extra quarters for the meter. Perpetually single and looking? Book the chapel immediately. Proverbial wallflower at parties? Learn to get comfortable with lots of attention. Kids think you’re a nerd? Well, not much we can do about that, but you just might get a nod of approval or two. Yes, your life is going to change in majorly cool ways because you’re finally going to learn how to play killer blues harmonica.
There’s not a blues fanatic on the planet that hasn’t picked up a harp at one time or another and tried to blow a line or two. In fact, it’s darn near impossible to listen to the likes of Paul Butterfield, Sonny Terry, Junior Wells, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, or Little Walter and resist the temptation to at least give it a go. And if the old-school heroes don’t ring your bell, there’s no doubt you can catch blues harp fever from the Stones, Doors, Led Zeppelin, Blues Travelers, Huey Lewis, Aerosmith, J. Geils or any of the hundreds of other classic and contemporary blues-rockers.
So why so many harps collecting dust on the shelves? Simple; it’s harder than it looks and truly effective instruction is quite scarce. Making matters even more challenging, you can’t really see what a harp player is doing and that makes it tough to cop their moves. That’s why we asked award-winning, monster blues player and renowned educator Annie Raines to hunker down with our technology geeks to finally crack the code and produce the quintessential blues harmonica interactive video course.
Over two years in the making, with hundreds of hours dedicated just to the visual notation guides and animations, the Blues Harmonica Blueprint and its interactive video format sets a new standard for harmonica instruction. The course drills deeper and wider than any blues harmonica course ever published, but more importantly, its effectiveness as a teaching system is unprecedented — finally, you will clearly see, hear and understand the ins and outs of blues harmonica.
Harmonica is no toy instrument and the Blues Harmonica Blueprint is no short-cut, wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am harmonica course. Raines delivers the instructional goods in what is likely the most comprehensive work of its kind. Yet, the material is presented in such a clear and concise manner that you will fly through the syllabus thoroughly enjoying its hands-on play-along interactive approach.
Raines starts you off with a comprehensive orientation of the instrument; anatomy, holding the harmonica, hand positioning, blowing, drawing, swells, sliding and playing chords, straight harp vs. cross harp, tension, resolution and resolving to the draw. Once you have a grip on the fundamentals, Annie shows you a classic cross-harp blues riff and teaches you how to develop clear and clean control of single notes. You’ll then start working with scales, degrees and intervals. Basic blues beats and breathing techniques come next making you well prepared to start digging in and blowing some cool blues.
You’ll learn train rhythms, phonetics, Sonny Terry countrified rhythms, shuffles, the blues march, more chords and accents, a John Lee boogie, 12-bar blues, the blues scale, all varieties of bends, blue note triplets, wolf calls, boogie basslines, reed theory, vibrato, tremolo, more swell techniques, tongue-blocking and all the requisite techniques and tricks of the harp trade.
In the final section of the course, Raines teaches you an impressive range of blues tunage, all visually notated, thus equipping you with a repertoire guaranteed to win new friends, influence good people and get those nods from the kids.
The Blues Harmonica Blueprint will indeed spark many life-altering effects, all of them wondrous, magical and bluesy.
GUITAR PLAYERS TAKE NOTE! Already play blues on guitar? Once you get a grip on the breathing techniques and basic chord/note layout, you will be amazed at how quickly you’re able to “blow” what you already know on guitar.
Get down and dirty with the Hohner 532BX-C Blues Harp. It's got the sound and bendability that you need for the blues, with 20 reeds and famous Hohner quality. Great for 2nd position note-bending.
For 150 years, Hohner's diatonic harmonicas set the industry standard through high quality construction, excellent response and unsurpassed tone. Often called Blues Harps, they remain a fixture in blues, rock, country, folk, and many other styles of music. Traditional Richter tuning and undivided air channels allow for techniques such as bending and overblowing reeds, creating the signature wailing sound typical of the harmonica.
Dig in deep and experience the raw power and grit of the blues. The Blues Harp is engineered for consistent volume and tone when used for intense blues playing. This harp can hang with the toughest players on their most serious gigs. Highly bendable with a dirty, dark hard rockin' sound, this harmonica is designed to emphasize all the best qualities of blues harmonica playing. It has a wood comb for full tone and is available in 12 keys. Replacement parts are available.
Hohner--the world's largest manufacturer of harmonicas--has proudly maintained a tradition of high quality instrument making. Our mission is to offer a diverse range of models designed to meet the needs of every musician in today's musical climate.
Tireless investment in research and development, combined with knowledge that has been cultivated for decades, insures our high quality standards--both now and in the future. By working in close co-operation with the most renowned professional harmonica players, we ensure that our instruments remain on the cutting edge of the industry. Our up-to-date manufacturing process uses special alloys and precise stamping and milling tools to produce reeds of optimal sound quality, responsiveness and longevity.
Hohner's long standing dedication to harmonica excellence has inspired a loyal following among players from all walks of life; young and old, amateur and professional.
Buy Now at Amazon >
There’s not a blues fanatic on the planet that hasn’t picked up a harp at one time or another and tried to blow a line or two. In fact, it’s darn near impossible to listen to the likes of Paul Butterfield, Sonny Terry, Junior Wells, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, or Little Walter and resist the temptation to at least give it a go. And if the old-school heroes don’t ring your bell, there’s no doubt you can catch blues harp fever from the Stones, Doors, Led Zeppelin, Blues Travelers, Huey Lewis, Aerosmith, J. Geils or any of the hundreds of other classic and contemporary blues-rockers.
So why so many harps collecting dust on the shelves? Simple; it’s harder than it looks and truly effective instruction is quite scarce. Making matters even more challenging, you can’t really see what a harp player is doing and that makes it tough to cop their moves. That’s why we asked award-winning, monster blues player and renowned educator Annie Raines to hunker down with our technology geeks to finally crack the code and produce the quintessential blues harmonica interactive video course.
Over two years in the making, with hundreds of hours dedicated just to the visual notation guides and animations, the Blues Harmonica Blueprint and its interactive video format sets a new standard for harmonica instruction. The course drills deeper and wider than any blues harmonica course ever published, but more importantly, its effectiveness as a teaching system is unprecedented — finally, you will clearly see, hear and understand the ins and outs of blues harmonica.
Harmonica is no toy instrument and the Blues Harmonica Blueprint is no short-cut, wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am harmonica course. Raines delivers the instructional goods in what is likely the most comprehensive work of its kind. Yet, the material is presented in such a clear and concise manner that you will fly through the syllabus thoroughly enjoying its hands-on play-along interactive approach.
Raines starts you off with a comprehensive orientation of the instrument; anatomy, holding the harmonica, hand positioning, blowing, drawing, swells, sliding and playing chords, straight harp vs. cross harp, tension, resolution and resolving to the draw. Once you have a grip on the fundamentals, Annie shows you a classic cross-harp blues riff and teaches you how to develop clear and clean control of single notes. You’ll then start working with scales, degrees and intervals. Basic blues beats and breathing techniques come next making you well prepared to start digging in and blowing some cool blues.
You’ll learn train rhythms, phonetics, Sonny Terry countrified rhythms, shuffles, the blues march, more chords and accents, a John Lee boogie, 12-bar blues, the blues scale, all varieties of bends, blue note triplets, wolf calls, boogie basslines, reed theory, vibrato, tremolo, more swell techniques, tongue-blocking and all the requisite techniques and tricks of the harp trade.
In the final section of the course, Raines teaches you an impressive range of blues tunage, all visually notated, thus equipping you with a repertoire guaranteed to win new friends, influence good people and get those nods from the kids.
The Blues Harmonica Blueprint will indeed spark many life-altering effects, all of them wondrous, magical and bluesy.
GUITAR PLAYERS TAKE NOTE! Already play blues on guitar? Once you get a grip on the breathing techniques and basic chord/note layout, you will be amazed at how quickly you’re able to “blow” what you already know on guitar.
Recommended: Hohner 532BX-C Blues Harp, Key Of C Major
Get down and dirty with the Hohner 532BX-C Blues Harp. It's got the sound and bendability that you need for the blues, with 20 reeds and famous Hohner quality. Great for 2nd position note-bending.For 150 years, Hohner's diatonic harmonicas set the industry standard through high quality construction, excellent response and unsurpassed tone. Often called Blues Harps, they remain a fixture in blues, rock, country, folk, and many other styles of music. Traditional Richter tuning and undivided air channels allow for techniques such as bending and overblowing reeds, creating the signature wailing sound typical of the harmonica.
Dig in deep and experience the raw power and grit of the blues. The Blues Harp is engineered for consistent volume and tone when used for intense blues playing. This harp can hang with the toughest players on their most serious gigs. Highly bendable with a dirty, dark hard rockin' sound, this harmonica is designed to emphasize all the best qualities of blues harmonica playing. It has a wood comb for full tone and is available in 12 keys. Replacement parts are available.
Hohner--the world's largest manufacturer of harmonicas--has proudly maintained a tradition of high quality instrument making. Our mission is to offer a diverse range of models designed to meet the needs of every musician in today's musical climate.Tireless investment in research and development, combined with knowledge that has been cultivated for decades, insures our high quality standards--both now and in the future. By working in close co-operation with the most renowned professional harmonica players, we ensure that our instruments remain on the cutting edge of the industry. Our up-to-date manufacturing process uses special alloys and precise stamping and milling tools to produce reeds of optimal sound quality, responsiveness and longevity.
Hohner's long standing dedication to harmonica excellence has inspired a loyal following among players from all walks of life; young and old, amateur and professional.
Buy Now at Amazon >
What you'll learn
- Master volume swells from quiet to loud and back to quiet on sustained notes
- Understand when and where to apply vibrato for musical expression
- Learn multiple approaches to soloing over 12-bar blues
- Develop musical, natural-sounding vibrato instead of choppy machine-gun effect
- Develop storytelling ability through phrasing
Release date: 05/05/2012 • 4h 23m runtime
Sample lessons
Orientation
Blues Harmonica Blueprint
Anatomy Lesson
What’s Inside Your Harp?
Holding the Harmonica
Hand Positioning
Breathing in Time
In-Out-In-Rest
What's included
69 lessons • 47 charts • 8 Jam Tracks
Blues Harmonica Blueprint
Welcome to Blues Harmonica Blueprint. This video course is designed to help you bring your harmonica playing to another level, whether you’re a beginning player or an experienced one. We’ll cover chord rhythms, hand effects, single notes, cross harp, blues scales, bending, articulation, rhythmic chording, tongue-blocking, vibrato and solo phrasing, always emphasizing the core concepts of rhythm and tone.
This course comes complete with animated graphics, tabbed-out exercises and 12-bar solos, and full-length play-along jam tracks. These classic Chicago, Texas and Swamp Blues feels were recorded with a 5-piece band featuring the great Paul Rishell and Troy Gonyea on guitars.
This video will bring you closer to realizing your harmonica goal, whether it’s being able to play a melody, improvise over a 12-bar blues, comp rhythms, learn solos in the style of blues masters Little Walter, Big Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin’ Wolf or Jimmy Reed, or just find out where the good sounding notes are. All you need is a C harp and a desire to learn.
This course comes complete with animated graphics, tabbed-out exercises and 12-bar solos, and full-length play-along jam tracks. These classic Chicago, Texas and Swamp Blues feels were recorded with a 5-piece band featuring the great Paul Rishell and Troy Gonyea on guitars.
This video will bring you closer to realizing your harmonica goal, whether it’s being able to play a melody, improvise over a 12-bar blues, comp rhythms, learn solos in the style of blues masters Little Walter, Big Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin’ Wolf or Jimmy Reed, or just find out where the good sounding notes are. All you need is a C harp and a desire to learn.
Orientation
If you are already comfortable with the basics of harmonica playing, feel free to skip over the beginner lessons, but I recommend you watch this segment for an explanation of the "Time-Dot" tab, and the segment titled "The Layout" so you’ll be familiar with the visual systems we’ll be using at various points throughout the course. And if you’re not familiar with music theory, don’t worry. Some of the greatest blues harp players of all time couldn’t read music. There’s a little theory here and there to help you get familiar with basic terms.
About the tab: The tab borrows from the SuperTAB font created and developed by Steve Jennings and Pat Missin. There is no uniform standard of notation for harmonica. Some people use letters or up and down arrows to denote blow and draw notes. I prefer to use plain numbers for blow notes and circled numbers for draw, saving the arrows for actions relating to bending and other effects. In developing this tab I have tried to pay attention to nuance while keeping it simple and visually intuitive. I came up with the "Time-dot" system so you can see the music the same way you hear it: with a beat.
About the tab: The tab borrows from the SuperTAB font created and developed by Steve Jennings and Pat Missin. There is no uniform standard of notation for harmonica. Some people use letters or up and down arrows to denote blow and draw notes. I prefer to use plain numbers for blow notes and circled numbers for draw, saving the arrows for actions relating to bending and other effects. In developing this tab I have tried to pay attention to nuance while keeping it simple and visually intuitive. I came up with the "Time-dot" system so you can see the music the same way you hear it: with a beat.
Anatomy Lesson
The modern harmonica is thought to have been invented in Germany in the mid-1800s. The term "harp" comes from an earlier incarnation of the harmonica called an aeolian, or wind-harp. Here’s a deconstructed harmonica so you can see the inner workings.
Holding the Harmonica
There is more than one way to hold a harp. I hold it in my left hand (with the numbers on the top) to create a cup around the low notes where most of the shaping goes on. Many of my left-handed students prefer to hold the harp in their right hand, freeing their dominant left to move and create the "speechifying" effects. In order to maintain a cup shape around the low notes, some of the great left-handed players also played the harp upside-down with the numbers on the bottom.
Blowing, Drawing & Swells
Playing the harmonica is all about breathing. When I say "draw" and "blow", what I really mean is "inhale" and "exhale." Here’s a simple chord exercise to get you breathing right: open your mouth wide enough to play holes 1-2-3-4. Your lips should be relaxed, not pursed, and the inside, moist part of your lips will be touching the cover plates. This is essential for getting a good seal with no tension. Your jaw should be relaxed also and not extended. It’s a small instrument, so you only need a small amount of air to play it, even at loud volumes. Now slowly exhale and inhale through the harmonica on holes 1-4, starting quietly and swelling and fading the volume of each breath.
The Layout
The harmonica was designed to play chords as well as melodies. If you blow into the first hole of the harmonica and slide from left to right, you will play C major triads, repeating up the harmonica and ending at C on the 10th hole. When we draw from 1-10, we get a G chord on the first 4 holes: D-G-B-D. Moving up to the 5 hole, we get an F, which turns this G chord into a G7, the classic dominant 7th that dominates blues songs. The 6 draw is an A, extending the G chord to a jazzy G9 if you want it, or capping off a D minor triad. From 7-10 draw, the notes repeat: B-D-F-A.
Straight Harp
Straight Harp, or First Position, is designed for playing classical and old-time folk melodies, and has been used heavily by folk and pop artists like Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Billy Joel. The beauty of the harmonica is you don’t need hours of practice to play a recognizable melody complete with chords, tension and resolution.
+ 62 more lessons
Reviews
66 results
markdillon
Verified buyer
05/20/26
Comprehensive and engaging Blues Harmonic lessons
I always wanted to learn Blues Harmonica but lost interest in lesson on youtube. Annie Raines' Blues Harmonica Blueprint kept me engaged and game me a great foundation in Blues Harp. It's a comprehensive course that starts really simple but quickly becomes very musical. I think I might have the confidence to sit in at a Blues Jam real soon.
MarcinS
Verified buyer
03/03/26
Very good,lots of video lessons. Easy to learn.
cw_27701
Verified buyer
01/28/26
A Stand out Harmonica Course
A really stand out course. Annie breaks down the basics so well, in short clips that area easy to digest.
BrentNG
Verified buyer
01/26/26
Annie Rains Blues Harmonica Blueprint
I found this to be a great way to have lessons on hand (my phone) when you have a spare moment. I like the way Annie explains and demonstrates each lesson along with written material.
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