for more information about the DVD version.
There are lots of books and videos aimed at those who want to learn to play the harmonica, some better than others. Below are some beginners books and videos that I particularly recommend, along with a few things for folks starting to progress beyond the rookie stage. All these books utilise harmonica tablature, so you don't need to be able to read music to learn from them. I have provided convenient links to Amazon.com to get more information about each item or to order them online. (Click here for more details about the Amazon Associates scheme.) If you live in the US and would rather order from Amazon.com, you may prefer to view the alternative version of this page.
Folk and Blues Harmonica - George Heaps-Nelson and Barbara Koehler
I bought a copy of this book about 25 years ago, when I was a beginner myself. I learned a great deal from it, as well as getting a lot of enjoyment out of the beautiful photography scattered throughout the book. It concentrates more on the folk side of things rather than blues, although it does include some basics of cross harp and note bending. Concentrating mostly on the 10-hole diatonic, it also has some brief coverage of the double reed diatonics and the Chordomonica. Sadly, the Chordomonica is no longer available and some of the other models mentioned in the book have also vanished, but the book still contains some good tunes and useful advice. Availability via Amazon seems a little variable, but I believe the book "You Can Teach Yourself Harmonica" is a reprint of this title. Click here for more information from Amazon.co.uk
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing the Harmonica - William Melton and Randy Weinstein
I must confess that any title that includes the words "idiot" or "dummies" tends to put me off right away, but if you can get past the idea that the publisher assumes that you are a complete idiot, this is actually quite a good book. However, a few notes of caution. First of all, although this is apparently a guide for a complete idiot, it is by no means a complete guide. For starters, it concentrates on the single reed diatonic harmonica, with only a passing mention of the other members of the harmonica family. It is also primarily concerned with blues style playing, despite the cover's promise of "simple instructions for playing all types of music on the harmonica". It does have a few tunes in a folky vein and one rock harp piece, but aside from that it is pretty much blues all the way. Still, it does a good job of covering the basics and beyond, including how to select a harmonica, how to keep it in good condition, how to read standard music notation, some basic music theory, as well as the usual technical instruction. All my quibbles aside, this is a excellent starting point. Click here for more information from Amazon.co.uk
Harmonica Power Video One Bag Of Tricks - Norton Buffalo
"Bag of Tricks" is an excellent description. Rather than a systematic set of "how to" instructions, this is a collection of tips and tricks useful for all levels of players, from raw beginners to seasoned veterans, covering many different musical genres - blues, folk, country, pop, etc. Buffalo covers breath control, rhythmic playing, various types of vibrato, improvisation, harmonica maintenance and much more, all in an extremely entertaining fashion. The perfect thing to watch when there is nothing on the TV! Click here for more information from Amazon.co.uk about the VHS version, or click here
There is also a second volume called "Blues Techniques". I must confess that I haven't seen it, but I assume it is as informative and entertaining as the first. Click here for more information from Amazon.co.uk about the VHS version, or click here
Anyone Can Play Harmonica - Peter Madcat Ruth
Madcat is one of my favorite harp players. This video is subtitled "An Easy Guide To Getting Started" and that's exactly what it is. Madcat covers the most basic stuff of getting clean single notes, then quickly leads the student into playing train rhythms and classic Americana such as "Down in the Valley" and "Camptown Races", throwing in additional techniques along the way and setting the groundwork for more advanced playing. Perfect for beginners of all ages.
Click here
Blues Harmonica: A Crash Course and Overview - Tom Ball
Tom is the harmonica playing half of the duo Tom Ball and Kenny Sultan and in this book he gives an excellent overall picture of playing blues-style harmonica. All the basics are covered, along with the sort of tips you are only going to get from a pro player of Tom's experience, all in a very easy to read style. No standard music notation is used, everything being written out in tablature for the harmonica, with an accompanying cassette to help illustrate what is discussed in the book. An excellent starting point for the beginning blues harpist. Click here for more information from Amazon.co.uk
John Sebastian Teaches Blues Harmonica
This was originally one half of a cassette/booklet set put out by Homespun Tapes some years back, now reissued in a nice glossy covered book with a CD. For those of you who don't know, John Sebastian is the son of a well known chromatic harmonica virtuoso who decided to get into blues and folk styles, rather than classical music. He was a founding member of sixties pop group The Lovin' Spoonful, as well as supplying blues harp for bands like The Doors (remember "Roadhouse blues"?). Here he gives some great instruction in the basics and some intermediate techniques of blues harmonica, all with a pleasant relaxed delivery. Click here for more information from Amazon.co.uk
For those of you who like to see their teacher face to face, there is also a DVD available of John Sebastian teaching blues harmonica. It is called, surprisingly enough, "John Sebastian Teaches Blues Harmonica". Click here
Paul Butterfield Teaches Blues Harmonica
This was originally the other half of the cassette/booklet set that went along with the John Sebastian material reviewed above, covering some more advanced techniques. It makes the perfect follow-up to the John Sebastian stuff, as well as giving an insight into one of the most influential harp players of his generation. Click here for more information from Amazon.co.uk
First Lessons Blues Harmonica Book/CD Set - David Barrett
David Barrett is one of the most prolific writers on the topic of blues harmonica. This is his book for the complete beginner - a copy of this and a diatonic harmonica in the key of C will get anyone off to a good start. Click here
Once you have got past the raw beginner stage, you may want to check out some of David Barrett's more advanced material, the titles being fairly self-explanatory:
Exploring 1st Position - Click here for more information from Amazon.co.uk
Exploring 2nd Position - Click here for more information from Amazon.co.uk
Exploring 3rd Position - Click here for more information from Amazon.co.uk
Building Harmonica Technique - Click here for more information from Amazon.co.uk
Learn to Play All-American Harp - Charlie McCoy
Charlie McCoy is probably THE most famous name in country harmonica. A veteran of literally thousands of sessions in Nashville, this man almost single-handedly defined the modern country harmonica style. This is a book and CD set that covers the full range of country styles, including influences from the blues, Cajun and Tex-Mex accordion playing, hot old-time fiddle and more. Written for beginners, but there are more than a few new tricks in here that some old dogs could learn. Click here for more information from Amazon.co.uk
Bluegrass Harmonica - Mike Stevens
Mike Stevens is a Canadian player who worked as part of the Jim and Jessie McReynolds band for some years, doing his bit to make the harmonica more accepted by purist bluegrass audiences. This book present some of the techniques he used to adapt his blues harp background to the challenges of virtuoso bluegrass playing, going all the way from the very basics of the diatonic harmonica, to some cutting edge use of overblows to play chromatically on the instrument. There's enough material in here to keep a harmonica player busy for quite some time. Click here for more information from Amazon.co.uk
Sadly, although there are a few books devoted to the chromatic harmonica, I have to say that I have not been too impressed most of those that I have seen. The only basic introduction to the chromatic that I feel happy about recommending is not available from Amazon:
Tommy Reilly Chromatic Harmonica Course - Tommy Reilly
This was originally published in the late 1960s and came with a set of LP records. One of the late Douglas Tate's last projects was to arrange a reprint of the course, this time accompanied by CDs with Reilly and pianist James Moody demonstrating the material covered. It is an excellent introduction to the chromatic harmonica, reading music and the basics of music theory. It is not available from Amazon, but can be ordered online using PayPal. For more details Click here
Basic Blues Chromatic for the Diatonic Player - David Barrett.
For the blues harp player wanting to add a little chromatic playing to his or her bag of tricks, I recommend this book from the prolific Mr Barrett. If you want to play like Larry Adler or Stevie Wonder, this perhaps isn't the book for you, but if you already have the basics of blues harp under your belt and you fancy having a go at playing chromatic in the typical Chicago blues style as played by guys like Little Walter and George Smith, or more recent players like William Clarke or Rod Piazza, then this book will get you off to a good start. Click here for more information from Amazon.co.uk
If you are looking for some more advanced material and perhaps wanting to break out of the more traditional styles, you might want to read this page.
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