The songs and tabs on this website are samples from Dave Gage's HarmonicaLessons.com and range in level from beginning to intermediate. This song tab below is designed for a standard ten-hole diatonic harmonica (click here to buy one), which are also sometimes referred to as a bluesharp or short harp.
Dave explains the value of not just learning a scale up and down, but dividing it into smaller "bite-size" chunks, which can then be used as blues riffs.
Here are Dave Gage's sons, Brody and Alex, now called the Brothers Gage, back when they were 10 and 12 year old kids. This video shot in 2015, is an unedited take playing an improvised blues and country based jam and having a bunch of fun.
One plays rhythm beatbox harmonica while the other takes a solo. They are both playing a standard key of "C" 10-hole diatonic in 2nd Position (which is also known as "Crossharp"). They both learned to play harmonica around age 5 and now also sing, play guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards. The key to getting good is consistency. They still practice every single day.
Audio example available in HarmonicaLessons.com Members Area. More Info
"12-Bar Blues Boogie" playing tips- A simple boogie bassline melody which rhythmically consists of all quarter-notes (one note for every foot tap). The bends will make this a difficult, but great, bending practice song. You will notice that bends on holes 2, 3, and 4 draw are all present in the melody. Spend some time working on your bending before attempting the song.
Difficulty with 2D- If you are having trouble with the low draw notes (i.e. 2 Draw sounds bad [flat] or seems to leak a lot of air), check out the HarmonicaLesssons.com Breathing section for info on how to correct the problem. If you continue to have problems with 2D, you may substitute the 3B (hole 3 Blow) any time you see a "2D".
"Tabs" (or Tablature) defined- Tabs are a simplified way to notate harmonica solos, harmonica parts, melodies and songs, without having to formally read music. Directly below is an example of our tab system.
The HarmonicaLessons.com "tab" system.
Master Song and Tab List- This song is a sample from our main website, Harmonica Lessons.com. Click here to view the Master Song and Tab list which shows all the tabs available in our Harmonica Lessons.com Members Area.
Dave explains the value of not just learning a scale up and down, but dividing it into smaller "bite-size" chunks, which can then be used as blues riffs.
Here are Dave Gage's sons, Brody and Alex, now called the Brothers Gage, back when they were 10 and 12 year old kids. This video shot in 2015, is an unedited take playing an improvised blues and country based jam and having a bunch of fun.
One plays rhythm beatbox harmonica while the other takes a solo. They are both playing a standard key of "C" 10-hole diatonic in 2nd Position (which is also known as "Crossharp"). They both learned to play harmonica around age 5 and now also sing, play guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards. The key to getting good is consistency. They still practice every single day.
