Hi Donald, great question.  

The video Duke's going to publish on Friday (Chicago Blues in E Lesson 3) demonstrates a hybrid picking technique using the pick for the bass and one finger for the lead / fills.  Duke's previous two Chicago Blues lessons also show a pick only technique that you may want to check out.  Enjoy!

I am a flatpicker when it comes to the blues, (and anything else).

i did try to learn robert johnson blues, and even ordered a few videos on finger picking, a tape course on fingerpicking and it just wouldnt' take,, due to my weak thumbs.

I remember an excerise i saw on of homespun tapes called breaking up the chords which i was able to translate into a simple flatpicking excerise just took out the base line.

but what is your take, mr duke on trying to emulate fingerpicking with a flatpick without incorpating chicken/hybrid picking ?

do we focus on melody, and suppose like if we are at home praticing by ourselves is it better to do chords or do a sort of rhthmic pattern say at the 5 fret, a first pattern on the root and e pattern in the key of a,, instead of resorting to open a licks as we are down out of position ?.

or do you prefer more of a rhythmic fill approach?

but even more so,, when you are doing fingerpicking lead, (without a moving bass line with the thumb), and we are just using one finger aka one  pick , what do you advise ?.

i was having great difficulity with the tongue blocking video/lesson that i always had so i just stayed with pucker style all this time.

do you know if the great masters themselves used tongueblockingg, as i thought it used to be a country harmonica techique. ohh perhaps sonny terry used it though ?.

I always recommend the Special 20 to new players, especially to those who are learning from my teaching materials where I tend to demonstrate everything on one harp in the key of "A.". The teeth on a plastic comb harmonica like the Special 20 do not absorb moisture as a wooden comb harmonica might do. Therefore they won't swell up and expand over the edge of the mouthpiece which makes playing uncomfortable. Later on, when you play more than one harp all the time and, perhaps, you play with a drier mouth, you might try a wooden comb harmonica like the Marine Band models. 

I used to prefer the pro harp,,

until i tried the special 20 20, and i found the little smooth holes matched bettter my lips then the marine band.

I used to buy the blues harp, until i read in glen wieser book that junior wells didn't like the blues harp.

I did try the golden melody but it was so long ago that i don't recall how good it was.

the other reason for prefering the special 20 is the wood doesn't hurt my lips as the blues harp wooden harmonica would.

ok here is my problem, at best my tongue covers 2 holes and doesn't come close to the 3 holes.

the closest i came to it was having the harmonica at the extreme right of my mouth.

i got this off wiki

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Harmonica/Basic_Holding_and_Playing_a_Harmonica

Standard Tongue block

This embouchure is favored by many skilled players, as there are many effects that can only be done by using tongue block, and, in fact, necessary for jazz and classical playing. Simply put, it involves stretching the mouth over about four to five holes, and then using the tongue to block the holes.

This is the most difficult embrochure, but there are many methods of achieving it.

A few useful tips that will help greatly:

1. Bring the harmonica deep in your mouth. If the mouthpiece hasn’t penetrated past the front teeth, you need to open your mouth wider and get the whole front of the harp pushed further back in the mouth. This has two effects: it gives you a fuller sound, and allow your breath to access to several holes.
2. Tilt the harmonica so that the mouthpiece is tilted downward; that way, you can use more of the tongue to block, and you will find the technique less tiring.
3. Push the tongue to the harmonica. Don’t use the tip of your tongue to block the holes - instead, press it to your lower front teeth and gently push the tongue forward so that the top of your tongue contacts the harmonica. This will allow smooth transitions as you move from hole to hole.
4. After you place your stretched mouth over the holes, jerk the tongue to the left on higher octaves, and to the right on lower octaves - then place the tongue over the holes, such that only one hole is opened for air. If you have problems doing both sides, try jerking the tongue to the left only.

___

am i really bringing the harmonica deep in my mouth ?

and do i tilt it downwards , or even upwards ?

and how does the lower front teeth come into this ?

i watched the video and you use the side of the tongue and so it looks like you are talking out of the side of your mouth you said,, but you still keep the harmonica in the center of your mouth ? or doe sit naturally go the right of left side of the mouth ?

thanks in advance mr portnoy, i relaly want to take my harmonica to the next level past puckering.

i first tried guitar and realized i didnt' have a ear.. but i figured if i kept at it,,i may get it.

one of the favourites movies of mine was crossroads and not soley because of the guitar duel but the harmonica playing, even last night i was listening to willie brown blues over and over.

i guess i will break this up into the music i listened firstly.

before listening to the blues,, i was listening to rythmic harmonica or so i thought in the playing of Mickey Raphael) as i used to have the highwaymen live vhs movie , and roy orbison black and white where there was some harmonica playing in it as well.  I dont' have any charlie mcoy albums so i had no idea who he was and still got no music from him..

a book mentioned little walter, and junior wells so i brought  sonny boy williamson his best by chess (i didnt' know there was two sonnyboys at the time) , howlin wolf his best by chess,  two sonny terry cds the wizard of the harmonica, and american blues legends. and problay the last cd i brought that had harmonica on it was last time around by buddy guy and junior wells

my favourite songs off these is , who's been talking, checking up on my baby, blues with a feeling, (can you believe i didnt' like juke til it was in cadillac records) . whooping the blues, and blues with a whoop by sonny terry.

I didnt' listen to a lot of muddy waters, in fact i only got one cd of his on my computer ,, the best of muddy waters 1975 , but i didnt' focus on the harmonica for i was trying to listen for the slide at the time.  i have 2 versions of caldonia of his on the computer and i didn't realize until just a month ago that it was the harmonica playing the traditional louis jordan intro/lead.  and it was played by jerry portnoy himself. (one person on the you tube video said it was paul butterfield even and argueed with a person saying it was jerry portnoy).

the books

the first harmonica book i brought was by marc and i had 2 of his vshs, then i realized why am i paying close to 40 bucks for half hour instruction  and later on started to look elsehwere. (over priced, and the book itself was only good for learning straight harp) . Marcos Habif

i used to have a book on carey bell but i didnt' even understand it at the time.

i have learn blues harp, and learn rock harp,, but they are pretty basic imo ,

i have blues harmoncia by tom ball, , i used to try to play along with the tape with it but i drove the people who i was staying nuts with it. for the size of it there really inst' that much instruction,, just some licks, that is problay where i learned bout howlin wolf, and sonny terry..

i did get the sonny terry lick book and it was interesting read, but still just full of licks.

 i have teach yourself blues harmonica by phil duncan first,, but after the third position tip by jerry i looked in it and he has a song in third position but there is no third position blues scale or anything like that. still was a good book for learning the patterns. it is the third best book that i have

the second best harmonica book i got is blues and rock harmonica by glenn wieser,, i actually had the book in the middle 90s and got it again.  he doenst teach the blues scale but instead the combined scale of minor and major pentonic scale.

the best book i have is actually david barret complete classic chicago blues harp before it was split up into twos,

it has some third position teaching in it so i am going to use that to help me.

the videos

as i mentioned before i did have two vsh movies by marcos habif on harmonica playing but it just didnt' really jive.

the next harmonica vsh movie i had the time was learn to play harmonica over night by john gindick, it was 90 minutes i think and i learned about moving from 3 , 3 draw, 4 blue,, 4 draw,, 6 blue , 6 draw .. and how to bend notes.

it was great,, i learned how to do the rythm from there..

then i found out about homespun tapes so i got the

norton buffalo , harmonica bag of tricks

norton buffalo harmonica blues techiques.

i didn't know he died though til recently ,, too bad as i liked his videos.

and the last harmonica dvd i got was madcat peter ruth the in and outs of rhythm harp.

________

however it isnt' like i studied these things religiously or i would be better then i am right now that is for sure,,

i might spend a week watching norton buffalo, vsh,, or do some teach yourself blues harp book and not touch it for a year.

for i was frustrated with the lack of my ability to pick out licks by ears, or learn anything by ear.

and i looked online there are more harmonica dvds, books , play alongs  out there..since when i brought some harmonica books 10 years ago at least.

but here we are at sonic junction,, i know some of you guys problay had the luxury of being taught the blues by an teacher, mentor or that it comes easy to you eh ?

i look forward to reading your harmonica story.

for me

my strong point is rhythem,, (for the longest time before i got the books and dvd, my rythm was in first position and sounded like a hunting we will go )

and bending the notes,,

when it comes to playing straight harp aka country songs,, i have a decided lack of skill in that..

and so i am working on tongue blocking, and third position :)

Ordered a copy and a copy of Tales from the Tiki lounge!

I was pleasantly surprised to find Wobble Walkin' available on Spotify this morning. Just finished listening, and I really enjoyed it. I will be putting in an order for the hardcopy soon!

Hi Jerry,

While I won't pretend that I can play all of this great song well, I can kind of play most of it okay with the exception of the quick back and forth phrase that Sonny Boy plays a couple of times during his solos.  On the cut off "His Best" album this first occurs around 1:22 then later at 2:20 or so.  Sometimes I think that I am approximating what he is doing, but even then I am not sure what I am doing (let alone what he is doing).

Thanks, Rich

That's helpful, Jerry.  Thanks.  I'm gonna revisit the lessons, as well as work on some melodies on the low end of the harp to get comfortable nailing the bends, before trying to tackle the boogie lessons in 1st and 3rd positions.

Duke's new album Wobble Walkin' is OUT !! From the blues to swing era standards and original compositions this is a joyfully swinging set of tunes featuring Duke's ever tasteful guitar and the conversational interplay between bassist Brad Hallen and Mark Teixeira.

Here is Back Home Again, In Indiana

You can order a copy of the Album from the Blue Duchess website

http://www.blueduchessrecords.com/

Congrats Duke !!  I'm enjoying my copy !!

Thanks for coming out to Mashpee! Keep working on the basic lessons, especially the synchopating chords. Getting a good rhythmic flow is important. You've got some control of your bends but they could be a bit more precise. Technique has to be practiced till it's second nature so that you can concentrate on the musical part of the equation. Sometimes it's helpful to try and play melodic songs that you know in your head so that the timing and phrasing is familiar and you have an inner template as to how it should sound. 

Hi Jerry,

Great to hear you and your trio on Friday night in Mashpee, and chat during your break.  Here's my attempt at the 2nd position boogie lesson (slowed down as in your slowed down version).  I can see I need to work on tone and attack, but any feedback is welcome.  Not sure I got all the bends right, and if there was an octave in your version I wasn't sure where it was.  Thanks.

Cheers,

Ben.

Hi All,

Here's a quick prototype of Boom, Boom by Little Walter.  

http://sonic-junction.com/pages/10-boom-boom-out-go-the-lights

Feedback and thoughts apprecaited!

I could have mis-heard him, too.  He was telling a story about the lead singer in the band he was with getting him out of trouble with the police after a Canadian border crossing issue. Certainly could have been a different female vocalist, but was definitely someone with a recognizable name.

It's possible I suppose, but I don't recognize his name.

Jerry,  I just wanted to ask if you are familiar with a drummer by the name of Russ Kammerer?  He plays now with a friend of mine, Brian Lee (Brian Lee and the Orbiters), but has played professionally for a long time and with many musicians.  He mentioned (I think) playing with Bonnie Raitt in the 70s - so I wondered if you ran into him, or maybe played with him?  Rich

No kidding.  I'm 62 and trying to learn alternate picking and using my pinky to correct bad habits I picked up over the years.  I actually like the sound of straight down picking for some licks and I see that BB King uses a similar picking style to yours.  I also notice that you use vibrato sparingly which gives it more effect.  I think vibrato is overused by a lot of modern blues guitarists (and singers as well).  Just my opinion.

Well Mike, That's cause we WERE in the same room tearing it up with no overdubs except a few vocals. Train fare home would be another great one to teach, I aggree.

Hi Tim, Well the history of jazz and blues in Rhode Island is a long one. First of all in the 30s and 40s, big bands travelling from New York to Boston often stopped in Rhode Island to play dances and later in the 50s there were various jazz venues like the famous Celebrity Club which had all the touring jazz and some blues also frequenting  the club. Billie Holiday, T-Bone Walker, Baritone sax genius Serge Chalof are just a few name of artists who played there. R&B sax music of the 50s was also very popular there. Players like Red Prysock and Sil Austin played Providence's small R&B clubs regularly. None other than Ben Webster is documented as recording an album in a small club there. Scott Hamilton, Bobby Hackett, Dave McKenna, Mike Renzi, Greg Abate and hunderds of great jazz and blues players hailed from RI. And of course the Newpoet Jazz and Folk Festivals were trend setting events that hosted hunderds of the worlds finest blues folk and Jazz musicians. As for Chans, John Chan was recently awarded the Keeping The Blues Alive Award from the BMAs. John has hosted blues and jazz at his club for over 25 years now and continues to be one of its biggest supporters anywhere! I'm proud to be from RI. Too bad the world doesn't see what great talent is here. Roomful of Blues, the band I founded 43 years ago and lead for 12 years just recieved a RI Hall of Fame Music Award a few weeks ago along with Dave McKenna John Cafferty and Beaver Brown also being inducted along with many others. When The Fabulous Thunderbirds needed a great drummer, bassist and guitar player in the 80s and 90s they hired RI musicians. Now If a Texas band has to come to little Ol' Rhode Island for great players, what does that tell you?   

My picking style is a subconsious thing. I only learn what I do by people pointing it out to me actually. Picking is my weakest thing and i suppose if someone gave me advise on improving it when I was young I'd be a better guitarist. Now that I incorporate more jazz into my playing, the picking is the thing that holds me back the most. It's not easy to speed up your picking technique at 63!

Yes Slowing it down is a great tool for learning!

Love it; clearly very useful, especially in a case like this one.