For blues, no. You CAN play any position you want (a few guys have used 1st position, starting with George Smith...and Charlie Musselwhite, Paul deLay, Steve Guyger, Rick Estrin...

Since you can't really bend on the chromatic (not to the next musical note anyway) I have to be careful about mentionig and teaching "scoops" on the chromatic since it is VERY easy...

Dennis, A bit of a scoop up on the 6-draw?

Dennis, Another question. Are there other positions used on the chromatic commonly to play blue's? Any good examples you can think of to listen to? Thanks. I'm getting a lot out...

Thanks!!

I agree with Robert! I don't know how you measure demand but I hope you'll do more with the chromatic. There's tons of great material on the site for diatonic so it would be great...

Thank you! Hopefully there will be more, depending on demand. Maybe not so much "major" (as "regular blues" isn't truly major anyway), but if I do more chromaic, it will be...

Thanks for the great chromatic primer, Dennis - looking forward to more in the future (octaves, major key, etc)!

Hi - Good questions... - Yes, it is in Eb, and George plays it with the button in - Is it common? It just depends on what key the song is, and/or what key the vocalist likes to...

Hey Dennis, In one of the posts before this series actually started you posted a cut from a George Harmonica Smith record, "Harmonica Ace".  I got the CD this week and was...

Really great to know about the Felix! I never really thought about all of the challenges associated with the pickup and mic combination, but that's mainly because I've seen people...

Thanks Duke. What you call "blabbing" I call rock solid, invaluable advice : )

Really great to know about the Felix! I never really thought about all of the challenges associated with the pickup and mic combination, but that's mainly because I've seen people...

I agree with Robert! I don't know how you measure demand but I hope you'll do more with the chromatic. There's tons of great material on the site for diatonic so it would be great...

Hi Mike, Sorry, I don’t think I was clear about the Gold Rush lesson. I actually was referring to the discussion in the comments section rather than the video itself. My...

The thing that I love about the Felix Is that it really gives you some very useful (and high quality) eq options for tweaking the sound. And it has a super pristine audio path and...

Awesome, thanks Chris! I looked into the Grace Felix. Between that and the Neumann you use for the gigs with Julian you clearly go for nothin' but the top of the line! I have a K&K...

Hope I can chime in with my .02. Accompaniment requires a delicate balance between opposing elements.... between soft and loud, between repetition and originality. Dave Barrett...

Yeah, I’d check out Cotton behind Muddy, behind Spann, behind Johnny Young - In a simpler way than LW, he was always able to add cool sounding stuff that wasn’t obtrusive, yet...

Thanks. I guess listen, as always, is the first principal, err on the side of playing less. There's plenty to work on as a singer and soloist.  And lots to do besides playing a...

Good question. To me, Little Walter was the ultimate as an accompanist, in addition to being the greatest soloist in harmonica history. The setting he was normally working in...

Hi Rick, I was wondering if you could advise me on improving my accompaniment playing.  I'm the singer in our group so I don't have to worry about stepping on my own voice.  I'm...

Chris, Despite how stiff my technique looks I've been working towards loosening things up. I'm getting similar feedback from MD and others with which I've worked. As for your...

Awesome, thanks Chris! I looked into the Grace Felix. Between that and the Neumann you use for the gigs with Julian you clearly go for nothin' but the top of the line! I have a K&K...

I agree with Robert! I don't know how you measure demand but I hope you'll do more with the chromatic. There's tons of great material on the site for diatonic so it would be great...

Thanks for the great chromatic primer, Dennis - looking forward to more in the future (octaves, major key, etc)!

Hey Dennis, In one of the posts before this series actually started you posted a cut from a George Harmonica Smith record, "Harmonica Ace".  I got the CD this week and was...

Hi, Dennis Gruenling here to work through the final two sections of “Moan-A-Chrome”. This is the home stretch, and I’m sure by now you are getting the hang of these patterns and...

Hello Friends, This week we are starting with some of the chord fragment riffing parts and working our way through most of them. These riffs are cool and quite easy and give the...

In this lesson, we examine effective ways to sing the song and how to approach singing. Remember that being faithful to the vocal line and being disciplined about when you do and...