PLAYING THE HARP
IN MY OWN WORDS
Charlie Sayles
Copyright 2015 Charlie Sayles and Fetal Records
PREFACE
The following is a transcription of a compilation of notes hand written by Charlie Sayles
The key to learning a song as a harmonica player is to learn every part of the song
by heart. This means the vocal and each instrument in the band, Learn to play in
the harp the bass lines, mimic the drum beat, learn to play every instrument in
the band on the harmonica.
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You learn by rocking on your heels to the beat of the song. Now you’re in perfect
time with the whole band. Every instrument in a band plays all their musical
notes in perfect timing with that rocking beat of the drums laid down.
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Next you pick out an instrument in the band and mimic playing it just as if you
were really playing it. When you mimic the sound of the instrument you imagine
you are playing out loud. Sing, hum in a whisper, or play the harp softly as you
rock and dance to the music on the CD player or live band. You want to hear and
focus just on that one instrument you are listening to and act like you are playing.
Grab a broom and act like you are playing the guitar.
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The other way to listen while you are rocking on your heels to the song is to just
listen to the lead material. Listen to the introduction of the song. Then the singer.
Then whoever is playing the leads. Just mimic all the cool stuff. As long as you
are rocking to the music, every instrument and vocalist note falls in perfect timing
with the rocking beat the drummer lays down when you blow harp right along
with the CD. Blow as soft as possible. Don’t worry about hitting the right notes
you are listening to. Just rock along to the beat and focus the harp playing on the
CD. When the singer comes up just mouth what he or she is singing. Don’t make a
singing sound, just whisper the vocals or just mouth it without a sound. You’ll
find that each instrument follows a circular pattern that just repeats itself over
and over again until it ends.
So think of a band as a singing quartet that uses instruments instead of their voice
all rocking together in perfect time.
When playing the harmonica, play it as soft as you possibly can. Play it in a
whisper, that way your lips are loose and relaxed. So no matter where you go on
the harp it will be nice and easy sounding while you’re rocking, Let your mouth
and lips tap our beats on the harmonica just like a drum beat. You just blow real
soft while you’re rocking and your tongue will tap out any beat you want to go
with your musical notes you are softly playing.
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Eventually you will be able to go over which ever song you have studied long
enough in your mind, just as you would hear it on the CD. Then you just rock to
the song and work on it right there.
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An exercise can be the harp leads for Little Walters song – Last Night I Lost the
Best Friend I ever Had. Spend an hour exclusively on that project. Don’t try it once
or twice. Spend serious quality time on every individual thing you work on.
Here are some exercises:
1. Bending a note
2. Learn to play the scale in all the positions
3. Get all the notes you can out of one hole. For example, hole 1 gets 3 notes
when blow out, and 5 notes when you draw in.
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When listening to music, I dance around as I’m rocking on my heels to the music. I
use my hands and body to help me hear the music better just like a classical
conductor or a modern dance troupe. I get like both a conductor and a modern
dancer. I am moving to the flow and sound of the music in perfect timing because
I am always rocking to the beat on my heels. In that position my limbs will always
flow to the rhythm of the music and never look awkward because my limbs are in
time to the music on the CD.
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Anytime you listen to the vocalist or sing along yourself, picture each individual
word in your mind like flash cards. As you sing or hear this way your mind stays
focused only on the sing. The song will become like a movie you are watching.
Now you are not singing the song, but the song is singing to you. Do the same
thing while listening to or playing the harp. Either picture the words of the song
as you blow whatever notes you produce or picture in your mind the phrase Jesus
Christ as you paly notes in the harp. For example, blow Row Row Row Your Boat
[4 beats] on the harmonica but in your mind Je e e sus Christ [4 beats].
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So now when you listen to any song on the radio or CD, rock to the beat of the
song and softly sing or silently mouth the words and music. You will be able to
follow my song perfectly because every instrument and vocalist in the band
follows only that beat.
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Think of the instruments in a band the same way would a barber shop quartet.
Every singer or instrument player sings or strums on a different part of the scale.
Everyone sings or plays their instruments in harmony and rocks their heels to the
drums. All are rocking on their heels to the same beat and their vices or
instruments are all in their proper position on the musical scale,
Do
bass
Re
Mi
keyboard
Fa
Sol La
Guitar
to make beautiful harmony.
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Ti
Do
The harmonica phrasings of Little Walter, Big Walter, Jimmy Reed, Sonny Boy, etc.
all came from the music of the big band era. Listen to Tommy Dorsey’s TD’s
Boogie and you will hear where Little Walter and all the others got their ideas.
Little Walter made his harp sound like all the instruments in a big band. In the
song Juke, you hear the sounds of trumpets, strings, piano, horn and brass.
Rhythm sections sound like the beginning of Juke. He did this by playing real soft
and using thee tongue blocking method. If your purse your lips while playing and
blowing on the harp you lip muscles quickly get tired and can’t produce the
strength they need to every note and chord right.
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When you use the tongue blocking method and you are playing as soft as
possible, you barely use your lip muscles at all. So every note and chord can have
all the strength, tone and length it needs with plenty of power left over. When
you play soft and use the tongue blocking method you get more control over the
tone of the notes and chords you okay on the harmonica.
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The softer you blow or draw on the harmonica the more rapid and articulate you
can play your notes when you want to.
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The harder you blow, the less control you have over how you want each note to
sound when you play the harp.
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When taking a lead on the harp, for each 12 bar boogie just use one melody with
a few improvements like a big band style. Think of a 12 bar harp lead as a
corvette coming at your three times in that 12 bar lead but comes at you a little
bit better each time. One idea repeated 2-3 times each 12 bar lead.
When playing with a band, play as soft as possible even though the band sounds
loud. Have the mike set up so you are heard just as loud as anybody else.
Concentrate on playing soft to get that good tone and articulation. That is more
important than blowing louder but sounding dissonant and distorted with no
control over the quality of your sound and volume when playing as loud as you
can blow. Even though guitar and drums are crashing all around you, be calm and
serine and blow softly and artfully.
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Tongue blocking and pursed lip method. When you blow or draw in on one hole
you will probably get more than one note. You want the air to go in one hole and
just get that one clear note. There are two methods to do this. Pursed lip and
tongue blocking.
Tongue blocking.
1. Take tip of tongue and put it right on two holes. Leave enough space on the
right or left side of your mouth for air to go into that space you left open.
2. Now shove the harp inside your mouth and blow and draw real soft into the
gap in the right or left side of your mouth.
3. Most of the time you’ll play using the gap on the right side of your mouth.
4. Leave a gap on the right and left side of your mouth and you will get two
notes at once. It will sound like an organ.
5. Lift tongue off and on the two holes you are blocking as you play a single note
you get a single note and a chord sound like an accordion player, hitting a
single note with the right hand while playing a chord with the left hand.
Pursed lip method.
1. Place lips on the harp past the numbers. Keep your lips loose as if you are
holding a marshmallow in between your lips without mashing it.
2. Then you just draw in or blow out real soft and channel the air into one hole.
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To bend a note is to lower the pitch when you are drawing in or blowing out.
When you draw in or blow out scoop the air downward inside your mouth while
saying into the harmonica “ahhhh” when the note is regular and “oooohh” when
you scoop the air downward inside your mouth. All while your lips are still as
loose and relaxed as you can make them. To make a note stay where you bend it,
just keep on saying “ooohh” and when you want to bring the note back up just
say “ahhhh”.
Learn to bend. Learn pursed lips and tongue blocking. Every hole on the
harmonica can be bent blowing out or drawing in. Some more than others. For
example, holes 1 through 4 drawn in can be bent the most of all the holes. Holes
7 through 10 blown out can be bent more than any other holes blown out. But
you can still bend every hole in or out on the harmonica.
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Playing the Blues for most harp players is done mostly in the 5th position on the
harmonica which is drawing in on hole 2 to start the Boogie Woogie out. If you
have a C harp, blowing on hole 1 is the C note. Now change the name of C and call
it the 1st position. Now change the name of the 1st position to Doe and count up 5
steps from there and you have the 5th position or Sol. In the scale
Do
1st
Re
2nd
Mi
3rd
Fa
4th
Sol
5th
La
6th
Ti
7th
Do
1st
For example,
3rd Mi
Ist Doe
Harp Hole 1
2nd Re
Blow
2
3
5th Sol
4
Draw
Fa is the bending of second hole or 4th position.
To find the right harp for the 5th position, draw in on hole 2 until you find the right
harp that fits the music you are listening or playing live to.
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Chart of what harp to use for the 5th position when playing with the band or CD.
Band Key
Harp Key for 5th position
A
D
B
E
C
F
D
G
E
A
F
Bb
G
C