Play the Blues on a C Harmonica in 8 lessons
CourseHarmonicaBluesBeginner
Part ofHarmonica

Play the Blues on a C Harmonica in 8 lessons

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Duration54m
Modules9
LevelBeginner
LanguageEnglish

Lesson Plan (0h 54m)

About this course

Mat Walklate is a former British Blues Harmonica Champion, endorsed by Seydel harmonicas, who plays blues and folk on harmonica, flute, whistle, uilleann pipes and vocals. In these eight lessons he takes you from your very first notes to playing simple blues on a C diatonic harmonica.

You'll start with embouchure and tongue blocking to shape a clean single note, learn a simple chord rhythm and a boogie groove, work through the blues scale, and build your first improvised solo. Along the way you'll play "When The Saints Go Marching In" and, as a bonus, The Beatles' "Love Me Do".

Who it's for

  • Total beginners who've never picked up a harmonica
  • Returning players who shelved theirs years ago
  • Music fans drawn to the sound of the blues

What you'll learn

  • Play your first blues solo on a C harp
  • Shape a clean single note with your lips
  • Improvise simple ideas over a blues groove

What you'll need

  • A diatonic harmonica in the key of C
  • A quiet spot where you can make some noise
  • A few minutes most days — regularity matters more than length

Meet the Guru

Mat Walklate

Mat Walklate

Mat Walklate is a Manchester-based harmonica player and teacher working in blues and folk, who also plays flute, whistle and uilleann pipes and sings. He won the British Blues Harmonica Championship in 1992 and the All-Britain Fleadh Cheoil on harmonica in 1993, and is a Seydel-endorsed artist.

Over a thirty-year career he has toured Europe with bands including The Moochers and the Irish-music group The House Devils, recorded and mixed some fourteen albums between 2001 and 2021 - among them Sea of Blues and Traditional Harmonica - and now performs in a duo with singer-guitarist Alex Haynes and alongside blues scholar Dr Tom Attah. He teaches harmonica at Leeds Conservatoire and privately.

On MusicGurus his courses take you from your first notes on a C harmonica - embouchure, the cross-harp position, bending and your first improvisation - through to fluent blues playing, with vibrato, alternative positions and the phrasing that makes a solo sing.

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