Level III Most Advanced

Here are the songs that one way or another I concluded are definately NOT intermediate songs, usually due to the skillful bending required or the extreme demands of controlled breathing. Nonetheless, many of them are an important part of the advanced players repertoire and all most certainly serve a notable purpose in the blues harp world.

Most Advanced Study Songs

•

12th-P Blues

This is a study piece for playing in “12th” position, (also sometimes called “1st flat”). Johnny Watson, recording under the name Daddy Stovepipe, first used this in his 1924 recording of the song, "Stovepipe Blues" . . .

•

4-P Blues Download

This is a study of 4th position and how it relates to the minor key sequenced riff used in “Green Onions” and “Help Me.” Minor keys are more challenging on the harp than standard blues keys. 4th position is a good option, especially if you have some skills bending the high exhale notes . . .

•

5-P Blues Download

This song will help you to play in what is know to most harp players as 5th position. Instead of having the 2 hole inhale as your root, it is now your 2 hole exhale. This "position" is great for minor keys as the flat 3rd, flat 6th and flat 7th are readily available. . .

•

6-P Blues Download

This song is a study of 6th position with a nod to Rice Miller’s “Help Me” and Booker T’s “Green Onions.” Please note that “Help Me” was NOT played in 6th position nor am I implying that it should be. . . .

•

B. S. Blues Part 1 Download

This song is a study in the six note blues scale. This is one of my more difficult songs due to the exacting bends needed on hole three. If your bends here are weak or sloppy, the minor key blues will not likely work as well for you as the standard blues, which is more forgiving of sloppy bends. Being able to confidently and accurately play the blues scale will add many possiblilites to your playing, including playing over minor keys. . . .

•

B. S. Blues Part 2 Download

This song is a study in the six not blues scale. This is one of my more difficult songs due to the exacting bends needed on hole three. If your bends here are weak or sloppy, the minor key blues will not likely work as well for you as the standard blues, which is more forgiving of sloppy bends. Being able to confidently and accurately play the blues scale will add many possiblilites to your playing, including playing over minor keys. . . .

•

Chasin' Lost Sonny Download

Please note that there are two things different about this song, “Chasin' Lost Sonny.”
First, it is twice the price. That is because it was at least twice as hard to prepare as anything else here in the Filisko Store.
The second is that there is not a single defined final arrangement for the song but instead, numerous building blocks that you will need to arrange into your own version of Sonny's stylistic. If you goal is to capture his special style, you will need to do a lot of listening to the numerous versions of this type of piece that he recorded. Some of those are listed in the song notes. You will hear these building blocks and countless variations of them. Please also go back and review the song notes often and continually listen to the sample tracks on the CD.

•

I. O. U. Blues Download

This is a study in slow blues and in developing the Exhale Push (EP). IOU Blues stands for Inhale Only Ultimate Blues. Most of the powerful blues sounds come from inhaling, so it made sense to me to write an inhaling-only study song. This is much in the spirit of the slow blues by Little Walter, but does not have the advanced bending demands on hole 3. Be sure to read up on the Breathing Guides.
5 pages and 15 tracks.

•

Key to the High Weigh Download (Archive)

This song is a detailed study in playing over the popular 8-bar blues associated with the song "Key to the Highway." Goals are learning to improvise over the 8-bar form and to imrpovise around the melody.

•

Sonny's Shuffle Download

This song is a study of the 12 bar blues acoustic shuffle playing of Sonny Terry with most of his characteristic unique sounds, techniques, licks and phrases. It is my opinion that Sonny’s default embouchure is a one-hole tongue block

Browse Other Levels

Go to

Shopping Basket

Most Advanced Study Songs

AddThis