BLUESRIFFS A PLAYALONG COURSE FOR BLUES HARP PLAYERS VOLUME. Arranged and transcribed by Paul Lennon L.T.C.L.

Transcription

1 101 Blues riffs vol 6 download 10/9/09 09:32 Page II 101 BLUES RIFFS FOR DIATONIC HARMONICA IN C IN THE STYLE OF THE WALTERS, SONNYBOY II, SONNY TERRY, LEVY, CLARKE, MILTEAU, PIAZZA, MUSSELWHITE, MCCOY, POWER AND MORE... VOLUME BLUESRIFFS 6 A PLAYALONG COURSE FOR BLUES HARP PLAYERS "A real nice approach. For everyone from beginners to intermediates" LEE OSKAR CD HARMONICA COURSE THE BEN HEWLETT INSIDE Arranged and transcribed by Paul Lennon L.T.C.L. L&H106

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3 101 BLUES RIFFS 101 blues riffs for diatonic harmonica in C, in the style of The Walters, Sonnyboy II, Sonny Terry, Levy, Clarke, Milteau, Piazza, Musselwhite, McCoy, Power and more.. A play-along course for blues harp players Ben Hewlett Arranged and composed by Paul Lennon L.T.C.L 2009 Ben Hewlett. All text and illustrations Paul Lennon. Musical score. Published by L & H Publishing. paul@paullennon.com Web: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding other than that in which it is published and without similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Audio CD & P 2009 Ben Hewlett & Paul Lennon. All rights of the producer and the owner of the recorded work reserved. Unauthorised copying, public performance, broadcasting, hiring or rental of this recording prohibited. 3

4 CD TRACKLISTING TRACK 1 Welcome back 2 (Riffs 1-5) CHUGGING RIFFS 3 (Riffs 6-10) DEFORD BAILEY 4 (11-15) SONNY TERRY 5 (16-20) LITTLE WALTER JACOBS 6 (21-25) SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II 7 (26-30) MANNISH BOY' STYLE RIFFS 8 (31-35) ENDINGS 9 (36-40) WILLIAM CLARKE 10 (41-45) JJ MILTEAU 11 (46-50) BRENDAN POWER 12 (51-55) SHAKES, RATTLES AND ROLLS 13 (56-60) TONGUE BLOCKED RIFFS 14 (61-65) BIG WALTER (Shakey) HORTON 15 (66-70) CHARLIE McCOY 16 (71-75) HOWARD LEVY 17 (76-80) ROD PIAZZA 18 (81-85) THIRD POSITION RIFFS 19 (86-90) FIRST POSITION RIFFS 20 (91-95) FAST AND FLASHY 21 (96-100) JAZZY RIFFS 22 (101) SONNY TERRY 'WHOOPING' 23 TWELVE BAR BLUES IN G 4

5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 4 CD Tracklisting Page 5 Book Contents Page 6 Welcome Back Page 7 Introduction (Track 1) Pages 8 & 9 Simple Chugging riffs (Track 2) Pages 10 & 11 Deford Bailey (Track 3) Pages 12 & 13 Sonny Terry (Track 4) Pages 14 & 15 Little Walter Jacobs (Track 5) Pages 16 & 17 Sonny Boy Williamson II (Track 6) Pages 18 & 19 'Mannish Boy'-style riffs (Track 7) Pages 20 & 21 Endings (Track 8) Pages 22 & 23 William Clarke (Track 9) Pages 24 & 25 J.J.Milteau (Track 10) Pages 26 & 27 Brendan Power (Track 11) Pages 28 & 29 Shakes, rattles and rolls! (Track 12) Pages 30 & 31 Tongue-blocked riffs (Track 13) Pages 32 & 33 Big Walter (Shakey) Horton (Track 14) Pages 34 & 35 Charlie McCoy (Track 15) Pages 36 & 37 Howard Levy (Track 16) Pages 38 & 39 Rod Piazza (Track 17) Pages 40 & 41 Third Position riffs (Track 18) Pages 42 & 43 First Position riffs (Track 19) Pages 44 & 45 Fast and Flashy riffs (Track 20) Pages 46 & 47 Jazzy riffs (Track 21) Pages 48 & 49 Sonny Terry 'Whooping' (Track 22) Page bar blues in G Page 53 Thanks Page 54 Chromatic harmonica tablature Page 56 Ben Hewlett biography Page 57 Paul Lennon biography Page 58 The Series & Forthcoming Titles 5

6 THE BEN HEWLETT HARMONICA COURSE VOLUME BLUES RIFFS Hello and welcome to the 6th in our series in which we offer you 101 blues riffs to learn, use, modify, and take over their ownership. Each riff will be played for you at a fast speed, then a slower speed and then in most cases, at an intermediate speed. Each track contains five riffs in the style of some of my favourite players, starting with simpler riffs to get you started and gradually getting harder. Whilst studying with Joe Filisko I've learnt that most of the earlier players tongueblocked most of the time. However, to make it easier, I've decided to ignore this generally, but you should try the tongue-block style as well. Use your tongue to cover a couple of holes to the left of the notes I've given you and it should work out! The players on which we have based these riffs are chosen haphazardly from my personal music collection so should not be taken as exclusively the best players - although they are all exceptional in my opinion. We also ran out of space on the CD so couldn't use riffs in the style of Paul Lamb, Kim Wilson, Sugar Blue, John Popper, Paul Jones, Lee Sankey, Johnny Mars, Steve Baker and a bunch of other inspirational players. Maybe on the next riffs album! My playing - (although brilliant!) - is no match for the source players whose styles I've attempted, so my best advice is to encourage you, after enjoying this CD, to go back to the original players and to study them directly. It is much harder of course - what we have we have tried to do here is to present the same information for you in a half digested form - almost regurgitated, and fed from beak to open screeching beak. Imagine us like a Mummy or Daddy bird feeding you, our fat and starving little chicks! 6

7 INTRODUCTION Most riffs here are in second position or 'crossharp'. For those who don't know, this refers to the 'flavour' or mood given to your music through your deliberate choice of notes. Second position gives a great bluesy feel and is based around the low draw chord i.e.- a G chord when you are using a C harp. That s holes 1-4 draw. When you include hole 5 it becomes a G7 chord which is PERFECT for blues. Chords like G7 - or any other '7th' chord - will instantly give you a bluesy flavour on any instrument. You will also need to bend lots of notes to get the blues notes (blues scales) which add to the characteristic sound. In 3rd, 5th or 6th positions by contrast, most of the blues notes you need are available unbent and the chords are unavailable. Bent notes have a different sound texture, so choosing different positions alters the flavour, and the technical approach. If you're not clear on bending notes we may be able to help you out - check out the chromatic tablature page. Note bending will be dealt with in future editions. We've mostly stuck to 2nd position also because it is considered 'normal' or familiar, and most recorded blues that you hear will be in 2nd especially between 1930 and For the exact same reason I like to escape from 2nd and experiment with some of the other 11 positions available - I think it's our duty to explore the harmonica! So plug in the CD and let's get to work! Try to train your ears (those are the big flappy things attached to the side of your head) by at first NOT looking at this book. Just listen, stop the CD, and copy. You need to work at the ears - music belongs to the EARS. Written music is a handy code, has great historical significance, and is a great aide-memoir, but it's just paper - music is generally an audible experience rather that a visual one. 7

8 SIMPLE CHUGGING RIFFS RIFFS 1-5 I THOUGHT WE JUST AGREED YOU WERE NOT GOING TO READ THIS YET!? TRAIN YOUR EARS!! Chugging is a system I use for beginners and intermediates alike. It is rhythm harmonica, and uses the two basic chords in various rhythmic patterns. Chugging gets you to whisper crazy words into the harmonica to create amazing sound textures. It leads you to encounter breathing problems and helps you to overcome them. Rhythm is the bottom line in music, as breathing is in harmonica playing. So chugging is the foundation in my view. As with all the chugging chords in Get Chugging, Mastermix, and Nasty Chugs, this technique only works effectively if you whisper these words loudly into the harmonica. Riff 1 Riff 2 Riff 3 Riff 4 Riff 5 do da (in) do da (out) do (in) da (in) hoo (out) hah (in) hoo (out) da (in) tocketa (in) tocketa (out) tocketa (in) tocketa (out) tock (in) da (in) hoo (out) daaaaaaa (in) da (in) hoo (out) da (in) do da (in) da do da (in) do da (out) do (in) 8

9 SIMPLE CHUGGING RIFFS Track 2 Riffs 1-5 Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70 Twice each 9

10 DEFORD BAILEY Riffs 6-10 He was the first African-American star at the Grand Old Opry he became known for his ability to mimic animal sounds on the harmonica. His style is beautiful, crisp, and accurate in the articulation of rhythm and sweet melody. It sounds like ragtime or Charleston to me. In 1926 he got his weekly 15 minutes at the Opry, recording and broadcasting. A publishing battle ended his career in 1941 and sadly he apparently returned to polishing boots, but not before being heard on the radio by Sonny Terry. 10

11 DEFORD BAILEY Track 3 Riffs 6-10 Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 three times each 11

12 SONNY TERRY Riffs Sonny is perhaps one of the greatest players in the rural blues style. He had a huge global impact and toured the world with his music. From lowly beginnings and with his lack of sight he must have overcome huge obstacles to achieve success. He started playing the harmonica (upside down) - I mean the harmonica, not him; that would be silly - and working on street corners busking. In 1938 he bumped into Blind Boy Fuller and started playing and recording with him for the two years leading up to Fuller's untimely death. He heard Fuller playing on the opposite corner of the street and sent a boy to set up a meeting. At exactly the same time Fuller, it seems, had done the same thing! Sonny said that working in music he only ever met one bad person. A man stole a coin from Sonny's busking hat. Sonny later said I hope the fool's still spending it After Fuller's death, Sonny teamed up with guitarist/singer Brownie McGee and thus started a strangely unfriendly partnership lasting about forty years. His career took off like a bird full of air. So check out his albums, especially the solo ones, but here's five Sonnyish riffs to get you started. Paul Lamb - my first teacher - says he studied Sonny exclusively for 12 years. There's commitment for you. He said you can learn everything you need to know by studying Sonny, and maybe he's right. Let me give you some more words to whisper loudly into your harmonica for the chordal part of these riffs. I m quite sure Sonny would laugh at my approach but it seems to work so we ll stick with it for now. 12

13 SONNY TERRY Track 4 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 three times each 13

14 LITTLE WALTER JACOBS Riffs Another of the old classics. In his short life Little Walter sent harmonica messages around the world. He 'studied' with Sonny Boy Williamson in the 40s and then worked in the Muddy Waters Band in He is reputed to have started the 'Chicago' electric style in on July 11th - by plugging a microphone into an amplifier. His reputation was that of a great innovator, experimenting with sound, recording techniques, swapping mics and amps to get 'his' sound - a sound nobody has really recreated yet. He was also known for staying out late drinking heavily - it's thirsty work you know - and doing a little of everything. Then he would arrive at the studio at 5am to start recording! His recordings are all wonderful especially 'Juke' which was a hit staying top of the charts for 13 weeks in 1952, and 'My Babe', 'Last night', 'Off the wall' and so on, the list is huge - buy them all! He toured extensively throughout the 50s and 60s sometimes using the UK blues revival bands such as the Rolling Stones as backup men. His style mixes a playful and easy lyrical flow with hard edged blues and often giving that rock'n'roll feel to many pieces. It seems he played softly and let the gain take the strain. We can all learn from that I feel. The booze got to him in the end and he died, it is said, as a result of injuries sustained in a street fight in

15 LITTLE WALTER Track 5 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 three times each 15

16 SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II Alex 'Rice' Miller Riffs Sonny Boy Williamson II - not to be confused with Joe Filisko's favourite, the also excellent John Lee 'Sonny Boy' Williamson was another busker who was mixing with all the people who are now known as famous bluesmen. He even taught harmonica to his brother-in-law, one Howling Wolf! In 1941 he landed a job with the King Biscuit Flour Company playing on a midday Radio program on KFFA, presumably adding 'Rice' to his name 'Miller'. Cashing in on John Lee Williamson's record sales, the station manager apparently billed Miller as 'Sonny Boy Williamson' with great success, and the name stuck glutinously. Chess signed Sonny Boy in 1955 after he had been recording and playing with increasing popularity and his fame spread to Europe working with the Yardbirds and the Animals in the 60s. There is lovely black and white TV footage of him wearing a bowler hat and a smart suit playing hands-free with the harp bobbing around in his mouth! Buy all his albums, do yourself a favour. 16

17 SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON Track 6 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 three times each 17

18 'MANNISH BOY' STYLE RIFFS made famous by Chicago bluesman MUDDY WATERS Riffs Although Muddy played harmonica as a kid he had changed to guitar by his twenties. He provided a professional platform for so many great harmonica players and developed the 'Mannish Boy', 'Mojo Working' feel that he just couldn't be left out here and his style is still widely used by harp players everywhere. This is my 1963 Watkins Scout valve amp with 1960s Hohner Echo Super Vampers and a 1950s ex US miltary PA mike - fab gear! Inside the amp, written in chalk, it says 'Manfreds 1964' Was this Paul Jones' amp when with Manfred Mann? 18

19 MANNISH BOY Track 7 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 three times each 19

20 ENDINGS Riffs Never know how to finish neatly? Now you will. Here are some riffs to end a blues in a clear and obvious way. Some people who have inspired me... 20

21 ENDINGS Track 8 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 three times each 21

22 WILLIAM CLARKE Riffs William Clarke was another fabulous harp player who died too young. I was lucky enough to see him play in the UK and was very impressed. Also on the same bill was Rod Piazza, who, like William Clarke, did a lot of work with George 'Harmonica' Smith. Bill's style is 'west coast swing' and has that jazzy big-band feel that I love. The other thing you get from Bill is POWER by the truckload. His rhythms are spot on and his phrasing is beautiful: we can learn a lot by listening to Bill Clarke's work. There are loads of his albums out there-go buy them. Photos of Bill Clarke by Linda Maria of Linda Marie Entertainment and Mortone 22

23 WILLIAM CLARKE Track 9 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 three times each 23

24 JJ MILTEAU Riffs Jean-Jacques is a stunning French player whose blues can be fast and furious, funky, or lyrical. He uses diatonic and chromatic with equal skill and has plenty of albums out for you to listen to. Picture from website 24

25 J.J. MILTEAU Track 10 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 three times each 25

26 BRENDAN POWER Riffs Brendan comes from New Zealand but now we've happily got him in the UK! Arriving as a well-known NZ player he instantly became an un-known UK player. But not for long. He set up evening harmonica courses in London in 92/3 and then through a lot of hard work and award winning performances toured with the Irish music and dance show 'Riverdance' for several years. I was having lessons with him at that time and eventually inherited his evening classes. That turned into a full time career for me (including creating this book) but that's another story! Brendan's Irish ancestry and interest in folk and Celtic styles have led him to study and excel in these types of music. He must be regarded as the best all-rounder in the UK and one of the finest players on our little planet. He has also (amongst others) revolutionized custom tunings and now has a wide variety of retuned and unique harmonica concepts. Check out his many outstanding recordings and visit 26

27 BRENDAN POWER Track 11 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 three times each 27

28 SHAKES, RATTLES AND ROLLS Riffs Tricks and effects. You should be able to do them just by listening carefully and working them out. To be used judiciously - they can get a tad boring! I started all these children playing harp on the same day, so now there are 350 more harp players in this world - a good thing I feel! 28

29 SHAKES, RATTLES & ROLLS Track 12 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 = 104/70 29

30 TONGUE BLOCKED RIFFS Riffs Tongue blocking is one of the two best ways to get a singe note. The other way is puckering. I don't even want to talk about the masking tape method. The advantage of tongue blocking is a fuller sound (generally, although you can get great tone and full sound from puckering, listen to Brendan or Howard) and by lifting the tongue for a moment, you expose the chord, which gives you a rhythmic feel or a nice attack to your notes. My personal view is that you need to pucker sometimes and tongue block sometimes but always learn puckering first because it's hard to give up the tongue block when you start with it but it's much easier the other way round. The disadvantage of tongue blocking is that it is harder (but possible) to bend notes, pop the overbends, and slows you down on fast passages. So learn both styles but try tongue blocking now - you'll love the sound. Phil Jon Ben Three great tongue-blockers! 30

31 TONGUE BLOCKED RIFFS Track 13 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 31

32 BIG WALTER (Shakey) HORTON Riffs Walter was a stunning player with the fat tone all harp players want. He was a behind the scenes man really and never got the recognition he deserved. He started learning with Will Shade and the Memphis Jug Band at an early age, and in 1952, replaced Junior Wells in the Muddy Waters band. Lots of recording followed in the next 3 decades, usually as a sideman, working with Waters, Carey Bell, Willie Dixon, and others. He even recorded a beautiful sketch with John Lee Hooker in the street scene of the Blues Brothers film just before he died. Just in time really. There are lots of his albums around for you to listen to - go get them! Big Walter Horton - the man with the tone. 32

33 BIG WALTER (Shakey) HORTON Track 14 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 33

34 CHARLIE McCOY Riffs The great country player. Charlie's style is so fast and sweet you just have to be impressed. Studios have been impressed, and since 1960 he has done over 10,000 sessions! He seems to have worked with everyone in country music and continues to record and tour and occasionally plays a little blues. His influence is worldwide - it even stretched to New Zealand where Brendan Power was living. He tells me Charlies's playing blew him away! So visit Charlie's site and buy his albums - you will love that country harp style to add to your blues playing! 34

35 CHARLIE McCOY Track 15 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 35

36 HOWARD LEVY 1951 Riffs Yet another outstanding player - many would say the best all-round diatonic player the world has yet seen! He is probably the first to play fast be-bop and modern jazz chromatically on a standard diatonic. Howard studied music most of his life, specializing in piano and organ for 8 years, and has revolutionized the way the diatonic is approached. He didn't start playing until he was 18 but since then has done over 1000 studio sessions, and lots of musical guest appearances. He was certain the 'missing' notes were available somehow and set about finding them. He called the technique 'overblowing' and 'overdrawing' and although they existed before Howard - Richard Hunter tells me he first came across it from Mike Tratner in the spring of but certainly Howard was the first to explain and demonstrate the skill on video. 'Overbending' is the collective term 'overblowing' and 'overdrawing' and it is becoming increasingly used and therefore acceptable. There are many players who don't like or use it who say that since Little Walter didn't use it why should I, and fair play to them! Personally, I like to use overbending to achieve the notes I want in the right register. I also love the strange sound texture and the physical feeling or vibration you get! It's like popping a wheelie on your bike - once you figure it out you want to show everybody, and also you can't resist doing it for your own amazement - it's fun, and a bit rebellious! It is also probably the hardest technique to learn and is even harder to do if you are a 'tongue-blocker'. Anyway all Howard's recordings are mind blowing so put some on your shopping list. His main bands have been Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and more recently Trio Globo. Visit and buy EVERYTHING! 36

37 HOWARD LEVY Track 16 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 90/60/80 37

38 ROD PIAZZA 1947 Riffs Rod in full flight Rod is one of the first 'West Coast Swing' players I ever heard and I was knocked out by his skills. His band The Mighty Fliers has stood the test of time, they were formed in 1980 and if you don't own some of their albums you are missing a treat! His first great collaboration was with George 'Harmonica' Smith in Bacon Fat from 1968 to 1982 when George died. After that it has been the Mighty Fliers gigs and a lot of studio work to keep him busy. Thanks to Honey for permission to use the pic. 38

39 ROD PIAZZA Track 17 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 94/60/80 39

40 THIRD POSITION RIFFS Riffs Third position for a C harmonica puts you in the key of D minor (D 'dorian' to be accurate) so use these riffs on a blues in D or D minor and they will sound sweet. In the blues at the end of this CD (which is in G) these riffs work best on bars 9 and 12 as they are based on a D chord, but try them anywhere you like them! Pat Missin taught me the trick bending on riff 84! Essentials from Lee Oskar and Hohner. 40

41 THIRD POSITION RIFFS Track 18 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 41

42 FIRST POSITION RIFFS Riffs Using a C harmonica, first position is when you play in the key of C. Bars 5,6 and 10 of a twelve bar blues in G (like the piece at the end of the CD) are based on a C chord (the IV chord if you prefer) so use these riffs then. You can also play them using a C harmonica in a twelve bar blues in C throughout. Have a listen to Sonny Boy Williamson's 'Trust My Baby' or Kim Wilson's cover of it for classic first position feel. Also anything by Jimmy Reed will usually feature first position playing. A nice bit of Bass. 42

43 1st POSITION RIFFS Track 19 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 43

44 FAST AND FLASHY Riffs The first two are (something like the) riffs that I remember Charlie Musselwhite playing at a gig in London a few years ago and the others are hybrids from here and there. Some sound a bit JJ Milteau - ish Charlie told me how he was interested to hear how other people perceive his playing and I should call him up and play down the phone! Visit his website and listen to his music. If you want some crazy fast phrasing check out some of John Popper's work with his band 'Blues Traveller'. Blues it ain't, but they certainly travel. picture: Charlie Musselwhite 44

45 FAST AND FLASHY Track 20 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 94/60/95 45

46 JAZZY RIFFS Riffs These are fun. There's no reason why you can't use the diatonic in jazz, except that compared to blues it's harder, but you can work on it if you have the drive. Paul Lennon is a jazzer by default and he came up with these riffs. I think they are very refreshing when you play a lot of blues, and I loved learning them - have a go at them. How about a book of jazz riffs for diatonic? Tell us if you want one. Queen Mama-Willie Mae Thornton. Blues singer and sometime harmonica player. 46

47 JAZZY RIFFS Track 21 Riffs Hewlett & Lennon g2001 Swing = 104/70/90 47

48 SONNY TERRY 'WHOOPING' Riff 101 Sonny and others have 'whooped and hollered' for years and it's another string to your bow if you can do it, so now it's your turn. The C harp is too high for me to whoop with really, but it's a bit of fun and adds texture, dynamics and interest to your playing. Listen to Sonny Terry or Joe Filisko playing 'Lost John' unaccompanied - the detail and variation involved. My main man 48

49 SONNY TERRY Track 22 Riff 101 Hewlett & Lennon g2001 = 64/30 49

50 12 BAR BLUES IN G Here Paul Lennon plays a 12 bar for you to practice your new riffs. I also play some of the riffs with him but if you want to fade me out - and I recommend that you do - turn your balance control to the left and leave just you and Paul. Next, find any blues recording in G and jam along. Then do the same with a live muso, go to jam sessions, join a band, tour the globe - the world is your lobster! Sonny Boy Williamson II 50

51 12 BAR BLUES STRUCTURE - SIMPLIFIED VERSION 51

52 Ben with Joe Filisko on the left and Steve Baker on the right. 52

53 THANKS To Peter Krampert's 'Encyclopedia of the Harmonica' for biographical details an also to Sheldon Harris's 'Who's Who in Blues'. We also need to thank all the fantastic players listed here or not who inspire us all to play and to improve. If you've enjoyed this course you also owe a debt to Brendan Power for encouraging me to start teaching the harmonica in the 1990s. Without Paul Lennon's faith in this project and his myriad skills both musical and technological none of this would have happened. I wish to acknowledge a debt to some of my teachers Howard Levy, Joe Filisko, Paul Lamb, Brendan Power, Pat Missin, Carlos del Junco, Douglas Tate, Steve Jennings, Paul Lennon Thanks hugely to Ian Kay at Hills Archer Studios, designer of all our books. Thanks to Hohner UK for use of some photos - oh, and building some damn fine harmonicas for the last hundred and odd years! Also to Leslie and Lee Oskar for help, encouragement, the 'exploding' harp and groovy case pictured herein, and loads of other stuff. And finally huge THANKS go to YOU for buying this CD/Book which makes all the hard work worthwhile. Don't forget, if you've enjoyed this and want more half regurgitated riffs let us know and we will do another 'Riffs' album. 53

54 CHROMATIC TABLATURE (TAB) CHART 54

55 THANKS We hope you have enjoyed playing these riffs and have found them useful, challenging and fun. As always it's worth saying that our advice is for you to go and seek out original riffs from other players and get them into your repertoire. But don't stick at harp players - why not learn riffs from sax players, guitarists - anybody whose style you like. There are two other riff books in this series which you might try if you've found these good - Vol Awesome Blues Riffs and Vol.18 Sonny Terry Blues Riffs. You can pick them up from Harmonicaworld.net or Amazon. See you next time. Ben and Paul

56 BIOGS BEN HEWLETT CTABRSM b.1959 Ben Hewlett became a musician at the age of ten learning the trumpet. He went through the school system of exams and performances, finally escaping the mandatory classical repertoire with the discovery of Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. He was a minor third addict at fourteen and still has a passion for jazz and blues. Ben received a harmonica at the age of 7 and started playing it properly at the age of 27 having seen the Blues Brothers film a number of times. Ben Has studied harmonica with top harmonica players including Paul Lamb, Brendan Power, Charlie McCoy, Howard Levy, Joe Filisko, Richard Sleigh, Steve Baker and Carlos del Junco. During two years of running evening classes (inherited from Brendan Power) he qualified as a Music Workshop Leader and worked full time teaching music in different settings. Since leaving London Ben has gone into full-time harmonica teaching. In 2002 he successfully completed the teaching qualification 'Certificate of Teaching, Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music' (CTABRSM). Ben and his team of ten teachers now visit 40 schools a week to teach five hundred harmonica students - he is therefore the only full-time professional harmonica teacher in the UK. This is known as harpscool.co.uk He has also run a Blues Band workshop to provide a setting for new harp players to gain band experience. He ran Saturday 'learn to play in a day' courses all over the west of England and continues to teach many private students. Ben runs 'Blues Jam Factory' now a successful corporate team-building and training operation with a growing client base including DHL, Exel, Lloyds TSB, Brittish Gas, Sanofi Aventis, University of Singapore, Novartis, TBL, The Hemsley Fraser Group, Instant Teamwork, Axa, Spice UK and BNI. To see this in action visit Ben has played with Jools Holland in a blues jam Ben organised in London; he is a Guinness World record holder for 'Largest Harmonica Ensemble'; he organised a group of 100 Children dressed as the Blues Brothers playing the Peter Gunn Theme on harmonicas to an audience of 2,500. Ben and Paul Lennon introduced 850 children to the harmonica at Ocklynge Junior school in Eastbourne where all the children studied their 10-week harmonica course. Ben's students have received countless UK Harmonica Championship title and he was the first ever harmonica teacher at Dulwich College, London. With Paul Lennon he is now an internationally published author with 'Get Chugging'. He once taught Didgeridoo on Radio 4 with Rolf Harris and has played on the same bill as, and talked shop with, the legendary Larry Adler. He also had an unexpected two hour lunch with Billy Connolly while setting up a harmonica festival in Bristol. Ben can be contacted at ben@harmonicaworld.net 56

57 BIOGS PAUL LENNON L.T.C.L. (b.1957) Paul is a composer/arranger, multi-instrumentalist and teacher. He is a former pupil of Bishop Wordsworth School, Salisbury and former member and leader of the Wiltshire Youth and Salisbury Junior Orchestras on violin. He also played in rock and folk bands in the Salisbury areas from the age of 15 onwards and later graduated from Trinity College of Music, London in violin, piano and composition ( ). Paul has been involved in many classical/light music ventures including orchestras, a flute quartet, a duo with cello and even a 1930 s cabaret act. He went on to play bass, guitar, violin and keyboards in various bands and from he was the bass player and composer/arranger with EPJ, a 13-piece modern jazz big band. He played guitar, keyboards and vocals in a 4-piece pop band, then violin in a duo with guitar until mid 1996, followed by piano in his own original jazz quartet with guitar, bass and drums. In 1998 in collaboration with The Booming Cherries, a contemporary dance troupe, he produced Gravy Bones, a jazz-oriented dance work. The following year he wrote and recorded the score for an adaptation of King Arthur, a current production by the Spiral Arts dance-theatre company. Other works include string quartets, pieces for flute and piano/guitar and solo piano. All these works reflect an eclectic experience and a leaning towards music for dramatic and visual media. He writes from his Kent-based home recording studio and has composed and produced many albums there including the playalongs for harmonica with Ben Hewlett and spoken-word material with Shaun de Warren and Marietta Pinto-Hayes. He has produced books on Music Training Basics, Practising and Ear-Training as well as collections of pieces for piano, violin, guitar and flute. From 1993 Paul taught at the City Literary Institute in London and wrote a three-year jazz harmony and ear-training course. From July 2001 to June 2002 Paul played bass and shared lead vocals in a band based in Claridges Hotel in London during which time he built a large pad of vocal material. From then he played in various duos on violin with Charles Alexander, Jamey Moore and Dominic Grant (guitars) and on piano and guitar with saxophonist Howard Turner. Since the summer of 2002 he has studied violin and piano on the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Summer Schools in London for three years running. As a music editor and copyist he has worked for many years with Dave Hewson on his projects for KPM/EMI with at least eight albums to Paul s credit also saw the recording of a harmonica sample album with Ben Hewlett for ZERO-G, a major sample company. Currently Paul is very involved in composition and recording particularly with Ben Hewlett on the ongoing Harmonica Course and also his own playalong projects for guitar and piano. Various projects are in preparation including a four album set of songs with lyrics by John Goldman, a blues/rock CD/book of riffs in the styles of great guitarists including Santana, Jimmy Page, Rory Gallagher etc. and the CD/book 101 Blues Riffs for Harmonica played on guitar. He has also teamed up with voiceover artist Neill McKenzie to form a production company that produces music and voiceovers for ads, documentaries, film etc. He also continues to teach piano, guitar, violin, bass and singing privately along with theory, harmony and composition. Paul s current showreels can be heard on and he can be contacted at: paul@paullennon.com 57

58 OTHER VOLUMES AVAILABLE Volume 1 Get Chugging - Rhythm harmonica for beginners and intermediates. It teaches rhythm, breathing, and articulation. Now published globally by Mel Bay Publications Inc. and available from all good music shops. Volume 2 Search for the Single Note - the next step on from Get Chugging. It introduces you to getting single notes and teaches you simple tunes/exercises with a series of beautiful backing tracks for newish harp players. Volume 3 Blues jam Factory - an introduction to the blues for complete beginners. Different styles of 12-bar blues are covered in this volume using single notes and chugging techniques. All this with original backing tracks in each style. Become an instant blues star with your own backing band! Volume 4 HarpsCool Mastermix - a mixture of train chugs, riffs, standard tunes, and easy original tunes for newish harp players. Volume 5 Bones of the Blues the blues in five different keys on a C harp. Eight original blues tunes all taught in short phrases and come with the appropriate scale for improvising. NO NOTEBENDING NEEDED for intermediate and advanced players. Volume Blues Riffs - learn classic blues riffs and sound like the players you love to listen to! Sonny Terry, William Clarke, the Walters, Sonny Boy Williamson, etc. plus riffs for specific situations endings, fast & flashy, jazzy etc. For intermediate to advanced players. Lots of note-bending needed here! Volume 7 Funky Folk folk tunes reworked with funky backings.. coming soon. Volume 8 Funky Nursery - ten nursery tunes (each sung once and played at three different speeds) with the funkiest backings in existence for beginners. Volume 9 Funky Christmas - ten festive tunes (each sung once and played at three different speeds) with the funkiest backings in Christendom and beyond for beginners. Volume 10 Nasty Chugs - another chugging book but with disgusting words! Designed for children and in the style of Roald Dahl. Each chug has a rhythmic pattern, a groovy backing track and a simple tune. For younger beginners these are horrible! Volume Awesome Blues Riffs - for intermediate players. A response to requests for more challenging material. These riffs will challenge the best of you! Volumes 11 to 16 are all in preparation including books on notebending etc. Current details are on the website or us at info@harmonicaworld.net 58

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60 101 Blues riffs vol 6 download 10/9/09 09:33 Page 60 GROW WITH THE RANGE... 3 "A real nice approach. For everyone from beginners to intermediates" L&H102 Arranged and sung by Paul Lennon L.T.C.L. 4 HOW TO PLAY CLASSIC TUNES, CHUGS & RIFFS ON A C HARMONICA WITHOUT BENDING NOTES A PLAYALONG COURSE FOR LEE OSKAR s THE BEN HEWLETT 2CD INSIDE HARMONICA COURSE NEW HARP PLAYERS CD HARMONICA COURSE THE BEN HEWLETT INSIDE L&H104 THE BLUES 5 HOW TO PLAY BLUES TUNES & IMPROVISE IN 5 KEYS ON ONE C HARMONICA WITHOUT BENDING NOTES A PLAYALONG COURSE FOR "A real nice approach. For everyone from beginners to intermediates" LEE OSKAR NEW HARP PLAYERS CD HARMONICA COURSE THE BEN HEWLETT INSIDE L&H102 Composed and transcribed by Paul Lennon L.T.C.L. Arranged and composed by Paul Lennon L.T.C.L. BLUESRIFFS 101 BLUES RIFFS FOR DIATONIC HARMONICA IN C IN THE STYLE OF THE WALTERS, SONNYBOY II, SONNY TERRY, LEVY, CLARKE, MILTEAU, PIAZZA, MUSSELWHITE, MCCOY, POWER AND MORE... A PLAYALONG COURSE FOR BLUES HARP PLAYERS 6 "A real nice approach. For everyone from beginners to intermediates" LEE OSKAR CD HARMONICA COURSE THE BEN HEWLETT INSIDE L&H106 Arranged and transcribed by Paul Lennon L.T.C.L. "T Composed and transcribed by Paul Lennon L.T.C.L. MASTERMIX1 "A real nice approach. For everyone from beginners to intermediates" LEE OSKAR h w is c ha o t ur M we se HO is HN ne ju ER e d" st LEE OSKAR CD HARMONICA COURSE THE BEN HEWLETT INSIDE AN INTRODUCTION TO PLAYING BLUES ON A DIATONIC HARMONICA IN THE KEY OF C VOLUME "A real nice approach. For everyone from beginners to intermediates" NEW HARP PLAYERS ACTORY BLUES JAM FFACTORY A PLAYALONG COURSE FOR NEW BLUES PLAYERS 101 VOLUME A PLAYALONG COURSE FOR 2 BONES OF HARPSCOOL VOLUME HOW TO GET AND USE SINGLE NOTES ON THE DIATONIC HARMONICA VOLUME VOLUME SINGLE NOTE L&H103 II SEARCH FOR THE FUNKY FUNKY L&H108 A PLAYALONG COURSE FOR 9 NEW HARP PLAYERS THE BEN HEWLETT CD INSIDE HARMONICA COURSE Arranged and sung by Paul Lennon L.T.C.L. NASTYCHUGS RHYTHM HARMONICA FOR KIDS A PLAYALONG COURSE FOR "A real nice approach. For everyone from beginners to intermediates" LEE OSKAR L&H NEW HARP PLAYERS CD HARMONICA COURSE THE BEN HEWLETT INSIDE L&H110 Composed and performed by Paul Lennon L.T.C.L. 50 AWESOME SONNY TERRY BLUES RIFFS A PLAYALONG COURSE FOR FOR DIATONIC HARMONICA IN 6 KEYS A, Bb, C, D, F PLUS G MINOR 17 DEVELOPING HARP PLAYERS "A real nice approach. For everyone from beginners to intermediates" LEE OSKAR CD HARMONICA COURSE THE BEN HEWLETT INSIDE Arranged and recorded by Paul Lennon L.T.C.L. BLUES RIFFS SONNY TERRY BLUES RIFFS FOR INTERMEDIATE HARP PLAYERS A PLAYALONG COURSE FOR INTERMEDIATE HARP PLAYERS CD HARMONICA COURSE THE BEN HEWLETT INSIDE L&H118 Arranged and transcribed by Paul Lennon L.T.C.L. "T Arranged and sung by Paul Lennon L.T.C.L VOLUME CD HARMONICA COURSE THE BEN HEWLETT INSIDE HOW TO PLAY CLASSIC XMAS TUNES ON A C HARMONICA WITH FUNKY BACKINGS VOLUME YOUNGER PLAYERS CHRISTMAS VOLUME A PLAYALONG COURSE FOR 8 VOLUME VOLUME NURSERY HOW TO PLAY TRADITIONAL NURSERY RHYMES ON A C HARMONICA WITH FUNKY BACKINGS h w is c ha o t ur M we se HO is HN ne ju ER e d" st Ben Hewlett became a musician at the age of ten in 1969 learning the trumpet. He went through the school system of exams and performances, finally escaping the mandatory classical repertoire with the discovery of Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. He was a minor third addict at fourteen and still has a passion for jazz and blues. Godfather Dennis Corble gave Ben a harmonica at the age of 7 thus unknowingly sowing the seeds of a lifelong love of this instrument! Paul is a composer/arranger, multi-instrumentalist and teacher. He is a former pupil of Bishop Wordsworth School, Salisbury and former member and leader of the Wiltshire Youth and Salisbury Junior Orchestras on violin. He also played in rock and folk bands in the Salisbury areas from the age of 15 onwards and later graduated from Trinity College of Music, London in violin, piano and composition ( ) (UK) Recommended price Blues Riffs Hewlett & Lennon ISBN: