Product Description

3-CD box set with with instructional CDs & accompanying book is a comprehensive & easy-to-use lesson on how to learn to play the harmonica. Portnoy, who's been in the Muddy Waters & Eric Clapton bands, realized other instructional materials put all of the explanations into the text of a book, and the accompanying sound reference consisted only of playing examples, so Jerry put everything on the CDs so you don't have to switch back & forth between the two. He starts at the very beginning on how to hold the harmonica, all the way to milking special sounds & effects out of the harp, and finally includes blues guitar jams to play along with.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Introduction
2. Holding the Harmonica
3. Chord Rhythm
4. Tongue Blocking
5. Changeover Scale
6. Syncopating Chords
7. Back Rhythm
8. Octaves
9. Draw Octaves
10. Simple Songs
11. Pursed Lips
12. Lip Blocking
13. Bar Structure

Disc 2:

1. Intro to Bending Notes
2. Bending Techniques
3. Bends With Syncopating Chords
4. Bending Exercises
5. Upper Register Blow Bends
6. Transitions
7. 2 Draw Vs. 3 Blow
8. Intro to Special Effects
9. Vibrato
10. Warbles
11. Flutters
12. Growls
13. Barks
14. Kiss Pops
15. Rips and Glisses
16. Double and Triple Tonguing
17. Turnaround Figure
18. Tongue Switching
19. Special Chords
20. Shaping Notes
21. Use of Hands

Disc 3:

1. Breathing and Diaphragm Attack
2. Positions
3. "Saints" - 5 Positions
4. Boogies - 3 Positions
5. Mics, Amps, and Playing With a Band
6. Closing Remarks
7. E March With Harp
8. E March
9. E Shuffle With Harp
10. E Shuffle
11. E Blues With Harp
12. E Blues
13. March With Harp
14. March
15. Shuffle With Harp
16. Shuffle
17. Blues With Harp
18. Blues
19. B March With Harp
20. B March
21. B Shuffle With Harp
22. B Shuffle
23. B Minor Blues With Harp
24. B Minor Blues

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30776 in Music
• Released on: 2001-06-26
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Box set

Review
The best blues harmonica instruction...bar none! --Blues Revue Magazine

Review
Head and shoulders above any other harmonica instruction kit...the best in the business. --Real Blues Magazine

Customer Reviews

Incredible way to learn fundamentals!
I have never felt strongly enough about any product to take the trouble to write up a rating. But, the potential of this 3 CD set to dramatically enhance the ability of any but the most accomplished harmonicist (diatonic or chromatic) is enormous. The title is slightly misleading, but in a good way. I would not confine its benefits to blues (diatonic) harp players!
I had purchased and aggressively used all the top-rated blues harp instructional products (including those available at Amazon), avoiding Portnoy's because of its relatively high cost. Mistake! It's not that the other materials are not worthwhile. It's that Portnoy's CD set is where I should have started. Learning from the rest of the instructional material out there would then have come much easier. After "taking" Jerry's Masterclass, I find myself going back to the other material with far greater technical ability and a more thorough understanding of the instrument that grant me fuller access to information I was previously unable to absorb.
In this Masterclass Portnoy clearly articulates even the most difficult to understand nuances of playing effective harmonica, rendering the material accessible even (especially?) by a beginner. As the serious student of any musical instrument should expect, Jerry carefully concentrates on all the fundamentals. He takes his "student" through each technique in small steps, giving superb examples all the way. You just follow along with Jerry's lessons on your diatonic (in the key of A), stopping and repeating at your own pace until you're comfortable with each new technique. You decide when to go on to the next lesson, and can come back for a refresher any time (a highly recommended practice).
If you want to learn specific blues licks, there are better resources. If you are seeking what amounts to private lessons from a harmonica virtuoso and extraordinary teacher, this is the mother lode! Jerry says that once you've taken his class, learning blues licks is a matter of listening and using the skills he has taught you. And, he's right.
Not only all that, I recently took on chromatic harmonica. Although it's a very different beast than a blues harp, fundamentally, blowing the chrom' is the same as the diatonic. And, as I've said, Portnoy's CD set dwells almost exclusively on harmonica fundamentals. Thanks to him (and bit of effort on my own part, of course), I can easily apply techniques that seem to mystify many far more accomplished chrom' players. If you want to learn how to play harp at a high level, this is the way to go. And don't worry about Portnoy's qualifications-he backed Muddy Waters for years and continues to back Eric Clapton, just for starters.

Superior
I've been playing about 30 years, and a friend wanted to learn to play blues harp from me. I told him just have a miserable life and the rest would take care of itself. After that, I began to look at instructional material to help him. Jerry Portnoy's set is the best. Period. The other materials are divided into either playing Oh, Susannah or learning licks (which is difficult for beginners.) Portnoy provides a very good sequential method of learning. This is a great harp player and a smart guy who can also teach. Just buy this course and forget about the rest.

These lessons are about technique
There are different styles of learning, and different interests in playing the harmonica. I got this set after all the raves I had heard, but was disappointed.

This Masterclass is all about learning playing techniques...not blues, not riffs. It covers it all, up to very advanced 'overblow' techniques, but ends up leaving the less musical and beginners frustrated (that's me).

If you want to learn about the blues (and the harmonica), get Gindick's Rocks and Blues Harmonica.
If you want hole-by-hole blues lessons, look at David Barrett's series (my favorite).
And if you are musical and can find your own way, then try Portnoy's Masterclass.