Chugging a bass line over a 12 bar blues

Hello, welcome to today’s harmonica lesson. It is all about playing chugging a bass line over a 12 bar blues!

You will need a harmonica in the key of C. The lesson is suitable for advanced beginner and intermediate players.

Click here to download lesson resources

Playing a bass line and chords

So, comping is when you play a mixture of single notes and chords. In this case we are playing a simple bass line with a chord in between each note.

Release your mouth

To go from a clean single note to a chord, you need to release the tension with your lips so that the harmonica comes into your mouth.

Say “ta”

Say “ta” when you play the chord to enunciate it and make it pop.

Blow chord is harder

The blow chord is actually harder to play. You will really need to say “ta” enthusiastically. Spit it out.

Shuffle the rhythm

We are going to make sure that the rhythm is shuffled and not straight. This means that the single notes will last a little bit longer than the chord.

If you are playing the rhythm properly, you will feel the swinging from side to side. You won’t be able to help yourself.

Fit to a 12 bar blues

Try changing the first note of the bass line to make it fit with the chord changes of the 12 bar blues. 1 blow for the IV chord and 1 draw for the V chord.

Click here to download lesson resources

Thank you so much for watching

Thank you so much for watching this. I hope you got something from it. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch.

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