BEGINNER through INTERMEDIATE. A PDF tab which gives you a series of exercises that, in concert with the video for this lesson, will help you master an important basic technique--the 3 draw bend--that all developing blues harmonica players must master.

The 3 draw bend, which produces the "blue third" as well as the major second interval, is somewhat more difficult to produce than either the 4 draw or 2 draw bends. Many players either don't know what pitch they're trying for--they just "bend it" and hope for the best--or don't understand how to produce those pitches. In the video accompanying this tab, Gussow explains everything, in the clearest possible language. Most importantly, he helps you understand why blues harmonica teachers who talk about the blues-pitch on the 3 draw as the "minor third" are making a small but crucial mistake--they're missing the quarter-tone inflection that makes all the difference. Little Walter, Big Walter, and Junior Wells know about this "blue third"; now you can too.


harp key: C, with several additional demonstrations on an A and E harp

Note: a QuickTime video tutorial, meant to accompany this tab sheet, is also available.

Another Modern Blues Harmonica production (www.modernbluesharmonica.com)