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1.) Jamming by Juzzie Smith - Originally on an A Harmonica:    • Juzzie Smith 'Jamming' Official Music...  

-123 (Ta Taka Ta kaTa Ta ka TA)
123 (Ta Taka Ta kaTa Ta ka TA)

2.) Little Walter Shuffle Groove
The shuffle groove is a simple but LEGIT blues rhythm great to play alone or with a band. In this video I show examples of Snooky Pryor and Joe Filisko playing this harmonica groove.

It's very simple: Inhale saying “Tata” & Exhale saying “Tata” using a swung 8th note pattern. So the harmonica tabs are:

-123 -123 123 123
Ta Ta Tsa Ta

By the way, it's good to practice this groove AS QUIETLY AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN. This will help you develop breath control that will actually help you for ALL of your harmonica playing.

But also, once we've played this rhythm enough that we've internalized it and it becomes very comfortable then we can start adding lead licks to it -like for example the 3 licks that I teach in my Blues for Beginners:    • Blues Harmonica For Beginners (Even i...  

3.) Muddy Waters Groove
There’s NO syllable (Ta’s or Ka’s or Tsa’s.) This one we’re just breathing.

One breath in -12
One breath out 34 23
One breath in -23 -12

So we’re gonna do 5 notes with 3 breaths, to play these harmonica tabs:

-12 34 23 -23 -12

Then we’ll add 2 chord bombs in between: “Yuh Yuh” on -123

4.) Killer Shark Groove
Even though it’s a kid’s song, I think Baby Shark actually sounds pretty badass on the harmonica! 😎

We play 3 single notes: -1 2 -2 And then draw on holes -12 and now we are going to say:

Ta Ta kaTa kaTa

Here are the full harmonica tabs for the simplest way to play Baby Shark:

-1 2 -2 -12 -12 -12 -12 -12 -12
-1 2 3 23 23 23 23 23 23
-1 2 -2 -12 -12 -12 -12 -12 -12
-1 2 -1

And a fun/funny way to end the song would be the old “shave and a haircut…two bits” ending:

-2 -1 -1 2 -1 -123 -123

And that’s everything you need to do a killer harmonica performance of this song without having to bend any notes.

Bending is a more advanced technique. If you can consistently isolate single notes with ease, and you want to learn how to bend, check out Bending for Beginners: https://www.harmonica.com/how-to-bend.... And if you CAN bend, the way the song actually ends is:

-1 -2 -2’

Here’s the advanced harmonica tabs, and for those of you who CAN bend, I’ll include harmonica tabs to the 2nd verse as well:

-1 2 -2 -12 -12 -12 -12 -12 -12
-1 2 3 23 23 23 23 23 23
-1 2 -2 -12 -12 -12 -12 -12 -12
-1 2 -2’

-3 -3” -2 -12 -12 -12 -12 -12 -12
-3 -3” 3 23 23 23 23 23 23
-3 -3” -2 -12 -12 -12 -12 -12 -12
-3 -3 -3”

And whether you’re a beginner or a boss, that’s everything you need to rock Baby Shark! 🦈

5.) Beatbox Harmonica Groove
Beatbox harmonica grooves are still in their infancy - there’s lots to explore! This is exciting because you could discover a way to do that NOBODY HAS EVER DONE BEFORE.

A couple harmonica artists known for their beatboxing are
Moses Conca
and Brandon Bailey.

I was never a beatboxer, so I felt scared to try it BUT it’s actually NOT THAT HARD! TOTAL BEGINNERS CAN DO THIS!!!

STEP 1: How to Beatbox - Learn the Words
The common words to start learning how to beatbox are “Boots” and “Cats.” 👢🐈

BOOTS = Kick drum sound
CATS = Snare drum sound
You simply say: Boots and Cats and Boots and Cats and
Boots and Cats and Boots and Cats…

Phase 1 harmonica beatbox tabs read like this:

BOOTS -123 CATS -123
BOOTS -123 CATS 123 123

Phase 2: Replace the words with the more realistic drum-like sounds.

And that’s it! You’re off to the races. TIP: Beatbox harmonica sounds best on minor-tuned harmonicas.

Thanks for checking out this lesson. Please leave any comments or questions below. And keep on playing the harmonica and making the world a better place!

Aloha,
Luke