I've been a sonny fan for years since 1981 when I was 18. He inspired me to play harp. I was 19 then. This is a great video on learning the finer keys to sonny's style. Thanks so much for this. :)
Hi Michael, Sonny Boy is a great so I'm not surprised! I'm really glad you're enjoying the lesson. It's free to download from www.learntheharmonica.com if you want it for safekeeping. More to come so watch this space. All the best, Liam
Thanks Liam. I'm late to the party, but for myself (and I suggest for all the orally challenged) I find it helps to anchor the Sonny Boy lick with its underlying notes, for practise on guitar and harp. Of course don't expect to be sounding like Sonny Boy without a lot of blues feel that can't be written down, so I say use your ears and your heart. But it's another way into this classic lick, and your harp notation can be expressed this way: 4Db 4B 3D1b 3B 3D1b 4B 3B 4B 3D1b 3B 3D1b B Bb G# F G# Bb F Bb G# F G#
LearnTheHarmonica.com Good video. Your followers may also be interested to know that this number pans out very well in third position with plenty of options to use the high end with splits etc. You can also play the key note of all the chords, no need for OBs - great practise for getting the 3 hole double bend in perfect pitch.
harpmic Thanks harpmic, and a happy new year! Playing this in third position is a good idea for a video, which I may do in the future. All the best, Liam
Hi Chris, on a hole where you can achieve multiple bends '1b' just means the half step bend (the first bend) so '2b' would be a whole step and '3b' would be a step and a half. On a hole like 1 or 4 where only a half step bend is available, I just put 'b' for that bend. I don't actually use this tab system anymore if you check out my new lessons - I hope my new system is clearer!
Hi Liam, I want to progress to a better harmonica from my Hohner Silver Star to either Special 20 or a Marine band are there any problems with the wooden comb on the Marine band warping with the saliva? Thanks for all your videos.
Hi Paul, thanks for commenting. I personally find that Marine Bands swell but other people say they're fine, so you may have to buy one to try it! If you don't want to risk it just go for a Special 20 as they are great and the plastic won't swell. Hope this helps! Cheers, Liam
+max schillo Hi Max, and thanks for the question. I sometimes do a bit of gapping and waxing the rivet end of the reeds, but I don't do a lot because I don't do much overblowing at the moment. Perhaps in the future! Best of luck with your playing. Liam
Hi Liam, just wondering if you can explain how to get that wailing sound right at the end @ 55/56 secs. The kind of trailing off notes. Not sure what notes you use and how you get it with bend and hand vibrato. Thanks.
+semi anon Thanks for your question - that's a vibrato on hole four draw (-4). I have a video where I discuss this in detail - I hope it helps: th-cam.com/video/bGVoOVQyCcc/w-d-xo.html
+semi anon There may be a little bit of subtle slapping at the start - I can't actually remember if I was tongue-blocking or puckering as at this point my playing was (still is) a mixture of both. Sorry, that doesn't clear anything up for you! Liam
I've heard many different variations this one is okay i don't believe it is true to form sound like there an added note ..3d to 4b to 3d isn't correct and throws the sound off
Hi 2quunder, I love both Sonny Boys. 'THE' in the title refers to this being the definitive lick that Sonny Boy II is known for. Hope you enjoyed the lesson!
By the way. I forgot to mention it. It isn't actually a riff. A riff is a short REPEATED musical phrase, such as you typically (but not exclusively) hear played by a horn section.What Liam excellently demonstrates is a musical phrase all-right but it is not repeated. It starts to repeat but doesn't end the same. So it is a PHRASE, not a riff, but don't worry about what "Bat ears" Balonyhum thinks of it. He can make any sound he likes and so can Liam. It's a matter of choice. Since my last comment, I also took a look at Liam's "How to play Somewhere over the rainbow", which once again I find I can play, but Liam's instruction includes a strange list of incomprehensible letters and numbers that looks like a knitting pattern. While I can see perfectly well, it makes as much sense to me as it would to Sonny Terry, or Stevie Wonder. Is it available in Braille? Possibly not, but I can't imagine either of those great harmonica players having any trouble playing it. Speaking for myself, I am equally convinced that if I studied that chart long enough, I would actually lose the ability to play the song.
This looks like blinding people with science with the attendant risk of stifling creativity. Can you whistle? OK. Write 400 words about how you whistle, including use of face muscles, tongue position, air expulsion pressure etc. I have been playing the harmonica for 50 years and I could play that riff in my sleep and standing on my head but what Liam is talking about I have absolutely no idea, so don't be discouraged if you just watched the video and felt like throwing your harp in the garbage. I am so glad I didn't see something like this when I was learning, or I would have given it up. In the early 1960s during his tour of the UK, it was Sonny Boy Williamson himself who told me that you can't really teach harmonica. He said you can only tell people how to learn, and with all due respect to Liam, watching videos like this is not the way I would recommend. I am sure Liam is a great harmonica player, and I would love to jam with him, but I wonder if he realises how many people are turned off by this technical stuff. I wish him luck though. Having completely different approaches, I bet we could give great workshops/master classes together. Kind of Good Cop/Bad Cop (Old fart/Young fart) But seriously.....I hear people talking about all kinds of things like head rolls, minor thirds, first position, second position, over-blowing, etc ad nauseum. I can play everything they can play, but what the heck they are talking about, I have no idea. I am fairly certain Sonny Boy would have had no idea either. He did however have a bunch of tips that can help you learn. I only share them with people personally, but the most important one is just keep on playing along with whatever you are trying to learn to play (From Dvorak to Fela Kuti horn riffs) until you find you can do it. HOW you did is not important. If you did it once, you can do it again. Be creative. If you had to think about which muscles you need to use to stand up and walk across the room, you would fall over, but if you don't waste time thinking about it, you find you can dance. Example: Somebody below refers to "tongue block method". What's that? If he knows, I raise my hat to him, but I've just played that riff perfectly and I have no idea where my tongue was at. It goes wherever it goes when I make those sounds. I will leave you with one other golden tip. Always try to SING what you want to play. However badly you sing this helps a lot, because if you don't have it clear in your head, it is unlikely that you will be able to play it, without learning all this technical stuff. Then you might be able to play the right notes, but it will sound dead compared to someone who plays it with as as much thought about the technical details as someone whistling for the joy of it.
I hear what you say and Im sure I can sit for hours fathoming out what i heard, thought I heard, think what the note is that I thought I heard but...WHY would I possibly want to do that when Liam GIVES it to me in under 15 minutes? I dont have 50 years to learn the harmonica. As you quite correctly quote Sonny Boy Williamson. You cant teach people to play the harmonica, you can only tell them how to. SO, if Liam's technical mumbo-jumbo is going to make someone toss their harmonica in the fire then, so is trying to sit there and fathom it out without any Liam trying to help. In other words you have to WANT to play the harmonica and be willing to stick out whatever it takes. Be that struggling my ass off for days to fathom out what I think I heard then to try and fathom out how to transfer the noises in my head onto a harmonica or spend one hour fathoming what Liam said in 15 minutes. One hour ago I had NO idea how to play this riff. Now I play it standing on my head, with the lights off while farting to the tune of Jingle Bells. Could I have done it without Liam? Obviously you did it by sitting listening to a scratched record over and over, for days and days, Im sure. 50 years ago. We don't have to anymore. We listen to Liam Waffle on for 15 minutes and take what we need. ....So although some of what you are saying holds some truth, the vast majority is utter bullshit! Basically you come and slate the method of learning because you had to struggle your ass off to learn the harmonica back in the day and I can most certainly respect you for that. If you had to walk 5 miles barefoot to get to school where you used a fountain pen or a goose feather to write doesn't mean that, cars, tar roads and ball point pens is the wrong way to learn math.
Thanks for watching! Start your 30 day FREE trial of my harmonica school today - www.learntheharmonica.com/members-zone-signup
Making a Golden Melody sound dirty is an achievement in itself.
I've been a sonny fan for years since 1981 when I was 18. He inspired me to play harp. I was 19 then. This is a great video on learning the finer keys to sonny's style. Thanks so much for this. :)
Hi Michael, Sonny Boy is a great so I'm not surprised! I'm really glad you're enjoying the lesson. It's free to download from www.learntheharmonica.com if you want it for safekeeping. More to come so watch this space.
All the best,
Liam
hes the reason why I got one! 24 y/o right here! blues will never die
That rif is soo sooo beautiful
You’re a Brilliant teacher-Thanks..
Thank you! 😃
wow you played that riff with us at the last gig at The Brunswick, you were on fire that night!
Thanks Liam. I'm late to the party, but for myself (and I suggest for all the orally challenged) I find it helps to anchor the Sonny Boy lick with its underlying notes, for practise on guitar and harp. Of course don't expect to be sounding like Sonny Boy without a lot of blues feel that can't be written down, so I say use your ears and your heart. But it's another way into this classic lick, and your harp notation can be expressed this way:
4Db 4B 3D1b 3B 3D1b 4B 3B 4B 3D1b 3B 3D1b
B Bb G# F G# Bb F Bb G# F G#
Older video but great lesson and great choice for a lick lesson! Easily one of the best lines I’ve ever heard, and I ALMOST had it right by ear hahaha
Glad you liked it TW Chisolm!
That was a great lesson, Liam. It is appreciated. Thanks for your time and hard work
You're welcome Zach, thanks for watching :)
Orange blossom special by johnny cash please! Thanks!
Thanks you nailed it
Great way to show how to learn this thanks I just subscribed thanks again
Awesome, thank you!
Great lesson'thanks for the riff!!!and explaining it so well.
Thanks for your kind words, I'm glad you're finding the video helpful.
Keep blowing!
Liam
LearnTheHarmonica.com Good video. Your followers may also be interested to know that this number pans out very well in third position with plenty of options to use the high end with splits etc. You can also play the key note of all the chords, no need for OBs - great practise for getting the 3 hole double bend in perfect pitch.
harpmic Thanks harpmic, and a happy new year! Playing this in third position is a good idea for a video, which I may do in the future.
All the best,
Liam
Yasss!
thanks for the lesson. whats the notation for the bit at the end?
Sorry, which bit at the end?
the end of the riff which you didnt have time to go over. where the notes go up and then down and you use the vibrato
Does b and 1b signify half step and whole step bend?
Hi Chris, on a hole where you can achieve multiple bends '1b' just means the half step bend (the first bend) so '2b' would be a whole step and '3b' would be a step and a half. On a hole like 1 or 4 where only a half step bend is available, I just put 'b' for that bend. I don't actually use this tab system anymore if you check out my new lessons - I hope my new system is clearer!
Thank you for answering my question
+max schillo No worries Max, hope it helps. All the best, Liam
Hi Liam, I want to progress to a better harmonica from my Hohner Silver Star to either Special 20 or a Marine band are there any problems with the wooden comb on the Marine band warping with the saliva? Thanks for all your videos.
Hi Paul, thanks for commenting. I personally find that Marine Bands swell but other people say they're fine, so you may have to buy one to try it! If you don't want to risk it just go for a Special 20 as they are great and the plastic won't swell. Hope this helps! Cheers, Liam
☝️- Plastic comb also a lot more ‘physically forgiving’ on the lips 👄 Special 20s are fine 👍😄
Looks like lock down came early liam know barbershop 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
hello,
Could you tell me if you are using a customized harmonica for overblows.Thank you for your answer. SHILLO max
+max schillo Hi Max, and thanks for the question. I sometimes do a bit of gapping and waxing the rivet end of the reeds, but I don't do a lot because I don't do much overblowing at the moment. Perhaps in the future! Best of luck with your playing. Liam
Hi Liam, just wondering if you can explain how to get that wailing sound right at the end @ 55/56 secs. The kind of trailing off notes. Not sure what notes you use and how you get it with bend and hand vibrato. Thanks.
Also, you mentioned tongue blocking and slapping. Do you use this anywhere in your demo at the start?
+semi anon Thanks for your question - that's a vibrato on hole four draw (-4). I have a video where I discuss this in detail - I hope it helps: th-cam.com/video/bGVoOVQyCcc/w-d-xo.html
+semi anon There may be a little bit of subtle slapping at the start - I can't actually remember if I was tongue-blocking or puckering as at this point my playing was (still is) a mixture of both. Sorry, that doesn't clear anything up for you! Liam
wheres the tab?
found it
Nice one Bernie.
I've heard many different variations this one is okay i don't believe it is true to form sound like there an added note ..3d to 4b to 3d isn't correct and throws the sound off
Louie Louie Louie Thanks for your comment, sorry you don't agree with my version of the phrase. All the best and keep blowing! Liam
Dont get me wrong great lesson .
Ok very nice but THE Sonny Boy is John Lee Willianson. With a lot of classics to be learned, Good morning lil school girl, Hoodoo man and so many.
Hi 2quunder, I love both Sonny Boys. 'THE' in the title refers to this being the definitive lick that Sonny Boy II is known for. Hope you enjoyed the lesson!
By the way. I forgot to mention it. It isn't actually a riff. A riff is a short REPEATED musical phrase, such as you typically (but not exclusively) hear played by a horn section.What Liam excellently demonstrates is a musical phrase all-right but it is not repeated. It starts to repeat but doesn't end the same. So it is a PHRASE, not a riff, but don't worry about what "Bat ears" Balonyhum thinks of it. He can make any sound he likes and so can Liam. It's a matter of choice. Since my last comment, I also took a look at Liam's "How to play Somewhere over the rainbow", which once again I find I can play, but Liam's instruction includes a strange list of incomprehensible letters and numbers that looks like a knitting pattern. While I can see perfectly well, it makes as much sense to me as it would to Sonny Terry, or Stevie Wonder. Is it available in Braille? Possibly not, but I can't imagine either of those great harmonica players having any trouble playing it. Speaking for myself, I am equally convinced that if I studied that chart long enough, I would actually lose the ability to play the song.
It me
Riff not sound i ment
This looks like blinding people with science with the attendant risk of stifling creativity. Can you whistle? OK. Write 400 words about how you whistle, including use of face muscles, tongue position, air expulsion pressure etc. I have been playing the harmonica for 50 years and I could play that riff in my sleep and standing on my head but what Liam is talking about I have absolutely no idea, so don't be discouraged if you just watched the video and felt like throwing your harp in the garbage. I am so glad I didn't see something like this when I was learning, or I would have given it up. In the early 1960s during his tour of the UK, it was Sonny Boy Williamson himself who told me that you can't really teach harmonica. He said you can only tell people how to learn, and with all due respect to Liam, watching videos like this is not the way I would recommend. I am sure Liam is a great harmonica player, and I would love to jam with him, but I wonder if he realises how many people are turned off by this technical stuff.
I wish him luck though. Having completely different approaches, I bet we could give great workshops/master classes together. Kind of Good Cop/Bad Cop (Old fart/Young fart) But seriously.....I hear people talking about all kinds of things like head rolls, minor thirds, first position, second position, over-blowing, etc ad nauseum. I can play everything they can play, but what the heck they are talking about, I have no idea. I am fairly certain Sonny Boy would have had no idea either. He did however have a bunch of tips that can help you learn. I only share them with people personally, but the most important one is just keep on playing along with whatever you are trying to learn to play (From Dvorak to Fela Kuti horn riffs) until you find you can do it. HOW you did is not important. If you did it once, you can do it again. Be creative. If you had to think about which muscles you need to use to stand up and walk across the room, you would fall over, but if you don't waste time thinking about it, you find you can dance. Example: Somebody below refers to "tongue block method". What's that? If he knows, I raise my hat to him, but I've just played that riff perfectly and I have no idea where my tongue was at. It goes wherever it goes when I make those sounds. I will leave you with one other golden tip. Always try to SING what you want to play. However badly you sing this helps a lot, because if you don't have it clear in your head, it is unlikely that you will be able to play it, without learning all this technical stuff. Then you might be able to play the right notes, but it will sound dead compared to someone who plays it with as as much thought about the technical details as someone whistling for the joy of it.
I hear what you say and Im sure I can sit for hours fathoming out what i heard, thought I heard, think what the note is that I thought I heard but...WHY would I possibly want to do that when Liam GIVES it to me in under 15 minutes? I dont have 50 years to learn the harmonica. As you quite correctly quote Sonny Boy Williamson. You cant teach people to play the harmonica, you can only tell them how to. SO, if Liam's technical mumbo-jumbo is going to make someone toss their harmonica in the fire then, so is trying to sit there and fathom it out without any Liam trying to help. In other words you have to WANT to play the harmonica and be willing to stick out whatever it takes. Be that struggling my ass off for days to fathom out what I think I heard then to try and fathom out how to transfer the noises in my head onto a harmonica or spend one hour fathoming what Liam said in 15 minutes. One hour ago I had NO idea how to play this riff. Now I play it standing on my head, with the lights off while farting to the tune of Jingle Bells. Could I have done it without Liam? Obviously you did it by sitting listening to a scratched record over and over, for days and days, Im sure. 50 years ago. We don't have to anymore. We listen to Liam Waffle on for 15 minutes and take what we need. ....So although some of what you are saying holds some truth, the vast majority is utter bullshit! Basically you come and slate the method of learning because you had to struggle your ass off to learn the harmonica back in the day and I can most certainly respect you for that. If you had to walk 5 miles barefoot to get to school where you used a fountain pen or a goose feather to write doesn't mean that, cars, tar roads and ball point pens is the wrong way to learn math.
I am being blinded by this wall of text. You are what you eat.
This is all i have ever wanted to hear. Thank you i will continue my own style and aim to becoming master no needs to shortcuts
Are you tongue blocking like Sonny
Ah already answered.. thanks
No problem!