Harmonica Teacher Reacts to Blues Traveler - Hook (John Popper)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
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Today I’m going to listen to John Popper’s playing on Blues Traveler’s song - Hook.
Original recording - • Blues Traveler “Hook” ...
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John Popper is SO underrated. Between his harmonica and vocals, the guy is through the roof good. Through the fucking roof.
through the floor too lol
Who is underrating him other than you? Is there some sort of government office of underrating? Or, is this just another Internet meme repeated as an attempted compliment? Why not just say, - "Damn he's good" and appreciate him?
@@buckhorncortez I've wondered this too. I see him being praised as one of the best harmonica players ever. Not once has he ever been unerrated. Ever. In any discussion.
He’s not underrated. It’s widely accepted that he’s an amazing talent. Everyone rates him respectively
@@buckhorncortezI think it's that he and blues traveler are not more popular. Visiting the Philippines where karaoke is insanely popular and have not seen any of the machines with Blues Traveler. It's not as if music from the US is not popular here, it's mostly what I hear, and there's plenty of music from the 80s and 90s that is very popular here.
I graduated high school with these fellows, they were a band even back then. John, joined Princeton High in his sophomore year I think. Happy for their success...
I'm from Hopewell next door, and used to see John hanging out at The Mill Hill in Trenton, acting like a normal fuckin dude, just chillin, it was awesome.
That’s freaking awesome!! I golfed with Brandon Flowers all through high school (I call him Petunia) and we still hang to this day. He was short and chubby and we would go to a tournament and the SECOND we got out of sight of the clubhouse he would get rid of the khaki pants and wear basketball shorts and my shirt was off (we got DQ’d every tournament!! Ha ha ha). He always told me he was a drummer and wanted to be in a band. Junior year he moved to Vegas. We go our separate ways and then I finish my first year of law school and get a job in Vegas at a firm… and someone at my office goes “hey the lead singer from The Killers is from some really rural place. That’s random.” And I hadn’t heard of the Killers. So I look them up (back when the only smartphone was a BlackBerry) and holy SHIT!! He grew 7” and became a freaking rock star hunk! So I call him and his handler or some dipshit answers and I say “hey this isn’t petunia! Where is he?” And they get all defensive and I tell them “look… I PROMISE you that if Brandon finds out that EC tried to call him and you stopped it, he won’t be happy.” And they say “what’s your name again, SIR??” And I said “you walk up to MISTER FLOWERS and tell him that ‘EC wants to chat with Petunia’ and see what happens.”
So they put the phone down and I hear him scream “no F*CKING WAY!!!” And we golfed Black Dragon the next day. Went golfing every week! Still had a blast. We still chat and hang if we can.
So then I’m at my doctor’s office (VERY RURAL) and my doctor goes “hey… so uh… how do you know Brandon Flowers from the Killers??” And I’m like “how in the HELL do you know that?? I don’t go around telling people about that. And then he says “oh my brother knows him, and he asked about you!” Uhhhh… how the hell does your brother know him?? And he says “oh my brothers in a band called Imagine Dragons…”
WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK!!!
Yeah I live in a town of 1,000 people. The nearest Walmart is literally 78 miles away. So how in the HELL does this happen??
The Imagine Dragons guy is a douche though! Ha ha ha ha! Sometimes fame makes people awful, other times they are just awesome. Like my boy Petunia.
This is BY FAR my favorite type of react content. Watching an expert in a field genuinely appreciate something in a way that only an expert can. Very cool.
I just hate they act like they've never heard it.
Well said.
I dislike it too.
"Expert" in the field?
As an expert in the field, he should know this clip and not be surprised at all....
I only wish it was 10 minutes intead of 5.... Talking over the performance bugs me a bit. Pause and tell us.... Just my opinion. Good stuff. Thank you.
I love this band... it was awesome to see a harmonica insider's reaction to John Popper (his harmonicas are a huge part of their sound)
Yes JP is a real talent- as you explain - in that his playing is unique, distinctive and skilled. Thank you!
Totally agree..John is an amazing talent!
Most underrated musician of the last 30 years
15:35. CST 02/08/23
Good job on breaking down how John is getting that incredible sound. I love and appreciate you that you are willing to go where I would not know how to interpret or analyze the music.
Just curious: I am wondering if anyone else is as fascinated as I am that John Popper seems to model his singing (the inflections, runs and trills he does with his voice) after what he's able to do on the harmonica.
I am amazed by it, but I've never heard anyone else point it out.
Is it just me????
Great point man. I’m a musician and that never clicked..💥
Yeah, makes sense really when you play wind instruments your kinda singing through your instrument..It's accessing throat muscles in similar ways as a vocalist.
I've always thought that about Van Morrison, who played the saxophone early on, and really sings like a saxophone too.
Never knew this song was pulled from such a different style of tune. Very cool to learn, thank you!
My pleasure!
Popper had the sweetest voice in the business and his harp mastery has Bob Dylan looking like a baboon playing with a typewriter.🤣🤣
Excellent juxtaposition with the chamber strings to show similar structures
His singing is VERY underrated because of his harp skills..🍺
No it isn’t. I’ve never heard anyone underrate his vocals. Everyone who had heard him sing will tell you he’s an amazing singer.
He is awesome and has his own sound that’s just outstanding!
Thanks for posting reaction videos. John Popper is a beast and it was good to hear you explain how he plays fast.
Love this series and your thoughts on John Popper, Tomlin. I think he sometimes gets a bad rap from other more traditional blues harp players, but his speed and accuracy on the upper range of the harmonica is amazing!
Great insight into the song! Popper has always been in my list of favorite harp players, I like how he is different. Blues Traveler was one of my favorite bands in the 90's and still is now. Keep doing these videos they are awesome! 🙌🎶
You asked what we think about your "reactions" series: I think it's brilliant. I think we need more of that from the elite harmonica instructors, educators, musicologists and composers. You are offering all the community, the less advanced players and less experienced musicians as well as your colleagues, a technical perspective that we wouldn't reach on our own. I don't even think it matters whether we like the subject-player or not. What matters is that you show us what to hear there. Popper and the blues travelers is not one of my bedside bands. No favors here, I prefer your vocals (a lot) and the interaction of the harmonica with the other voices in the songs with your band, Delacroix, for example. But I would *never* hear Pachelbel's Canon in D major there. The moment you started singing the chord progression it was there, the "aha" moment. So thank you very much.
Thanks for your kind words Marilia!
Thanks so much Tomlin, really great addition and commentary!! The Best!
Grew up in the 90s and always loved BT. Never knew the bass line was Pachelbel's Canon! 😳 That's the hook that brings you back! Thank you for teaching me something new today.
What I wanna know is how the HELL he does that vibrato?!?
Thats some next level shit right there!
That’s all from the vocal chords. Throat vibrato. It’s similar to trying to mimic a panting dog. But more rapidly, and from deep in the throat. A skill that takes many months or years to develop. John Popper has insanely fit vocal chords and lung capacity.
Check out him playing with The Dave Matthews Band on "What Would you Say" He has a killer (and long) harmonica solo.
Tomlin, you bring us the reality of the art! Thank you!
It would appear that he is using a Mesa Boogie head in this video. It might be what's off to the side of the stage by the bass player. At this point in time, the Axe hadn't been invented yet. He was using a full on pedal board with the signal split various ways and controlled that with a looper or midi controller. For this particular performance, he was just playing though the amp, IMO, with no effects being used. His use of effects at this time were largely levels of gain/distortion and a pitch delay. He would occasionally use an envelope filter or octave down effect too. He frequently used a rotary speaker for an organ sound too. Over the next ten years of so, he'd really get into more pitch and time based effects. I'd say in the last ten years or so, he's really paired that down. Although he still has a very complicated rig using various gain stages, his effect use is much less. I have a rig run down of his current rig on my YT page an a video of me sitting with him several years back.
Oh my lord you're right! It's the Pachelbel chord progression!!!! No wonder it's so catchy.
The song is a rip on how the music industry is filled with no talent pop songs that have "hooks" to keep you buying records. The chord progression was done as a joke because so much pop music follows the same chords. The lyrics are actually really funny!
However, there are a few differences in the chord changes that make it slightly unexpected and more interesting.
That's the hook!
Hello Tomlin! Your explanation is great, years ago I was working on the Popper technique and it also uses the mouth as a bellows with the movement of the jaw without swallowing air. Simply opening and closing your mouth quickly in coordination with the scale, as you have explained well. It is something that you have to work on daily to get it right and you can see in the video how he opens and closes his mouth. I hope to contribute a little to your good exhibition. All the best! 🤗
Thanks for this Tomlin. I have been a Blues Traveller/John Popper fan since I saw them on Blues Brothers 2000 (not as good as Blues Brothers but still a fantastic film) I love the sound and could never reach that level although I would love to. John Popper was sponsored by Fender for a while - and I have a full set of Fender Blues Deluxes' as a result and my pride and joy is a Fender Blues Deville in C. It sounds fantastic and looks so cool in Black and Gold (also the only harp I have with no numbers on it). In my opinion Run Around is Blues Travellers best song and such a cool video too. I like Hook too but I wont be able to listen to it without hearing Pachelbel's Canon anymore. Thanks for the review and maybe do the same with Run Around sometime - now that's fast
Cool Tomlin😀 Thank You for sharing your perception on Popper. I like this format
The AXE-FX has been used only for the last years. In the 90s he used a MIDI board, then went in the early 00s to have a full guitar EFX board for the harp. If you want anything specific to know, I probably have the answer
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They purposely used pachelbel canon d. The entire song is a troll....including using pachelbel canon d.
Big fan of your depth analysis!
Wait, he was using an octave pedal? I've been convinced he was doing octave splits for a while now. This is kind of mindblowing.
I really appreciate your modesty, although you are an excellent teacher.
I watch the blues travelers video twice a week just to stay grounded
I love that (after hearing Howard say that why aren't all there songs like Run-Around) Blues Traveler played this song at his birthday as an FU.
I doubt it was an FU. If they had beef with Howard, they wouldn't have been there.
Wow! Pachelbels's Canon in D I'd never put those together! Brilliant!
Year....it was great. And I like your entusiasme!!!
I'm just amazed there are harmonica teachers. Good video.
Hi Tomlin t very good the guy can sing as well love it
Super cool, who knew that this was the chord progression for Pachelbel
They used pachelbel's on purpose because the same song is making fun of how you don't need to sing about anything to make a hit you just need a good hook and a tried and true chord progression.
Am I imagining it, or is he wearing a harmonica bandolier? The only other time I’ve seen such a thing is on Sugar Blue.
Yes! he totally is. Will Wilde also wears one.
You can point out thinks that I didn't hear or understand - very informative!
Hey man, how hard would you say it is to jump into his vocals ( the patter/ rap vocal) after such a breathy harp solo? Scale of one to ten?
I have a theory that John poppers singing is really influenced by the fact that he's a harmonica player. He does these weird decorations that sound like something that you would do on a harmonica, almost like a end of phrase momentary tremolo effect. What do you think?
Very nice explanation and tribute! Also nice playing yourself. ;)
So recently I wanted to transcribe a solo on electric guitar, and I thought I was going to transcribe his harmonica solos, but I ended up transcribing his vocals... I think if I can teach myself to play my guitar like that guy sings then I'll be in good shape
Just as there are a endless number of great guitar players , there are a good number of great Harp players . But John's
style is so unique it puts him in a class pretty much of his own . There are far fewer like Will Wilde that can play or play
along with almost anything . Myself , I'm pretty much stuck in the blues & rock rut . I just can't rap my mind around a lot
of other music types . I think when it gets too slow my mind wanders off track lol . This was a great take on John Popper's
kind of playing . You have a blessed one .
3:45 "Yeah, that's a kickin' glissando." ~Frylock (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
But yeah, John Popper is one of the few that can uplift you with the blues, Run-Around especially, all the metaphors he uses to say how much he loves that girl...lol...
2:32 Nice. I loved the chord progression but didn't know if had classical roots.
I've always heard it pronounced "Pahk" "Oh" "Bells" Canon. The "Patch" "Oh" "Bells" is new to me. Where is that from?
John is the best!
Though John Popper's playing isn't exactly my taste, I'm often recommended his stuff by the people around me. I appreciate what he does with bringing good harmonica music back into the mainstream and being the forefather of using effects for harmonica. This dude can shred like Terry McMillan and I like his unique use of the upper register.
Everyone recognizes Pachelbel, even if they don't think they do xD That might be the single most entrenched piece of music ever created, it's def a contender.
hi, Like it~ very useful -be well! 😌
I started following Blues Traveler when I was 12 during their fall 95 tour. Started learning harmonica a year later because of it. Nobody plays like Popper.
Hey did Mr. Tomlin do air harmonica?
Nice analysis
Sounds great ! - I Will try to use that scale in the upper octave - by the Way I use a guitar pedal ; Mad Professor Royal Blue OD , and play a Laney Cub 8 😉
In "canon", the 3 chord is not a *major chord*, as it is in Hook...
How about a reaction to Indiara Sfair? Then maybe the lead singer/harp playe Anna Kristina for Zepparella in something like WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS?
I am not at all an expert at all, but i admire that you tell folks what Popper is doing even if you can't do it.
No shame in being unable to match Steve Vai or Jimi Hendrix on the guitar. It still helps.
Omg it is canon in d. That just blew my mind
My God….its Canon in D! Unbelievable!
Nice job!😊
Can you believe his main squeeze is a harp? Harmonica and guitar are just toys to him.
It makes sense that Hook would be another reworking of Canon in D. After the huge success they had with Runaround, the record company of course wanted a repeat. So what did they do? They took the paradigm of all pop music and made another hit. 😂
Pachebelles Canon In D?!?!??.....I had no bloody idea. i am an idiot and i admit it wholeheartedly. Just goes to show you, there's a difference between listening and hearing...;-)
You could write a thesis paper on Hook. The entire song is a dig at how formulaic and meaningless the majority of the music industry is. They chose Canon in D because there had been a huge amount of popular songs in the previous few years using that chord progression. Even the lyrics themselves hang a lantern on how easy it can be to write a hit song.
The truly funny thing about this solo is that it was in a song that blasts the music industry. This song was just a FU to music execs who pressed him to write more pop music and he made it a formula song that was a piece of art as well as the lyrics that just wrecked the pop music scene. The best part is that most people never listened to the lyrics, they just smiled and bobbed their heads.
I'm surprised bands don't use Harmonica players more since they always work for scale.
My fav harp man is Junior Wells
I love this performance of Hook, one of my favorites. I think John Popper’s best harmonica is No Woman, No Cry live with Ziggy Marley. It starts off a little slow, but the second half gives me goosebumps. th-cam.com/video/9zk0HFG5mDw/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for the link! I missed that all these years.
And ziggy is blown away! He just laughs lol
At the time I'm typing this, this video is 2 months old.....
....what took you so long?
how is that possible to play single clean notes so fast 🤔...Astonishing!
Being Serious, John is pretty sweet as a harmonica player
There is a wealth of irony in "Hook" being their most well known song, and that John Popper brought it upon himself.
this guys voice.. I've always thought it was more like he was throwing his voice around than 'singing' ..
Notice that he uses his singing voice similar to how he plays the harp?
do more react videos, Ricci etc, also some singers , take a look at Home Free and rendtition of when a man loves a woman, you are a very credible musician and videos could become popular along with your instruction videos, just an idea, i was in edinburgh at the music instruction week, loved it, suffered from cancer but i beat it, thanks, jimmy church
Great to hear from you Jim! I'm so pleased to hear about the cancer beating!!
Harmonica teacher......BBBWWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!
The presenter is stating this is a '4-chord' song...ref Axis of Awesome.
Great stuff as always. But...how can any novice possibly understand what you understand?
How do you know he's got a D; thats he's playing in A major; or that hes in 2nd position? What the heck is pentatonic?
It’s pretty simple 🤷🏼♂️Google it 👍
Good morning Tomlin this is grate I wish I could play only 1% as good ,best wishes and thank you
To understand these things buy a AU$70 dollar harmonica and join Tomlin’s school. Practice for 1 year and you will know it all.
@@markstratman5628 Aw shucks!
Hi Twodogs, it definitely takes a while to tune your ear in to this kind of stuff but it will come with practice and perseverance.
Well, Tomlin, you've got some practicing to do to reach the speed and clarity of the Fat Man Blues.
I know!! Maybe one day 🙂
there are no harmonica teachers...only people who wish they can be Popper
Everything about this song is spot on, copying Pachelbel Canon D , the lyrics stating exactly what he’s doing and showing that lyrics don’t really matter and that it’s the “hook” or the chord progression that draws you in, and last but not least, his insane harp skills. This is another song like Blur’s “Song 2”. Where it was made to make fun of how easy it is to write a certain type of song and make a chart topper.
Harmonica teacher that hasn't heard John Popper???
Reaction..... The "teacher" isn't a teacher if he's never heard John before.....
I'm going to assume that since you are talking non stop that you aren't actually reacting to the song. You read about it, and listened to it before you turned on the camera, and then wrote a script to read.
Like for canon D major !))
Right?!! All these years and I never made that connection?! 🤔🤯🤯
What?? There is no pitch shifting pedal lol
been playing just mess around blues harmonica since I was 16 to hang with my band buddies at school and jam. Blues Traveler came on and I wasnt a big fan of this album compared to the prior ones but this is just jaw drop. My crush on his music died when this album came along and sold out and they started doing stupid bit parts in shows so I never became the deep lifelong fan that would have learned about the classical song behind Hook, and that he used a pedal omg.
2:10 Never heard it pronounced PATCH-uh-bell until just now. Always POCK-uh-bell.
Pachelbel, Johann. I wonder if he pronounced Bach as Batch? Also a Johann.
So we are supposed to believe that a harmonica teacher doesnt know who John Popper is or ever heard them?? PLEASE
His commentary from the beginning throughout the video clearly indicates he knows who the man is. lol
I was a 💯% convinced that he used a chromatic harmonica before this video. I'm not an harmonica player(I dabbled) but I was convinced it was a chromatic...
And so it's why I listen to videos like yours
"That's the key to John Popper playing" be good.
Man, I thought that dude died back in the early / mid 2000's.
'The Hook' is a beautiful troll.
hey don't give the Canon secret !! too late i guess.
Its fun how they call themselves Blues Traveler and play blues instruments and then dont play blues.
Youre almost as good as John
Usually reaction vids let the audience hear the song, and pause to introject their own thoughts, instead of talking over the ENTIRE performance.....
You do your thing but have you considered, you know, not talking over the entire song?