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As you start to go into the 8th Chorus and to the end of the song, there’s not much to bring up that you haven’t already encountered earlier in the song, but a couple of notes are in order. The shakes used in the 9th Chorus are fast. Practice playing 3 draw/4 draw shakes in a quarter note rhythm. Place a dip on the start of each shake, which should start with the 4 draw. In almost all cases when performing a shake you’ll start with the bottom note (4 draw). The slight bend in the shake over the IV chord will take some time to play at proper pitch. continue reading...

The last line of this chorus foretells the first four measures of the following chorus. As with previous choruses, which used rhythmic breathing, make sure your exhale chords are soft and fall directly on the beat. Though the result is soft, the technique is not. Use a “ts” articulation for the blow chords, having your lips placed very softly on the face of the harmonica, with the sides of your lips off the harmonica to allow air to escape (very similar to the steam train imitation on the harmonica… the steam portion). continue reading...

Joe Filisko is back with his latest submission series covering Harmonica Train Imitation. This week he talks about the "Why." A new video will release each week... for six weeks total on this subject.

The biggest challenge in this chorus will be the rhythm. Note that the first lick starts on the second beat (David Waldman speaks of this in his interview)… resist the urge to start on the downbeat. Note the rhythmic breathing between the main licks, play these softly. Generally speaking, slap the notes found on the 4th hole and above (minus the 16th notes… listen to the recording and use your ears to tell you where he slaps). The sixteenth notes used in these first two licks are similar to glissandos, so play them fast, focusing on where each start and end point is. continue reading...