Essential Blues Repertoire
A few weeks back, I went to a harmonica workshop with Adam Gussow where he passed out a list of his "Essential Blues Repertoire for Harmonica." I'd like to start playing out at blues jams, but I've only learned "Walk with Me" and "Temperature" so far. I want to learn a couple of the standards (for example, "Kansas City" or "Baby Please Don't Go") . Will they come up in the course of the Levels of Achievement, or is there someplace you would recommend (maybe one of the Mel Bay books you've written)? I imagine there might be some legal hurdles to put something like that on this site.
Thanks for your quick and thorough reply.
I trust your judgment. I'll stick with the site for a while until I "level up" to a more proficient place. I will be sending an email for that list.
Cool... it's always good to start learning the songs of the greats. Learning "standards" is of course a good idea, assuming the bands in your area know them (the level of musicianship of the players you'll be playing with is what I'm speaking of... you can't assume every jam band knows a lot of standards).
Be aware that your study songs are the fastest way to learn and lead to the least amount of grief along the away. The study songs I have written for you use the most common grooves used in blues (shuffle, slow blues, swing, rock beat, rhumba, etc.) so that you can give them the speech I provide you and away you go... your study songs are very safe in that respect. The challenge of playing songs from the masters is that they didn't hold back on anything, so, though a song might be "known" as relatively easy to play, there are still licks/passages that will can kick your butt. Don't let this stop you... just be aware of the challenge of learning pro player's material early on in your studies.
I am unable to offer lessons and transcriptions of standards on the site, due to the reasons you mentioned. Masters of the Blues Harp and Blues Harmonica Collection, both by Hal Leonard, have transcriptions of standards, so I recommend you pick up those books. Unfortunately, Hal Leonard owns the rights to the Chess material of that era, so as a Mel Bay author I'm unable to do books with that material... bummer.
With that said, I do have a list of what I feel are essential blues harmonica instrumentals to learn as well as a list of 50 blues standards that you may encounter when playing with other musicians. Drop me an email from the site and I'll send it your way.