Marc Graci - LOA-L10
Big congratulations goes out to Marc Graci from San Jose, California for completing his LOA-L10 requirements at BluesHarmonica.com! See below for links to his performance from this Saturday at the Poor House Bistro and read his essay “The Process,” which details his journey to LOA-L10.
"The Dead President" https://youtu.be/SDXGf7yT_LA
"The Thrill is Gone" https://youtu.be/r7I4iDsnJYE
"Ready Go Steady" https://youtu.be/tMoQFdxuc7Y
"The Tramp Tramps Again" https://youtu.be/z88SYcttDtM
"Blues for Big Steve" https://youtu.be/XoUHw3WjsFc
The story of my harmonica journey is the story of one song, really. From the moment I started playing harmonica, I just wanted to learn one song: a song that was catchy and melodic; a song that was hip; a song that was rhythmic and swung. It wasn’t a specific song, but more attractive for me was the idea of being able to play something. The song never remained the same; as my abilities grew, my aims shifted as well.
My beginning harmonica experience differs from most players. Most times I talk to a professional harmonica player, he or she will tell me about a formative early experience with the instrument that launched a life long passion. They’ll often describe it in terms of one song or one album that changed everything. In his interview with David Barrett, Dennis Gruenling talks about the album Harp Attack! (and, specifically, the harp attack of James Cotton) spurring his interest in harmonica. In his book, Mr. Satan’s Apprentice, Adam Gussow writes how the songs “If You Wanna Get to Heaven” by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils and “Whammer Jammer” by the J. Geils Band turned him on to harmonica. My interest in harmonica, and the blues, took a more circuitous route; it was more of a slow burn than an explosion.
I didn’t have a specific song that fueled an interest in harmonica. I had always listened to music, but never blues. I thought blues was a depressing and boring genre, full of plodding songs about cuckolded husbands and families in debt. It was the kind of music you’d hear on a commercial for Propecia, as the older white man zipped past on his motorcycle. I wasn’t a fan of that; I was a fan of bands like the Rolling Stones or Aerosmith, of Chuck Berry and Led Zeppelin. Harmonica was sometimes present in the mix, but my attention evaporated shortly after the harmonica’s last note. I always wanted to play a musical instrument, though, and the convenient, compact power of the harmonica attracted me. To be able to carry an instrument in your pocket, to play music at a moment’s notice, at a party or at the train station or while waiting for a friend—that would be so cool!
I happened across one of those harmonica beginner packages at a Barnes & Noble. You know the kind. This beginner’s package included a harmonica and a songbook by Dave Oliver. My immediate goal was to learn one song. If I could have the ability to play just one song, that would be enough. I started, as many harmonica players do, with first position melodies like “Oh, Susannah” or “Camptown Races”, completely unaware of any other style of harmonica playing. I persisted in this way for months. I had learned my one song; I actually memorized much more than that, developing quite a repertoire of first position melodies. I didn’t know anything about blues and I didn’t know any real technique, but, man, I could play a mean “Frère Jacques”! It was undeniably music, but it was weak and colorless; it wasn’t boss.
In the Dave Oliver songbook, there was a section on harmonica players, entitled “The Greats”. The page long biography on Little Walter was the first one in the book, and Oliver called him “the undisputed king of blues harp.” I sought out the music of Little Walter online, in particular the song “Juke.” I couldn’t believe this was a harmonica! Whenever I introduced the song to a friend, no one else could believe it, either. It sounded too much like a saxophone or some other horn. Maybe “Juke” was my one song; it was certainly hip enough. “If I could learn to play like this,” I bargained with my lovely wife, “you have to let me quit my job and take it on the road.” She quickly agreed, thinking it just another one of my frivolous declarations, signifying nothing. (By the way, I can now play “Juke”, but I can’t make it sound like that. When I can make it sound like Little Walter, I will hold her to her word.)
It was through Little Walter and “Juke” that I became aware of the larger harmonica playing community. I learned about other players and I learned about harmonica teachers online. My first teachers were people like J.P. Allen or Adam Gussow. Though these teachers were helpful, I still couldn’t see the path forward. J.P. Allen’s lessons were fun, and good for a beginner, but they didn’t progress much beyond simple chording and basic licks. Adam Gussow, in his exhaustive series of videos, promised to “de-mystify the process”, but the sheer amount of material and the scattershot, random discussion of topics left me overwhelmed. I needed a more comprehensive approach, a system.
It was around this time we moved to San Jose, California. New to the area and remembering Adam Gussow’s advice to “socialize your talent”, I found the Grand Dell, a small bar with regular blues shows and great cheeseburgers. It was through the Grand Dell that I connected with local players “Spicy Brown” Aki Kumar, who hosted the Dell’s Thursday night blues jam, and “Mr. Wonderful” Joe Lempkowski. I attended the jam many times, but never signed up. I talked about it a lot, but I was too raw. I could count my way through a 12 bar blues, but I had no idea how to approach playing through it. Aki Kumar handed me a postcard for David Barrett’s upcoming Blues Harmonica Masterclass Workshop and he encouraged me to contact David for private lessons.
It took me a couple of months to get around to it, but I signed up bluesharmonica.com in July 2013. Dave’s systematic , analytical approach to teaching and his organized lesson plan was a good fit for my learning style. In one of the very first lessons I watched, David explained that anyone who wants to be a good harmonica player should study blues harmonica. Blues harmonica is the highest level of harmonica playing. That was a persuasive reason, because I still wasn’t completely sold on blues music, but I wanted to be as good a player as I could. I started advancing through the levels on his website.
Progress came more quickly. I learned about harmonica techniques. I learned about various approaches to accompaniment. I learned about the hemiola. I learned songs, so many songs. The one song that I had been seeking had turned into an entire library of essential study, including songs by Big Walter, Little Walter, and the oft-overlooked Medium Sized Walter. Along the way, I started performing. My first performance was at a “Faculty Follies” talent show, at the high school where I worked. I played “Walk With Me” to some piano accompaniment. My timing was off and I hit some bad notes, but it was fun and I wanted to do it again. I wanted to do it better.
I attended blues jams and kept a detailed notebook of my performances. What songs did the band play? What did I do well? What could I improve on for next time? I kept this up for over three years and one hundred jam appearances. I bought books of harmonica licks and downloaded lessons detailing approaches to songs. I started taking 1-on-1 lessons with David Barrett, while still working through the material on his website. In my lessons, we would discuss my experiences at the jams and we would look at the transcriptions I purchased (and, inevitably, David would point out some of the crucial missing elements and errors in the transcription). I took many long walks with my dog, Big Steve, which afforded me countless hours of bending practice and mindless noodling. “Playing” music, it turns out, is actually a lot of work.
I attended the Harmonica Masterclass Workshop, too. There, I took lessons from Joe Filisko, Winslow Yerxa, and Dennis Gruenling I played Dave Barrett’s “Temperature” onstage with the Jewel Tones, in front of an audience of harmonica professionals, including the Jewel Tone’s then harmonica player, the great monster Dennis Gruenling. My timing was off and I hit some bad notes, but the band was gracious and kind. I wanted to do it again.
At some point, I even grew to love blues music. Blues music can actually be exciting and catchy. It can be upbeat and fun. Blues doesn’t have to be dreary, boring music played in dark bars, contrary to the popular image in our culture. Blues music includes players like James Cotton on 100% Cotton, and that’s some of the most exciting and energetic music I’ve ever heard. I discovered that the music I grew up with—Chuck Berry, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin—had the blues at its core and that I’d been hearing the blues’ influence my entire life.
I feel fortunate to live in an area with a strong blues community. Everyone I have met has been extremely supportive and encouraging, and I’ve made good friends through the local blues scene. Through playing harmonica, I’ve learned more about music than I could have ever thought, and I can understand and appreciate all forms of music more now. Blues harmonica has added a depth to my life that wasn’t present before. Music is a shared, universal experience; it’s intrinsically connected with who we are, as a species. I’ve walked into blues jams all around the country and world, from San Jose, California to Nagoya, Japan, and the music instantly connects me with other people in a meaningful way that transcends language.
If I could give any advice to an upcoming harmonica player, I would tell them two things. Number one: listen to great music every day and play every day. As Rick Estrin told me, “First, you’ve got to get the blues in you. Then you can let the blues out.” To keep you motivated, it might be a good idea to get a dog—like Big Steve—who likes long walks and a supportive spouse who can tolerate while you practice bends on a high F harmonica and won’t hold back telling you when you’re off your game.
The second piece of advice : stay passionate. Keep finding inspiration around you. The players you listen to will change and your approaches will change. Even though your goals will shift, your habits, commitment, and inspiration will keep you headed in the right direction. To paraphrase David Barrett, you will someday be a great harmonica player. It may not be tomorrow or next month, but, if you keep with it, it will happen someday. Someday it will happen for me, too.
This past Saturday night, April 1, 2017, I had the pleasure of performing a short set at the School of the Blues Student Concert, as part of my blues harmonica “black belt test”. I played five songs, with four of them being original instrumentals of my own writing (or blatant theft). While the performance went well, none of the songs I played matched up to the imagined version composed in my head. Maybe the “one song” doesn’t exist in reality, but rather as a Platonic ideal for which we continually strive (and, inevitably, measure short of). The journey of music never ends, because there is always more to learn. When I used to train in Aikido, my friends used to say that a “black belt means that you are ready to begin learning.” If the “one song” doesn’t exist in reality, it doesn’t mean we still can’t strive for it.
And, when I finally master that one song…you can be sure I’m going to quit my job and take it on the road. Promises are promises.
Marc Graci, San Jose, CA
April 3, 2017
