top of page

Jake teaches Ukulele at the City Lit with a mixture of short and long courses from the beginner to second steps. This page is new ( as of July 2014) so will be updated asap. with downloading documents and tips

 

In the meantime check the Youtube playlist of Jake by clicking here

 

 

here is Jake playing Chromatic harmonica for the instrumental of Paul's leading track on his second album a gorgeous melody  with Barkley McKay playing piano

The Blues Harmonica : Checklist to Blues Playing

 

Ok here is a list of the essentials Jake covers on his harmonica classes. Getting  familiar as soon as possible with these techniques and look out for players using them

 

  • Holding the harp – acoustic and electric

  • Breathing (don’t forget to breathe or you’ll die !)

  • Single note and chord note control

  • Bending notes

  • Vibrato by different methods

  • Melody work – both blues and melodic

  • Recognising blues structures

 

 

I have made a you tube playlist with loads of stuff from great players and performances to jamming tracks and tutorials. If you go to youtube type the words shabby jake and click into my playlists to find the you tube links.

 

Its up to you but this course is also a great excuse to  immerse yourself into the rich variety of blues music out there. Look out for the different styles of harp playing and blues music . Essentially these are:

 

  • Country Blues

  • Urban Blues ( often termed Chicago Blues)

  • Jazz Blues

  • Blues harp in other music forms ie. country or pop music

bottom of page