"Western songs, ballads, gospel, Irish songs, songs of the sea, classics, international songs, folk songs, fun songs" --

Mel Bay's Easiest Blues Harp Book is the ideal way to get started playing today's blues harmonica styles. First, you will learn the basic techniques needed to play blues harp, such as lip blocking, single tone, bending, the slide, tremblo, and vibrato. Then, you'll play riffs, blues harp solos, and blues rhythm chord studies-all on the C harmonica.

Evoke the traditional sounds of the Celtic lands with these instrumental arrangements of songs for solo Celtic harp. These 25 tunes are Manx, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, Cornish, Hebridean, and Bretton, including pieces by Turlough O'Carolan and Robert Burns. Notes at the end of the book give insights into the meanings of the texts of the songs, aiding interpretation and inviting you to experience the ambience of the Celtic lands through their music. Lyrics for selected songs are given in the notes in English.

This book is meant to give you a jump-start in playing blues harmonica. You will find there are both easy and difficult techniques on the harmonica. Due to the nature and length of this book, and to avoid repetition of sections of other books by the same author- some of the more commonplace blues harmonica techniques are avoided here. A 10-hole D harmonica is required to begin this book, but a Lee Oskar natural minor harmonica in the key of A minor is also recommended. All tunes and exercises in this book are written in standard notation with harmonica blow/draw indications. Although this is not a beginner's book, the enclosed CD recording provides an additional assist to players at all level.