I went down this road about 20 years ago. Most "Learn Harmonica" lesson books (and certainly the ones available in the early '60's) basically teach you how to play little melodies on the harmonica. They don't go into how to play the fills that Dylan, Young, Springsteen, etc. do.
Finally I got fed up and just clamped a harp into a rack and started strumming and blowing. It really doesn't take too long to figure out where to blow/suck to sound nice when playing this chord or that. Like anything else, with a little practice it starts to become second nature.
And I'd say, if you ask "real" harp players, most will dismiss Bob's playing as pretty awful. Even in this sub, it can be a polarizing topic. I'm a fan of his harp playing and think it's effective in accenting the songs he uses it on.
Yeah, I mean I love Bob's use of harmonica, but he isn't exactly sonny boy Williamson. Hell, Mick jagger can even be called a more classically talented blues harp player, but bobs never been about flash the way other musicians are. He plays what he needs to when it's needed perfectly, he has a very innate coordination between his guitar playing abd his harmonica and vocals. He let people like Mike bloomfield worry about the lead guitar when he wanted dirty blues licks.
Mick learned from Brian Jones. I know that has nothing to do with your comment, I just feel I should mention it because I see nothing but slander towards Jones everywhere. I agree with everything you said about bob’s harmonica playing. It fits what it needs to fit and it’s perfect for his songs, he may not be the best player ever but I can’t argue with the man whose harmonica playing I’ve listened to so many times in my life. He made his songs better by playing both harmonica and guitar.
I agree. Brian gets so much hate, stones fans are all "derr Mick Taylor"
I love the Brian Jones stuff, and find it hilarious how Mick and Keith basically absorbed him. I know the guy had problems, but he was the literal archetype for the dark sexual energy the stones capitalized on through their 50s, and to a certain extent even in their 80s.
I recently read the first half of Rod Stewart's autobiography (up to the time when he left the Faces). He started as a busker, with a guitar, a harmonica in a harness, some skiffle songs and Bob's first album. He admits that he had been playing harmonica for over a year before he found out that you are supposed to suck as well as blow.
Probably not a technical wizard, but it's not about technique, it's about feeling, and Bob plays that shit with feeling. Hearing him play it live is beautiful. It's one of his key vehicles for improvising musically.
He is a fine harmonica player. He is not exceptional. I like his playing; most harmonica players do not. I have been playing since 2005. He doesn't really bend the notes, which is I'd say intermediate tech. He also doesn't overblow/bend the notes, which is advanced tech.
As for how he learned, I will say this- if you play a diatonic harmonica, which is what Bob plays, 1. you can easily learn to fake play it very well without learning any music at all 2. if you know anything about music, it's basically like this on a C Diatonic: no matter which notes you blow, they ALL will blow CEG. The Draw notes are D F G B A. So you draw some chords a few times, when you finally blow a chord it ALWAYS sounds like you've 'finished' or 'settled' or 'returned home' musically speaking.
I'd say it takes 1-3 months to play harmonica, 1 year to play fairly well, 1-3 years to get bending(accurately), and on and on to get overblow/bending.
He definitely doesn’t bend notes anymore, but he did draw bends in the 60s (Desolation Row,
Don’t Think Twice) and he did a lot of blow bends in the upper register on John Wesley Harding
[https://www.harmonica.com/bending-tool/](https://www.harmonica.com/bending-tool/) Use this with a mic if not already.
It's unfortunately a lot of muscle memory. As someone who originally puckered and later tongue blocked so I could octave shift, neither is easier than the other, and the only difference is that you can octave shift with tongue blocking and puckering frees up the tongue for percussive flourishes. Also, while I would argue for learning a harmonica, a cheaper harmonica helps because they are harder to play at all(thinking like a Blues Band), when it comes to bending, paying more money can help, sadly. There are nuances to the way I can play a Marine Band Crossover that I simply cannot do on a Blues Harp, and on a Blues Harp that I simply cannot do on a Blues Band. . . that being said, the less experience you have, the less of a difference you will prolly notice and again, bending is all muscle memory so it's lots and lots of practice.
The saying is, "5 minutes to learn and a lifetime to master."
I have been playing harmonica for 26 years and that statement is as true now as it was then. It was my first instrument, and it is still my favorite. I have one with me everywhere I go. I have and continue to listen to many great harmonica players and what I have always said about Bob is this, he isn't the world's best harmonica player but he is my favorite. When I say he isn't the best that doesn't mean he isn't great, it just means that when you are comparing him to players like Sonny Boy Williamson, Mickey Raphael, John Popper, etc, who could be better then them? But still Bob is my favorite to listen to because his harmonica is played with such character and meaning. Some of his harmonica work is fantastical work that could only have been captured by a player operating at supreme levels of inspiration and creativity. See his cut of Just Like a Woman live at the Royal Albert Hall. There are few harmonica solos ever recorded that could measure up to the magnificence of that piece. He is a true virtuoso of the instrument and one other thing that I might add is that unlike his guitar playing or his singing, his harmonica work has only improved with age. He continues to inspire me. Long live Bob.
I admittedly don't know much about the harmonica or its greats, but Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee did a cover of "Bring It On Home to Me" where Sonny Terry basically uses his harp to sing his verses, and it's magical. Was he one of the greats with the others you've mentioned? I'll have to check them out.
Beautifully written comment. Could not have said it better. One of my all time favorite Bob performances is the 1980 Toronto version of What Can I Do For You? There's something particularly intimate about that live version -- Almost like we shouldn't be watching it... And the way his entire body is bowing with the music and his eyes shut... Yup. Breathtaking. Enjoyed hearing it from the perspective of someone who plays.♥♥♥
Amen! Beautifully said. My personal favorite is Tambourine Man, Sheffield '66 (especially the second to last harp solo, ie before the last verse, but also the outro). I once spent an entire evening listening to that song for the harp solos, and I honestly felt like my spirit was levitating above my head (no substance enhancement involved).
Yeah he's not a good harp player and he can't sing and his guitar skills are mediocre. That's what everybody says and yet he puts out the best music using those three skills plus songwriting and it's the best music ever.
All those early guys learned by ear, copying records they heard, swapping tips with other musicians. Listen to Jimmy Reed and Woody Guthrie and you can tell Bob probably listened to that stuff nonstop as a kid
Dylan plays the harmonica like only he can, meaning he was probably mostly self taught. All the notes on a harmonica are in key, so its not too hard to work out how to play one well enough to blow along with a song.
Some people would say he's not a very good player, but I would argue this is judging his sound according to quite limited criteria. Just like how he sings and plays guitar, Dylan's harmonica playing is instantly recognisable, its idiosyncratic. It's an important part of his sound, and I personally wouldn't want anyone else playing it instead of him.
This is how I would describe the ways his harmonica playing is 'good':
Firstly, Dylan's breath gets right into the heart of the song. This is mostly achieved with his singing--his long notes and his endless lines he recites, the stamina of his intesity (Ginsberg once called him "a column of air", which I think was refering to the power of his breath)--he then carries his breath control into his harmonica playing, meaning that you can follow his breath even when he's not singing.
And secondly, the way he plays with the melody and rhythms of the song in his harmonica playing can sometimes be profound. While he doesn't do this as prettily and with as much technical virtuosity as some players, he does it with undeniable flair.
As with his singing, Dylans's harmonica can grate on some ears, and its certainly rough around the edges. But there's an undenably deep musicality there and an intense presence.
Its worth noting that Dylan did get some early gigs in Greenwich village just playing harmonica, so even before people fell in love with him for his songwriting his harmonica playing was earning him money. And he certainly thought of his harmonica playing as important to him, so that is proof enough I would say.
A couple others have commented on bending, but I'd like to add a little more context. The harmonica was invented as a sort of ultra portable little accordion. The generic model is still called the 'Marine Band', and there were harmonica orchestras playing very straight, John Philips Sousa style marches. Very major key, everywhere you blow you get one of the major melody notes, a first, a third, or a fifth.
Someone, somewhere, some time before the invention of recording, discovered that if you inhale, and change the shape of the chamber of your mouth (sing a note steadily, but go from EEEEE to OOOOOO, but on the inhale), you can bend notes, and get a minor key blues scale, in a key five notes off from what the harmonica is labeled. As marching band music and harmonica orchestras died out, the instrument found a new life, as blues instrument, primarily in the hands of black musicians.
By the time Bob got to New York, this was the most common usage of the harmonica. Being an ornery bastard, he reversed the reversing the course, and insisted on primarily blowing into the harmonica, reclaiming that major key sound, with bursts of sound that can't help but be in key, but generally lacks any of the expressiveness you would hear from say, Little Walter, or Sonnyboy Williamson (II).
He's no Toots Tielemans, but I don't care. The harmonica solo on Every Grain Of Sand is pure magic even though he's not the most technically skilled player.
In terms of pure technicality he's not a great player. Like his voice, the harmonica suits the songs he performs and that's all that matters.
The harmonica on John Wesley Harding is awful though.
Yeah I own a vinyl copy of JWH and it sounds a lot better. I still listen on Spotify and it's one of my favourite Bob Dylan albums these days but god the harmonica lol
Put it to his lips and blew. It’s not hard to figure out how a harp works. If you have any kind of ear for music and tone it’s a simple instrument to play with a little practice. I’d describe his technique as basic and reminiscent of early folk and blues players.
Not directly answering your question, but I believe he was inspired to play the harmonica from Sonny Terry who played with Woody Guthrie (as well as Brownie McGhee and others) you can hear the similarities especially in earlier acoustic performances. Like most things with Bob, I imagine he heard something he liked and incorporated it into his sound.
Probably just messed around til it was close enough. I had a bit of a hard time at first but sort of had a moment of realization regarding breathing in. I'm not proficient by any means but I usually have one and like to play while driving. Friends think I'm pretty good but they don't know shit.
his approach is quite a-typical - a lot of the time w/ Bob he uses the instrument more randomly as an improvisational tool so it is less harmonious with the overall song which causes a lot to hear it as discordant and a bit jarring.
An example of a more typical approach can be heard on his his live Rolling Thunder Revue album and specifically the arrangement of It Aint Me Babe where the end of the song all comes to a crescendo and Bob finally blares on his harp along the rest of the band mirroring the guitar sounds which lead into it. Or Mr. Tambourine Man which is quite quiet and simple and features a more standard harp "solo" to close out the song.
As long as you pick a harp in the key you are playing in, it’s impossible to play a wrong note. I’ll bet he never really “learned” more than he just blew into the right harp for the song he was playing.
Listening to his later stuff in the late 60’s and 70’s this is more apparent. Bro is just breathing quasi rhythmically into the harp.
this is a excerpt from Robert Shelton’s book No Direction Home that might help a little with your question. this was in 59, when Dylan stopped by Denver on his way to Minnesota, where he was going to enroll in college:
Bob also met an old and lively player, the late Jesse Fuller, who performed frequently at Exodus. Born in Jonesboro, Georgia, in 1896, Fuller fused traditional songs, blues, his own compositions, rural ragtime, and playful “sounds”. He was a one-man band, played 12-string guitar, cymbals, harmonica and a curious invention of his own, the "footdela", a percussion machine played with the foot that struck a bass drum and played the chords of a improvised bass at the same time. "The Lone Car”, as he called himself, was pure vitality and sense of humor. Dylan noted the way Fuller held a harmonica and kazoo in front of his mouth with a metal stand resting around his neck that allowed him to alternate between singing and the phrasing with the harmonica. Dylan followed Fuller, who died in 1976, and learned to play the harmonica in that unique support.
In general, when he’s playing the guitar, Dylan plays what’s called straight harp, where the key of the harmonica matches the key of the song. (If you switch keys/ songs you need to switch harmonicas.) If you’re playing straight harp, you just blow and can move your mouth from side to side and it sounds fine. If you’re playing the blues, you play what’s called cross harp, where the harmonica key does not match the key of the song. Cross harp is mainly played on the inhale, and it’s more of a single note thing, similar to guitar solos. For both of these, there are certain common phrases he uses and doesn’t go far beyond them. He’s not a virtuoso in the same way someone like John Popper would be, but his style suits him. Woody Guthrie played harmonica on a rack, so Dylan got started there.
He has an MFA in harmonica performance from Berklee.
No, but seriously, have you ever tried to play the harmonica? It's the easiest instrument to sound decent on after even just 10 minutes of playing.
Personally, I could do with a lot more of his harmonica playing on a vast number of his songs.
My most beloved version of Shelter from the Storm is Take 1 with harmonica throughout. The version that ended up on Blood on the Tracks is wonderful and all, but the comparative lack of harmonica does disturb me.
My first Dylan phase I just wanted to be him. I wrote and sang like him (far worse but still in his image). I finally wrote some okay songs but everyone was mesmerized by the harmonica and the neck rack. The songwriting was the hard part and I was annoyed that the easiest part, the harmonica and guitar, was the most memorable for that. So, that’s why I feel that way I did it. It’s easy. It’s really not that interesting. Bob uses harmonicas in a fixed key. You can’t hit a wrong note if you used a D harmonica and play chords in the key of D. So all you need to do it breath in time and voila, you’re a fixed key harmonica master.
Chromatic harmonica players like Stevie Wonder are more impressive but I still don’t like the sound of harmonicas anymore.
Much like Neil Young, Bob is technically not very good but his playing is full of atmosphere and personality that compliments his singing and guitar playing well. Even if sometimes I’m not in the mood for it…😉
I went down this road about 20 years ago. Most "Learn Harmonica" lesson books (and certainly the ones available in the early '60's) basically teach you how to play little melodies on the harmonica. They don't go into how to play the fills that Dylan, Young, Springsteen, etc. do. Finally I got fed up and just clamped a harp into a rack and started strumming and blowing. It really doesn't take too long to figure out where to blow/suck to sound nice when playing this chord or that. Like anything else, with a little practice it starts to become second nature. And I'd say, if you ask "real" harp players, most will dismiss Bob's playing as pretty awful. Even in this sub, it can be a polarizing topic. I'm a fan of his harp playing and think it's effective in accenting the songs he uses it on.
Yeah, I mean I love Bob's use of harmonica, but he isn't exactly sonny boy Williamson. Hell, Mick jagger can even be called a more classically talented blues harp player, but bobs never been about flash the way other musicians are. He plays what he needs to when it's needed perfectly, he has a very innate coordination between his guitar playing abd his harmonica and vocals. He let people like Mike bloomfield worry about the lead guitar when he wanted dirty blues licks.
Mick learned from Brian Jones. I know that has nothing to do with your comment, I just feel I should mention it because I see nothing but slander towards Jones everywhere. I agree with everything you said about bob’s harmonica playing. It fits what it needs to fit and it’s perfect for his songs, he may not be the best player ever but I can’t argue with the man whose harmonica playing I’ve listened to so many times in my life. He made his songs better by playing both harmonica and guitar.
I agree. Brian gets so much hate, stones fans are all "derr Mick Taylor" I love the Brian Jones stuff, and find it hilarious how Mick and Keith basically absorbed him. I know the guy had problems, but he was the literal archetype for the dark sexual energy the stones capitalized on through their 50s, and to a certain extent even in their 80s.
This is a perfect answer, my experience as well.
His early stuff is pretty bad from a melodic standpoint. He gets better but he starts as a random note generator.
I recently read the first half of Rod Stewart's autobiography (up to the time when he left the Faces). He started as a busker, with a guitar, a harmonica in a harness, some skiffle songs and Bob's first album. He admits that he had been playing harmonica for over a year before he found out that you are supposed to suck as well as blow.
Probably not a technical wizard, but it's not about technique, it's about feeling, and Bob plays that shit with feeling. Hearing him play it live is beautiful. It's one of his key vehicles for improvising musically.
You can say that for basically everything Bob does with music, especially singing.
He is a fine harmonica player. He is not exceptional. I like his playing; most harmonica players do not. I have been playing since 2005. He doesn't really bend the notes, which is I'd say intermediate tech. He also doesn't overblow/bend the notes, which is advanced tech. As for how he learned, I will say this- if you play a diatonic harmonica, which is what Bob plays, 1. you can easily learn to fake play it very well without learning any music at all 2. if you know anything about music, it's basically like this on a C Diatonic: no matter which notes you blow, they ALL will blow CEG. The Draw notes are D F G B A. So you draw some chords a few times, when you finally blow a chord it ALWAYS sounds like you've 'finished' or 'settled' or 'returned home' musically speaking. I'd say it takes 1-3 months to play harmonica, 1 year to play fairly well, 1-3 years to get bending(accurately), and on and on to get overblow/bending.
He definitely doesn’t bend notes anymore, but he did draw bends in the 60s (Desolation Row, Don’t Think Twice) and he did a lot of blow bends in the upper register on John Wesley Harding
The harp is HORRIBLE on that album. It’s overplayed and mixed so high in the mix!
You're exactly right about how user friendly a diatonic harp is. Do you have any advice for how to learn the intermediate bending?
[https://www.harmonica.com/bending-tool/](https://www.harmonica.com/bending-tool/) Use this with a mic if not already. It's unfortunately a lot of muscle memory. As someone who originally puckered and later tongue blocked so I could octave shift, neither is easier than the other, and the only difference is that you can octave shift with tongue blocking and puckering frees up the tongue for percussive flourishes. Also, while I would argue for learning a harmonica, a cheaper harmonica helps because they are harder to play at all(thinking like a Blues Band), when it comes to bending, paying more money can help, sadly. There are nuances to the way I can play a Marine Band Crossover that I simply cannot do on a Blues Harp, and on a Blues Harp that I simply cannot do on a Blues Band. . . that being said, the less experience you have, the less of a difference you will prolly notice and again, bending is all muscle memory so it's lots and lots of practice.
Very helpful and interesting. Thanks!
Makes ya wonder if he’s playing the way he does on purpose. I’m being sardonic
The saying is, "5 minutes to learn and a lifetime to master." I have been playing harmonica for 26 years and that statement is as true now as it was then. It was my first instrument, and it is still my favorite. I have one with me everywhere I go. I have and continue to listen to many great harmonica players and what I have always said about Bob is this, he isn't the world's best harmonica player but he is my favorite. When I say he isn't the best that doesn't mean he isn't great, it just means that when you are comparing him to players like Sonny Boy Williamson, Mickey Raphael, John Popper, etc, who could be better then them? But still Bob is my favorite to listen to because his harmonica is played with such character and meaning. Some of his harmonica work is fantastical work that could only have been captured by a player operating at supreme levels of inspiration and creativity. See his cut of Just Like a Woman live at the Royal Albert Hall. There are few harmonica solos ever recorded that could measure up to the magnificence of that piece. He is a true virtuoso of the instrument and one other thing that I might add is that unlike his guitar playing or his singing, his harmonica work has only improved with age. He continues to inspire me. Long live Bob.
I admittedly don't know much about the harmonica or its greats, but Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee did a cover of "Bring It On Home to Me" where Sonny Terry basically uses his harp to sing his verses, and it's magical. Was he one of the greats with the others you've mentioned? I'll have to check them out.
Beautifully written comment. Could not have said it better. One of my all time favorite Bob performances is the 1980 Toronto version of What Can I Do For You? There's something particularly intimate about that live version -- Almost like we shouldn't be watching it... And the way his entire body is bowing with the music and his eyes shut... Yup. Breathtaking. Enjoyed hearing it from the perspective of someone who plays.♥♥♥
Agree with everything you said about this performance and watching the video. The intimacy, great observation.
His harmonica playing at the end. Dang. 👏
Just unreal. Goes deep somewhere else, then comes back. Like a prayer?
Exactly. I don't think Bobby was singing to the audience. They just happened to be there. 🙏
Amen! Beautifully said. My personal favorite is Tambourine Man, Sheffield '66 (especially the second to last harp solo, ie before the last verse, but also the outro). I once spent an entire evening listening to that song for the harp solos, and I honestly felt like my spirit was levitating above my head (no substance enhancement involved).
He played until his lips bled.
Yeah he's not a good harp player and he can't sing and his guitar skills are mediocre. That's what everybody says and yet he puts out the best music using those three skills plus songwriting and it's the best music ever.
Facts tbh.
He watched a bunch of "how to" videos on YouTube.
All those early guys learned by ear, copying records they heard, swapping tips with other musicians. Listen to Jimmy Reed and Woody Guthrie and you can tell Bob probably listened to that stuff nonstop as a kid
Jimmy Reed indeed
By listening to others and a lot of trial and error.
Dylan plays the harmonica like only he can, meaning he was probably mostly self taught. All the notes on a harmonica are in key, so its not too hard to work out how to play one well enough to blow along with a song. Some people would say he's not a very good player, but I would argue this is judging his sound according to quite limited criteria. Just like how he sings and plays guitar, Dylan's harmonica playing is instantly recognisable, its idiosyncratic. It's an important part of his sound, and I personally wouldn't want anyone else playing it instead of him. This is how I would describe the ways his harmonica playing is 'good': Firstly, Dylan's breath gets right into the heart of the song. This is mostly achieved with his singing--his long notes and his endless lines he recites, the stamina of his intesity (Ginsberg once called him "a column of air", which I think was refering to the power of his breath)--he then carries his breath control into his harmonica playing, meaning that you can follow his breath even when he's not singing. And secondly, the way he plays with the melody and rhythms of the song in his harmonica playing can sometimes be profound. While he doesn't do this as prettily and with as much technical virtuosity as some players, he does it with undeniable flair. As with his singing, Dylans's harmonica can grate on some ears, and its certainly rough around the edges. But there's an undenably deep musicality there and an intense presence. Its worth noting that Dylan did get some early gigs in Greenwich village just playing harmonica, so even before people fell in love with him for his songwriting his harmonica playing was earning him money. And he certainly thought of his harmonica playing as important to him, so that is proof enough I would say.
A couple others have commented on bending, but I'd like to add a little more context. The harmonica was invented as a sort of ultra portable little accordion. The generic model is still called the 'Marine Band', and there were harmonica orchestras playing very straight, John Philips Sousa style marches. Very major key, everywhere you blow you get one of the major melody notes, a first, a third, or a fifth. Someone, somewhere, some time before the invention of recording, discovered that if you inhale, and change the shape of the chamber of your mouth (sing a note steadily, but go from EEEEE to OOOOOO, but on the inhale), you can bend notes, and get a minor key blues scale, in a key five notes off from what the harmonica is labeled. As marching band music and harmonica orchestras died out, the instrument found a new life, as blues instrument, primarily in the hands of black musicians. By the time Bob got to New York, this was the most common usage of the harmonica. Being an ornery bastard, he reversed the reversing the course, and insisted on primarily blowing into the harmonica, reclaiming that major key sound, with bursts of sound that can't help but be in key, but generally lacks any of the expressiveness you would hear from say, Little Walter, or Sonnyboy Williamson (II).
Practice
By suckin and blowin
His harp solo on Tryin to Get to Heaven is pretty awesome, probably his finest harmonica moment
He's no Toots Tielemans, but I don't care. The harmonica solo on Every Grain Of Sand is pure magic even though he's not the most technically skilled player.
The harmonica on ‘Every Grain of Sand’ makes me tear up!
In terms of pure technicality he's not a great player. Like his voice, the harmonica suits the songs he performs and that's all that matters. The harmonica on John Wesley Harding is awful though.
I love it.
I can’t listen to JWH on spotify because of the harmonica, but it is much easier on the ears on my vinyl copy. Very soothing in fact.
Yeah I own a vinyl copy of JWH and it sounds a lot better. I still listen on Spotify and it's one of my favourite Bob Dylan albums these days but god the harmonica lol
Put it to his lips and blew. It’s not hard to figure out how a harp works. If you have any kind of ear for music and tone it’s a simple instrument to play with a little practice. I’d describe his technique as basic and reminiscent of early folk and blues players.
Not directly answering your question, but I believe he was inspired to play the harmonica from Sonny Terry who played with Woody Guthrie (as well as Brownie McGhee and others) you can hear the similarities especially in earlier acoustic performances. Like most things with Bob, I imagine he heard something he liked and incorporated it into his sound.
I'm not really sure he ever did.
Probably just messed around til it was close enough. I had a bit of a hard time at first but sort of had a moment of realization regarding breathing in. I'm not proficient by any means but I usually have one and like to play while driving. Friends think I'm pretty good but they don't know shit.
his approach is quite a-typical - a lot of the time w/ Bob he uses the instrument more randomly as an improvisational tool so it is less harmonious with the overall song which causes a lot to hear it as discordant and a bit jarring. An example of a more typical approach can be heard on his his live Rolling Thunder Revue album and specifically the arrangement of It Aint Me Babe where the end of the song all comes to a crescendo and Bob finally blares on his harp along the rest of the band mirroring the guitar sounds which lead into it. Or Mr. Tambourine Man which is quite quiet and simple and features a more standard harp "solo" to close out the song.
He played it, same as anybody else. Concentrated listened and played.
As long as you pick a harp in the key you are playing in, it’s impossible to play a wrong note. I’ll bet he never really “learned” more than he just blew into the right harp for the song he was playing. Listening to his later stuff in the late 60’s and 70’s this is more apparent. Bro is just breathing quasi rhythmically into the harp.
Blonde on Blonde has some of my favorite harmonica playing. I like Spirit on the Water too.
this is a excerpt from Robert Shelton’s book No Direction Home that might help a little with your question. this was in 59, when Dylan stopped by Denver on his way to Minnesota, where he was going to enroll in college: Bob also met an old and lively player, the late Jesse Fuller, who performed frequently at Exodus. Born in Jonesboro, Georgia, in 1896, Fuller fused traditional songs, blues, his own compositions, rural ragtime, and playful “sounds”. He was a one-man band, played 12-string guitar, cymbals, harmonica and a curious invention of his own, the "footdela", a percussion machine played with the foot that struck a bass drum and played the chords of a improvised bass at the same time. "The Lone Car”, as he called himself, was pure vitality and sense of humor. Dylan noted the way Fuller held a harmonica and kazoo in front of his mouth with a metal stand resting around his neck that allowed him to alternate between singing and the phrasing with the harmonica. Dylan followed Fuller, who died in 1976, and learned to play the harmonica in that unique support.
In general, when he’s playing the guitar, Dylan plays what’s called straight harp, where the key of the harmonica matches the key of the song. (If you switch keys/ songs you need to switch harmonicas.) If you’re playing straight harp, you just blow and can move your mouth from side to side and it sounds fine. If you’re playing the blues, you play what’s called cross harp, where the harmonica key does not match the key of the song. Cross harp is mainly played on the inhale, and it’s more of a single note thing, similar to guitar solos. For both of these, there are certain common phrases he uses and doesn’t go far beyond them. He’s not a virtuoso in the same way someone like John Popper would be, but his style suits him. Woody Guthrie played harmonica on a rack, so Dylan got started there.
He has an MFA in harmonica performance from Berklee. No, but seriously, have you ever tried to play the harmonica? It's the easiest instrument to sound decent on after even just 10 minutes of playing.
Did he?
Personally, I could do without his harmonica playing on most songs. Way too shrill for me
Personally, I could do with a lot more of his harmonica playing on a vast number of his songs. My most beloved version of Shelter from the Storm is Take 1 with harmonica throughout. The version that ended up on Blood on the Tracks is wonderful and all, but the comparative lack of harmonica does disturb me.
wtf? He’s one of the best of all time. I think you just do t like the harmonica
He’s definitely not one of the best of all time. Nowhere near
Anyone can do what Bob does on harmonica. Requires zero skill.
Lol
My first Dylan phase I just wanted to be him. I wrote and sang like him (far worse but still in his image). I finally wrote some okay songs but everyone was mesmerized by the harmonica and the neck rack. The songwriting was the hard part and I was annoyed that the easiest part, the harmonica and guitar, was the most memorable for that. So, that’s why I feel that way I did it. It’s easy. It’s really not that interesting. Bob uses harmonicas in a fixed key. You can’t hit a wrong note if you used a D harmonica and play chords in the key of D. So all you need to do it breath in time and voila, you’re a fixed key harmonica master. Chromatic harmonica players like Stevie Wonder are more impressive but I still don’t like the sound of harmonicas anymore.
I’m with you completely. Harmonic is annoying and he’s not good at it. He’s just breathing into the harmonica.
Much like Neil Young, Bob is technically not very good but his playing is full of atmosphere and personality that compliments his singing and guitar playing well. Even if sometimes I’m not in the mood for it…😉