Customer Reviews

Jerry Portnoy's Blues Harmonica Masterclass

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3 star:		(1)
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I have never felt strongly enough about any product to take the trouble to write up a rating. But, the potential of this 3 CD set to dramatically enhance the ability of any but the most accomplished harmonicist (diatonic or chromatic) is enormous. The title is slightly misleading, but in a good way. I would not confine its benefits to blues (diatonic) harp players!
I had purchased and aggressively used all the top-rated blues harp instructional products (including those available at Amazon), avoiding Portnoy's because of its relatively high cost. Mistake! It's not that the other materials are not worthwhile. It's that Portnoy's CD set is where I should have started. Learning from the rest of the instructional material out there would then have come much easier. After "taking" Jerry's Masterclass, I find myself going back to the other material with far greater technical ability and a more thorough understanding of the instrument that grant me fuller access to information I was previously unable to absorb.
In this Masterclass Portnoy clearly articulates even the most difficult to understand nuances of playing effective harmonica, rendering the material accessible even (especially?) by a beginner. As the serious student of any musical instrument should expect, Jerry carefully concentrates on all the fundamentals. He takes his "student" through each technique in small steps, giving superb examples all the way. You just follow along with Jerry's lessons on your diatonic (in the key of A), stopping and repeating at your own pace until you're comfortable with each new technique. You decide when to go on to the next lesson, and can come back for a refresher any time (a highly recommended practice).
If you want to learn specific blues licks, there are better resources. If you are seeking what amounts to private lessons from a harmonica virtuoso and extraordinary teacher, this is the mother lode! Jerry says that once you've taken his class, learning blues licks is a matter of listening and using the skills he has taught you. And, he's right.
Not only all that, I recently took on chromatic harmonica. Although it's a very different beast than a blues harp, fundamentally, blowing the chrom' is the same as the diatonic. And, as I've said, Portnoy's CD set dwells almost exclusively on harmonica fundamentals. Thanks to him (and bit of effort on my own part, of course), I can easily apply techniques that seem to mystify many far more accomplished chrom' players. If you want to learn how to play harp at a high level, this is the way to go. And don't worry about Portnoy's qualifications-he backed Muddy Waters for years and continues to back Eric Clapton, just for starters.

I've been playing about 30 years, and a friend wanted to learn to play blues harp from me. I told him just have a miserable life and the rest would take care of itself. After that, I began to look at instructional material to help him. Jerry Portnoy's set is the best. Period. The other materials are divided into either playing Oh, Susannah or learning licks (which is difficult for beginners.) Portnoy provides a very good sequential method of learning. This is a great harp player and a smart guy who can also teach. Just buy this course and forget about the rest.

I purchased this tutorial even though I already knew the basics. After listening and following the individual lessons, I was able to broaden my technique allowing solos to be unique from each other.

I still listen to it from time to time this day. It's fun to play with, and be taught by one of the harmonica's greats.

Jerry is a great teacher. If you always wanted to play blues-harp you won't be disappointed.

If you can find an instructor, Harmonica lessons can cost between $20-$75 and hour, and you have no idea how good the teacher is. This is a great Blues Harpist who also happens to be a really good teacher. For the cost of 1-3 hours of professional instruction, you can get this set.

I'd recommend buying this. Th

There are cheaper sets on the market. In fact I think this is the most expensive set of it's kind. A lot of the less expensive sets are the ones where the author has you playing simple songs in 5 minutes. 6 months later, you may be able to play 2 or 3 songs, but that's about it. The harp, book, and CD end up in a drawer.

If you buy these, you will NOT be playing simple sings in 5 minutes. You will learn the techniques that will allow you to make continual self-directed progress. You will be able to expand your repertoire as you progress. By the time you're done, you will know how to teach yourself to play the music you hear.

If you already play a little (like I was when I got this set) you should still go back to the beginning and see what he's got to teach. This guy is a serious Harpist. He's played with BB King & Eric Clapton.

It requires time and patience. The author understands how to teach, and he understands the limitations of the "CD/book set" as a medium. The CD talks you through each exercise, and you learn skills. He gives you clear instructions, and he provides examples of what each exercise should sound like.

This is incremental instruction. The lessons are short and structured. You will want a CD player where you can pause and go back pretty easily.
You will also need a Harp in A. I recommend you skip the $3-5 cheapies and get something good. I use a Hohner Special 20, and I'm really happy with it.

Plan out a schedule where you can regularly spend some time learning the new lesson. I'd suggest listening to it at least once or twice. Then listen to it and stop and practice as you hear what he's doing. Play along with it a couple of times. You'd spend a serious 45 minutes to an hour on a lesson. Then you practice your butt off for a while. Portnoy suggests 20 minutes or so as the length for a good practice session. I try to practice at least once a day. Come back to it and listen to it to make sure that you've got it right. Practice more. Come back again and again until you've got it right. Move on.

WIll it take a while?
Yes.
Will it be easy?
No.
Will you have to practice a lot?
Yes.
Will you become the next Little Walter by next week?
Of course not.

Will you learn to play the Blues Harp?
YES.

If you want to get really good and you're prepared to make a real committment of time, this is excellent stuff. It's expensive, but it's really good.

This book contains all you need to know about playing the harmonica. Jerry wastes no time diving into fun and useful techniques. He will show you how the blues monster get their big sound. Every chapter is important in its own way. You start with rhythmic exercises, then single notes, scales, special effects, modes. He doesn't repeat himself all that much, but he helps you develop your technique slowly. So make sure you don't skip through those chapters too fast. If it takes you 6 months before you get to the last chapter, i think it's just fine.
This set will benefit absolute beginners as well as advanced players. This set however targets people who are serious about learning. If you're willing to take it a step at a time and build up your skills, this is the right choice for you.
One thing Jerry doesn't show is licks, riffs, patterns. He suggests you get that by listening to artists you like. But he gives you the necessary tools to understand how riffs are played. This set is mostly about technique, he becomes your teacher for a couple hours. Creativity is left to you.
It ends with a nice selection of play-along blues tracks. You'll learn in various keys and at various tempos.
You will need an harmonica in A.
The CD set is a bit pricey, it certainly could be more affordable, but once you get it, you'll forget about the money. It's really worth it.
The presentation is excellent, the booklet is filled with artwork and fun photos - a nice complement to the audio. One thing I would suggest as an improvement: some of the written content is mostly the same as some of the audio content. I would have liked to see some analysis of his playing in the the play-along tracks.

I absolutely loved Jerry Portnoy's Blues Harmonica Masterclass. I have learned so much from this course, and I really feel Jerry is solely responsible for teaching me the skills, techniques and secrets of the harmonica that have made me the player I am today. I have tried countless harmonica tutorials, lessons, personal instruction and classes over many years , but nothing and no one has taught me as well as Jerry Portnoy's Blues Harmonica Masterclass has.

I was very excited to find out that Jerry Portnoy has just recently released his masterclass as a downloadable version right to your computer. It sounds like a great opportunity and deal. When you buy online, you receive this same exact mastercourse as computer files complete with all the same audio as on the 3 CDs. You also receive a copy of the book in a PDF format to download to your computer as well. Best of all, the downloadable version of this masterclass is selling for the lowest price I've seen anywhere. Its only $49.95 and requires no shipping & handling. I think it's a steal and recommend it to everyone.

IT'S THE BEST COURSE OUT THERE!!

There are different styles of learning, and different interests in playing the harmonica. I got this set after all the raves I had heard, but was disappointed.

This Masterclass is all about learning playing techniques...not blues, not riffs. It covers it all, up to very advanced 'overblow' techniques, but ends up leaving the less musical and beginners frustrated (that's me).

If you want to learn about the blues (and the harmonica), get Gindick's Rocks and Blues Harmonica.
If you want hole-by-hole blues lessons, look at David Barrett's series (my favorite).
And if you are musical and can find your own way, then try Portnoy's Masterclass.

This set of CD's are just the thing if you are interested in learning tongue block playing. Not just a bunch of "riffs" to memorize, very instructional.

Start here first. This is the best I have found. Excellent Box set. Goes far beyond my imagination!!!

I really had high hopes for this set. I had listened and learned from two other book/CD sets that I purchased and figured this might really help me take things up a notch.

On the one hand I was impressed. Jerry teaches many fundamentals witha very down-to-earth, easy to understand style. His descriptions of what is necessary to produce sounds that he is demonstrating are easy to understand. However, when he gives examples of riffs using what he has just taught, they tend to be very complex and very fast. I could not keep up and try to duplicate what he was doing. Yes he's a pro and I'm an amature, but I wish I would have had a snowball's chance of doing what he was.

On the other hand, if I were a bit more advanced and had not developed more than a single technique or two, I would have found this to be very helpful. His explanation of tongue blocking is very good.

The bottom line is that I felt like there were two audiences that would have benefited from this (beginners and advanced players), but neither is totally satisfying.

Finally, I could do without his comments at the end. They were lengthy and were all about his philosophies rather than teaching. Interesting, but not helpful.