The heart of blues harmonica (AG.1) 

My Gramps always said "To play the blues, you gotta live the blues". He didn't mean that you had to live down & out, or like a hobo, but rather that your head had to be in "that place" to make it work. As always - Thanks for sharing & Jam ON!!!

i think your son is lucky to have a quality human being like yourself as a father,, great vid.

How true, the passion of the harmonica is what keeps me coming back to it. I play my best when I think less and feel more. The practice is what allows me to internalize the technical and release the animal. Thanks for your work

This one is Adam Nhat Hanh!!! Yes playing with the belly, full music, free music. Thank you Doctor Gussow for this amazing lesson!!!

Adam, thanks for the spontaneous lesson about putting your heart into your music. We all get PO'd and the harp is a good constructive outlet. thanks, man. You are for real.

You have so much priceless material in your videos, but for some reason I keep coming back to this one. I have a five year old son as well, which allowed me to connect with you on a much more personal level than I have been able to in your other videos because I can instantly relate to what you are talking about. I love sharpening myself on the harmonica, but this technique that you speak of is actually helping me to sharpen my life as well. Thank you for being you. Many blessings.

Adam, you have taught me many things through your videos. For the first time you taught me something I didn't understand about myself. you hit the nail on the head. I cant keep it bottled up. The more I play on my own the more I feel like someone has to hear it or it's all just a waste. Thank you for sharing. The best vid you have made yet!

Great speech, Gussow. Hunger for drama is not only the heart of blues harp but also the driving force behind human existence - in my opinion. Transforming loneliness, despair and rage into blues is a vital part of it. Now that the technical harp stuff is all there, maybe you could do a series about blues psychology and mythical thinking to release musical potential. I'm grabbing to my Joseph Campbell books already!

Great speech. This should be the FIRST video to watch for learning blues harp.

Adam. Apart from the Blues you hit home with some of the things I am dealing with currently! Rage, anger, resentment, disappointment, and most of all not knowing how to release it. Or not knowing how to "dance on it". I have an idea now. That was a profound speech that obviously came from the heart. Finally I can see the soul in the music. Now Maybe I can get the soul out of the instrument, through me. LOL!

Excellent question. I think that every player who really knows how to play blues went through a period where the music was completely expressive and completely fulfilling. But emotions often fade, shift, and evolve, and I suspect that every blues performer has sometimes merely gone through the motions without feeling it much. I've lost my feeling for the instrument many times, but it has always returned, eventually, albeit in a new form. Blues aren't the only way of living life deeply.

"Leave poor Britney alone", love it Adam!!

Man you are so real! And real is what makes the difference between a good teacher and a great teacher. Thanks for everything you've taught me. Soon I'll fly to California and I really hope while I'm staying in the US that I'll have a chance to meet you...again (remember Helmond?) See you down the road. G

right on. Life is a continu ess struggle, Feeling life, is feeling music and vibration. The blues harp is the perfect out and should be shared, because we all feel it dude. {right on.}

It's not memorized, but some of the parts are standard little bits of boilerplate. I'm assembling them freshly here, and I've got lots of freedom about how to inflect them, how to leave spaces between them, etc. The music at the end is a blues singer named Grace Brimage; I'm on harp; Wild Jimmy Spruill is on rhythm guitar. It was recorded in a tiny NYC studio near Penn Station in 1989. Never issued, until I put it on "Adam Gussow and Charlie Hilbert: Blues Classics." google it.

Hey Adam, I could relate to you and what you had to say. Deep message, very important and thanks for sharing that with us. Sure good to see ya again. Thanks a lot.

you said some of your videos was cooky,i dont agree!for i hopeless ameteur starving for lessons they where the journey you really just find of that quality!thank you Adam!three years in on the blues harp youre the reason i any good at all!

Thanks. Your harp is sounding sweet, keep on playing. It is good to know how to channel every day problems, and keep moving foward.

Emotions are the full experience of life. We master our instruments not to make beautiful music, but so we can get out of the way and allow our humaness to come forth.

I feel you and you have just answered some critical questions about blues philosophy!

"F-IT!" - Words to live by, hehe. I know all about that drama and anger, having a bad final quarter in '09 where everything is falling apart. (F-IT! haha) "...finding a way to constructively transform it into music." - You said it, I'm on my way, I hope! Good to hear from ya! (RyanMortos - MBH)

This all applies to blues guitar too. Good job articulating it.

:-))))))))))))) blues is life and it's coming from ya heart :-))) just do it let it out (of the box) I saw so many vids of you and Jason ... you're so good, but it's only one tone that makes you alive :-)) life

Interesting philosophy there, I have heard Eric Clapton say something similar, about being given the gift to channel his anger through guitar. There is a story that at one recording session, he was newly sober so the rest of the guys snuck around behind his back drinking, when he found out he recorded "same old blues", for ultimate rage being expressed through blues guitar, check out the solos on that. He almost trashes his beloved 'blackie'

Some of my best creativity and playing came out when my parents died. I know where you're coming from.

A beautiful vid. You seem such a cool guy Adam. Good to see. Great lessons, every time! I have got so much out of them!!! Thanks man! Andy

I play from ennui, (when I can be bothered to play.) Actually, right now, I'm sitting on my hands resisting the urge to play. (I'm getting over a really bad cold.) I don't play from anger much. I go more for hopelessness. Playing the harp is how I find catharsis.

Thank you Adam.

Beautiful video, Adam like all of yours

your back, that's awesome, great video 5 stars

The Warrior, the Lover, the Painter.

Well said and played!

thank you for pulling me out of the aybass of my life and taking me on this journey a real blues odysey! unfortunatly i have to take it easy on my harps!(playing too hard sometimes)cause ive been physically unable to work after 33years of steady income,leaves me moneylessLOL! so thanks for saving my a..!

don't play the harp, but your videos are the shit my man. your insight is fantastic

grate point! im at the thresh hold now

You move me in a way that you'll never know..

Children are so cute and you love them so much, otherwise no child would live past their 4th birthday. My words of wisdom from A father who has a 24 year old daughter that still drives me crazy. Then there is the wife. God invented the harmonica just for us.

Blues singer Grace Brimage, with Wild Jimmy Spruill on rhythm guitar (chuck chuck chuck chuck) and me on harmonica. Recorded in NYC in 1989. Jimmy is dead and I've been unable to track down Ms. Brimage. The cut is available on a digital album entitled BLUES CLASSICS, featuring the music of Adam Gussow and Charlie Hilbert. Google it!

damn adam, you get right to the soul stuff jaja! i really think, you should start making lyrics, i do all the time, it's my other way to get rid of that feeling in my guts a little at a time. and, you are a really good singer, warrior, painter , and poet! good luck, Tom

heavenly rage;)all love

@bbeddick : Thanks. I'm glad that the spirit of what I'm saying got through. You should come on down to Hill Country Harmonica in late May. (Google it.) We'd love to have you there.

I understand what you're trying to get at in this video; I just lack the ability to articulate it on the harmonica without either sounding pretty awful or concentrating too much about the machine language of the harp. One of these days though, I'll be able to bust out in improv. Thank you so much for the lessons.

this man is awesome

1.) Warrior, 2.) Lover, and 3.) Painter.

"F it" thanks Adam for sharing . I too have a young son Eoin and he is just 4 ,I know that love/hate thing your talking about.

At least, that's how I interpret it.

deep vid awesome man!

Just a note that you have to have mastery of the technical stuff so that when the pissed off times come you can just grab the harp and wail and "F-it!."

You might want to look up ninaflute and her Real Flute concept. Nina Perlove is another wonderful youtube Prof.

Newb Question: That piece you played in this vid, is that memorized or are you free styling your way through the piece. Also the music at the end is awesome!!!

Can anybody please could explain to a Brazilian guy, who is trying for three days to understand what Mr Gussow says in the last 2 minutes? Afit? afflict? I fear im missing some very important thing! Thanks

Hi Adam, Welcome back.....What does the AG stand for in AG.1?

Hell yeah I hear ya man really can't play good but I do like trying purty damn fun like your videos and would like to have a beer with ya

I got it.... Adam was thrown out of the house with the threat that if he played that thing in the house one more time he'd really be playing the Blues!! Wait a minute, I have it all wrong - it's the acoustics in his Volvo that make the difference in tonality... that's it... what was I thinking.....

He's saying F*** it. In other words, forget about what you are noticing technically. It doesn't matter. Just play man, and feel the pain.

what can a 3 1/2 yr old can make angst that bad?

Gotta admit, the sappy sentimentalist in me was waiting for a little message to your son at the end. :-(

Oh wait....I'm a moron.....Adam Gussow sheesh!

you said "savage breast" haha great video adam as always the explanation of about releasing the rage is really useful for me. haha"leave britney alone"