How to Play Wellerman on a Tremolo Harmonica with 24 Holes

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Well well welly then, it looks like we are back with another take on the old Sea Shanty - Wellerman. Although this time we’ll be focusing on the Tremolo Harmonica with 24 Holes. Yes, that’s the harmonica that looks like it has 48 holes, two rows on top of and below each other, but don’t pay too much attention to that, it’s actually 24 holes, or rather you should treat them as if they are 24 holes, at least for the purposes of this lesson!
If your harmonica happens to be in a different key to this tutorial, DON’T WORRY, just turn the volume down and follow the finger pointer and arrows, remembering that the red arrow means to blow into your harmonica and the blue arrows means to breathe in through your harmonica, and hopefully, fingers crossed, you should end up with something that sounds like the song we are trying to play here!
If you’re using a diatonic, then go to my playlists and check out the two Wellerman tutorials I’ve already made for Diatonic Harmonica, as well as for Chromatic Harmonica, (the one with the button)… but if you’re waiting for Tremolo 16, Tremolo 20, Kalimba, Tin Whistle, Recorder… you get the idea… they’re definitely on their way.
Soon May the Wellerman Come, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, also known as "Wellerman" is a sea shanty from my very own homeland - New Zealand. The song refers to the "wellermen", supply ships owned by the British Weller brothers who emigrated to New Zealand. In early 2021, versions by British folk music group the #LongestJohns and Scottish singer #NathanEvans became viral hits on the social media site TikTok, leading to a "social media craze" around songs popularly considered sea shanties.
This song is incredibly catchy and will get stuck in your head. My kids are obsessed with it.
If you've ever wondered about the Lyrics, wonder no more for they are:
Verse1
There once was a ship that put to sea
And the name of that ship was the Billy o' Tea
The winds blew hard, her bow dipped down
Blow, me bully boys, blow (Hah!)
[Chorus]
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
[Verse 2]
She had not been two weeks from shore
When down on her, a right whale bore
The captain called all hands and swore
He'd take that whale in tow (Hah!)
[Chorus]
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
[Verse 3]
Before the boat had hit the water
The whale's tail came up and caught her
All hands to the side, harpooned and fought her
When she dived down below (Huh!)
[Chorus]
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
[Verse 4]
No line was cut, no whale was freed
The Captain's mind was not on greed
But he belonged to the whaleman's creed
She took that ship in tow (Huh!)
[Chorus]
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
[Verse 5]
For forty days, or even more
The line went slack, then tight once more
All boats were lost, there were only four
But still that whale did go
[Chorus]
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
[Verse 6]
As far as I've heard, the fight's still on
The line's not cut and the whale's not gone
The Wellerman makes his a regular call
To encourage the Captain, crew, and all
[Chorus]
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
If you've had enough of learning for today and just want to chill, try visiting my newgrounds account and check out the loads of free audio I've uploaded there over the years. It's not all bad. You might find at least one thing there worth listening to monkeycat.newgrounds.com/audio/
Or if you feel like scrolling through social media for a few hours you can check out my instagram page / keringedge for inspiration and absurdity.
Or maybe you just want to learn the harmonica using TABs, you can check out my TABS Page here tunebasics.blogspot.com
And until next time, stay tuned!

[@KerinGedge]

Buy Me a Coffee! www.buymeacoffee.com/KerinGedge Check out my Instruments on Amazon! www.amazon.com/shop/keringedge (paid link) As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

[@christianlucas3641]

Greetings from Brazil, really hard to find stuff for tremolo, thanks for sharing it, really appreciated.

[@KerinGedge]

Glad you liked it!

[@user-lu2tp6jf3f]

Thanks for these tips it really help me

[@deepthikarosairo2905]

Good luck 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@SirAU]

There is no count of how many people have used this in school talent shows.

[@senseigtz9165]

You exactly like my teacher TY So much 🙏🏻👍🏻

[@KerinGedge]

You are so welcome!

[@lanhunh3743]

Yay!!! Thank you so much

[@KerinGedge]

You're very welcome!

[@anything7939]

Thanks for this this is my favourite song and I learned it 😄❤️❤️

[@KerinGedge]

Cool, yes it's definitely a cool song!

[@Infinitehub12]

Thanks a lot and more please

[@KerinGedge]

More coming!

[@vannunaa]

So helpful 🎉

[@KerinGedge]

Thanks! I'm glad I could help! You can see my full TABS list here! tunebasics.blogspot.com/2019/09/harmonica-tabs.html

[@dianaocampo3640]

Hello I love your videos and I would like to ask if you could upload more videos of 16 holes tremolo harmonica

[@KerinGedge]

More to come! But they do take me a while to make these days as I work full time, YT is my side project :)

[@dianaocampo3640]

@@KerinGedge OK thank you so much :)

[@gogetcreate9292]

Greatttttttt

[@KerinGedge]

THANKS:)

[@FanYan-nh4mq]

Does it work with E?

[@KerinGedge]

Yes, just turn the volume down and follow the arrows... or click on the link in the description to my TABS page

[@bert9107]

kan het ookvertaald in nederlands

[@KerinGedge]

No need to translate, just follow the arrows!

[@Infinitehub12]

And please more english songs with 24 holes pleass

[@KerinGedge]

There are definitely more coming, I'm just very slow! Plus I have another channel I'm trying to get off the ground @kerinskuriosities

[@govel85]

Este método para tocar el instrumento es un poco incómodo, se pueden alternar los dos métodos yo estoy alternando tres métodos de tocar la armónica y funciona.

[@KerinGedge]

OK!

[@sairamr6886]

I don't have many songs to play in my c major harmonica coz I play a lot of minor blues on my guitar so I end up noodling

[@KerinGedge]

What is Noodling? If you need new tabs keep an eye on my TABS page, I try to add new tabs every week! tunebasics.blogspot.com/2019/09/harmonica-tabs.html

[@samxraicubing9215]

Please make a tremolo 20 holes tutorial its the only one i have :/

[@KerinGedge]

Don't worry, it's coming soon! I'm just having a wee break this week... I've working on a new format for my videos!

[@samxraicubing9215]

@@KerinGedge Ok thanks good to know!

[@Faggiomk2]

Im really struggling with number 2

[@KerinGedge]

How about now?

[@MatameVideos]

These videos should start with the whole song played normally and completely before you staet teaching the tabs. Is almost impossible to figure out the way a song sound by just listening to the individual notes separately, I always have to skip to the end to listen how the song sounds like and then rewatch the tutorial, other than that your lessons are great

[@KerinGedge]

Your comment is funny, because that is exactly what I do do in the FIRST video of every song in that particular series. So you will find that most of the diatonic harmonica videos have the whole song at the beginning, but I don't bother with the rest because I assume most of my viewers have seen it already. The second thing is, most of these songs are so well known that most people skip PAST those bits because the already know how the song goes. I kind of feel like your comment is just a bit of trolling.

[@MatameVideos]

​@@KerinGedge The video has the song sung, not played at the beginning

[@jeffsimslmt]

Really?

[@KerinGedge]

Really what?

[@jeffsimslmt]

@@KerinGedge it sounds like a synthesizer. It sounds unpleasant.

[@KerinGedge]

Well, I had to make a creative decision. Do I make an acoustic tutorial which takes longer or do I make them with a "simulator" which allows me to make them quicker? The sound you hear is actually my harmonica, but it's been recorded and then played through a keyboard, so yeah. I know it's not ideal, but my aim isn't to perform but to teach. My apologies for disappointing you.