Modern Blues Harmonica: Busking 1

[@Siliconmagician]

Adam, your youtube and instructional videos have no doubt helped thousands of aspiring harmonicists. There are guys who pay hundreds, or even thousands of dollars a year in lessons to learn the "secrets" that you share with all of us. Thank You.

[@motorhome52]

Lots more please Adam. I'm older than you and have always wanted to busk but never had the nerve. Retired now so lots of time but still no balls. I love to hear tales of life they're the only ones worth listening to. You are delightfully eccentric and your love of the harp is infectious. Thank you

[@MYTHIRDSHADOW]

Great video Adam! The technique lessons are awesome but there is nothing like finding a 30 min long video of a tried and true, real deal harp man, telling us how it is! These kinds of videos of yours are my personal favorites and I think the you tube community would really appreciate a part 2, 3, 4 and 5 of your busking days! For those that haven't yet, go and get his book... a great read! Thanks Adam.

[@balcofono666]

2 years ago I went busking in Cinque Terre (Italy) with 3 friends of mine. I had crafted myself a small drumset and played harmonica a bit (i'm learning). One day it was raining as hell and we had just got down from the train with no money left, so we had to make some money. We set up the stuff in a corner near the platforms and just started playing. It was awesome because the station was the only dry place in the village, so everyone was gathering there and everyone was happy for the music!

[@devilsdoorbell]

30 minutes was a good intro to it all. Keep telling the tale and giving us the information if there's another 30 min or more to go. This is good stuff. There's only so much common sense anyone can have when they go out to play, and adding to the street smarts of it is extra wisdom. Like SoundOfAnodyne said, when it's a 30 minute Adam video, it's going to be worth the time.

[@jczother]

I officially made you the man who has what I don't know, never stop learning. Guitarist first, always working everyday and still learning. I love it "SOUL" without it, there's no blues in the air... I am sending any one who ends up with the German or someone else I see teaching bad habits, I'm sending here, for a great player and a teacher. Players can't always teach, I'm not good at it. You're really teaching the technique perfectly you have to know to play. I play, your the only one I learn at

[@hepcatjohnny2000]

I have no ambition to be a street musician but this stuff is still gold. It's motivates me to become better at my art. Thank you Adam!

[@buttonnorteno]

Adam, I enjoyed your video, as it reminded me of my younger days. I played street music for many years. Not necessarily for money mostly for enjoyment, any money was just frosting on the cake. I enjoyed tunnels for the re-verb effect, also parking garages, etc. I have played in Spain, Russia, even in a jail cell as they missed the harp as they checked my pockets for weapons. The harp was cupped in my hand. I played a hohner harp then and have morphed into a hohner button diatonic accordion

[@buttonnorteno]

continued. The hohner diatonic button accordion is the same physical music. Two tones for each hole, two tones for each button on the accordion. I play a little different than most accordion players, as I use only one row, just like the harp. The accordion gives me three harps with its three rows. I love gospel music. In fact, I thank the Lord every day for the gift of music. Thanks for sharing your gift of a love for music. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.

[@alpoisdogfood]

I really enjoyed this video! I could tell you enjoyed looking back on those busking memories. Thanks for the inspiration; really makes me want to get out on the streets of Charleston, SC

[@OlBlueshound]

What a lovely guy, what a great story. Thanks so much for sharing your gift, your life and your experiences with us.

[@MTDgamez]

right on! i'd love to do it, maybe in europe . I'm still young and would love to have some way of getting something at the places i road trip to. keep it up!

[@Jackintheworx]

Ohhh Yeah! Can't wait until BUSKING 2 comes out. Great stories.

[@zyxel2]

I would love to.hear more stories.cant get enough

[@NYoumans]

more, please!!! it´s pure gold!

[@dspecht40]

Great vid Adam, well all of your vids are very good. But I really enjoyed this one, and would love to hear/see Busking pt 2

[@jamiebarrymusic]

Stories about street music relate amazingly well to the rest of life. Who knew?

[@MeekeyCee]

We definitely want more busking tales!!!

[@violetwrites]

Pretty good Adam. Come and jam with me anytime! I like the word busking and have been to Europe so I understand. Probably all art is a calling and we artists are all crazy. I recently read my poetry on the street with the accompaniment of a banjo player - Eddie, from Eddie and Robin fame. We were there at the occupy wall street scene.

[@nacoran]

I'm glad KZbin doesn't limit you to 10 minutes anymore. Nice. Very Nice. :)

[@WilldhBandit]

You're a really cool guy I like your voice and stories please keep 'em comin

[@duncannz]

Really captivating and engaging story teller, hard to believe your telling the story to a camera and not a room full of people sitting in your living room. Hopefully one day i'll get around to putting as much time into the harp as i'd like to be able to. Keep it up.

[@makilakixki]

Adam, I just came accross this video and let me tell you it's right in time for I'm making up my mind to become a busker (new word for my book!), though I've already had a few casual experiences. Please, go ahead with Busking 2, 3, 4... lol Thanks a lot, Adam, for I also learnt the most part of my harmonica groundings from you :-)

[@norfolknwhey4787]

Tongue blocking helps a lot with busking. It adds a lot of depth to the rhythm and really gets people moving. It doesn’t have to be fast or fancy, a really nice groove is all it takes. Once they pay you attention, then you can start to add embellishments to increase those tips.

[@BlueVooch]

please continue... Thanks Adam

[@Horrormane]

Aww, the video is already done? I would have listened to your stories for hours and hours.

[@MiguelValor]

I think I met that tap dancer on Bleeker St. when I was a beginner. Did he do hat tricks and juggling too? He was quite a character. I also saw him in San Francisco

[@ToneZoneStudios]

I love you! As soon as you mentioned Halifax my heart was warmed. I started my journey as a musician in that beautiful city! 😎

[@coop344]

Great video. Thank you for posting.

[@DirtyDeck]

Loved this Adam, these are things I'm experiencing myself this past 6 months or so, its a great life, highs and lows. Since I've started though, things have taken off, played the Belfastcity Bluesfestival this year, got mentioned on the radio, dedicatin youyr life to music certainly pays off. Like you say, you got to be a little crazy, and I most certainly am that. Bravery too, yeah that comes into it. Big thanks from Northern Ireland :)

[@unopepito06]

Adam, I just found your videos and site tonight, I so enjoy listening to you talk. My dad's a blues harp player, but he's not really good at teaching. I have decided to pick it up on my own, and really enjoy hearing about the ins and outs of being a harmonica player. And I'm always down to listen to a good long story from a seasoned pro, rambling or not. ;)

[@thesuperlee]

I tried finding your busking spot when I visited New York, but all I had were the references from your book! According to this video, your spot is now a small MetroPCS store.

[@stansnote]

Thanks for that Adam, I'm still working on getting the balls to busk, but you just took me one step closer. Keep 'em coming. Love what you're doing.

[@kylewhitehead1684]

The fact that busking is considered begging is FANTASTIC. You can make music and not get robbed of the earnings!

[@buffalohouse362]

Great thoughts Adam. Thanks for the advice, I like the acknowledgment that while what we do has a very technical component, it doesn't work independanly of the social component

[@rayeberle7225]

long and rambling's cool. good harp, and good stories wraps it up pretty well. makes a guy want to go gypsy..

[@cluelocker]

great video.... 30 + minutes and you never lost me. I think you oughta continue, for sure :)

[@beachidiot]

Adam I have seen "Little Mike & The Tornadoes". I 've seen " Sugar Blue" . Saw "Popa Chubby" live as well. I must say I woulda loved to have seen Poppa Chubby & Adam playing together. That would have been a real treat. I may have seen "Satan & Adam" once. Did you ever busk up in Chicago during the Blues Fest ?

[@AraguaJam]

Great lesson as always Adam, very interesting stuff. It would be great to have another video of you playing the solo harmonica songs you used to play by that time! And for sure Adam, playing in street will probably gives you a gig someday.

[@OmniphonProductions]

A couple of summers ago, I spent a weekend busking in Portland, Oregon. It immediately became my dream job. It's a major city (location) with very generous street performing ordinances (cops), and as for weather, the lightly drizzling rain (weather) is such a fixture that Portland's many downtown pedestrians don't even acknowledge it. Now, I just have to get out from under my mortgage, so I can move there. Someday!

[@bamboosa]

@KudzuRunner - part 2. I have not performed my magical guitar and voice concert in a week. I am still afraid. I could find no search result for "mugging-busking" on the entire internet. WTF? Anyway, you may have answered my question anyway. I believe that it is possible that a lack of a solid set list that night MAY have contributed to this experience. 2 days before the mugging I performed for 6 L.A.P.D. officers for 3 hours. No lie. They dug my style.They were on some kind of public stakeout.

[@gaijin134]

This is gold, Adam, pure gold and as my wife said, listening in, social history. Very inspirational. Definitely would love to see installment II (and more?) Cheers, BronzeWailer

[@belgianwafflz]

I dig these stories :)

[@zardozica]

MORE! Please?

[@drharmonica]

Sounds like my life story. Same idea, different locations. Good advice for newbies. I always wanted to busk in NYC back in the 80's when it was allowed but I was living in Amsterdam at the time. That was the golden age for busking there too. by 1989 the scene there was killed by a new mayor and amps were forbidden. In the last year we had to play hide and seek with the cops. They'd run the band off one spot and we'd go set up somewhere else.

[@joelgraham1]

i agree, well stated...

[@OmniphonProductions]

I was wondering how long it would take you to get back to Times Square after your detour to Halifax. LOL. Tangents are fun, especially stories like that.

[@walkabout29]

Super interesting.........wish there was a part2 (and 3)

[@Horwellston]

I've tried busking a few times, I want to go back to it.. it's a lot easier on the saxophone than on my harmonica.. I find I start playing something and I have difficulty playing anything else well apart for that, 'walter horton's boogie' or 'like sonny boy' etc... And it gets so i can only play one chorus over and over... nerves I suppose. and constantly playing so your lips get sore and dry. And so nervous that you feel like you have to play fast. need to go back to that.

[@bretthowser6777]

Yea, that is what I need to be doing!!

[@FredricF]

Loved your book (Satans Apprentice, in case there's more than one). More videos like this, please.

[@mdazc]

When are you going to do "Busking 2"? I look forward to it.

[@Bendino111]

Great!

[@danwilliams8695]

Great story

[@mrtambourineman6107]

Hey Adam man, would love to see you do a whole series on advice etc for street musicians. You could tell us about equipment you've had over the use, and the practical side and any other stories you have. I'm a very new wannabe street musician atm P.s. that's me in the photo playing guitar on my local beach half naked 😁

[@fluteplayer38]

Adam, watching this video was as enjoyable as reading Satan's Apprentice! It was great hearing this story, and I just might be that one person you were talking about. But, I'm 73 years old so I guess I'll do this in my dreams and the picture you just painted makes the dream real.

[@john956831]

very interesting.

[@OmniphonProductions]

Last summer, inspired by Satan & Adam, I took my one-man band to the streets of Portland, OR for a couple of days. I made about $10 per hour. More important than money, I made my 6-year-old daughter proud, making a few bucks as a musician, while showing her some of the prettier parts of PDX, which is a very busker friendly city. City ordinances give street performers a lot of liberty, so there's very little police interference. Thanks again for teaching me and inspiring me to get out there.

[@bamboosa]

@KudzuRunner - part 3. Anyway, the question is what do you do when you are mugged by local teens? A rather subjective question, I realize. Maybe they will go to high school.

[@epworthslim]

I am working on a setlist for street busking on harmonica and so far have about 9 songs. But i know i will need at least 20. Any suggestions or maybe you could tell us all what songs you did or work well just on harmonica and singing without accompaniment? Thanks for all the advice.

[@bamboosa]

@KudzuRunner - Hi. Your video lessons are most practical, unlike virtuoso jerks who can't teach to save their lives. I don't like thge term, "busking", because that word has been utilized by some to create an "elite" notion of performers. I have been playing, literally, on sidewalks and boardwalks (ocean) off and on for 44 years. A week ago I was playing and was descended upon by 11 or 12 teenagers who harassed me, kicked my gear around, hit me with a handbag, spilled no blood and left.

[@MrFlux21]

how old were you when you started busking great video cheers

[@guitsgarcia5446]

cant believe you stopped in the middle of that tornados gig story

[@leandrosantos6187]

Nice a lot man!!!

[@eroticbuskerbluharpleanwol3125]

thanks! very helpful. ihave been busking mainly int the subways but also on the stteet. I have a place now thats my regular busking spot. i have a secondary spot so i dont become so present that i become invisible...i have regulars that are real generous but i know i can deepen and expand my sound and presentation~something I really have to do at this point, taking it to the next proverbial level. Because I pay the bills/rent from busking, this is sort of a conundrum. I will need to pull in more than i do--one of the reasons i gotta get a digital delay,better amplifier, and a better mic. ....then there is the question of upgrading my clothes. I definitely need new shoes, so If you haven't made some videos about upgrading once one is a regular working busker. Should i prioritize presentation over sound equipment or othr way around or alternate? These are just examples, but I know I could get a lot from your busking experiences. I am new to Modern Blues Harmonica and maybe you have already done this. in any case this intro to busking is great. Your teaching style compliments other on-line harmonica sites. so please keep doing what you are doing. Thanks.

[@OneHarp]

Excellent! :)

[@hongdekong]

the tornado's isn't that a surf band?

[@arctichare8185]

You have lots of books.

[@Horwellston]

I find busking hard, just started out, all I hear is mistakes and imperfections.. I've been playing for quite a long time and my standards have become very high, but my playing hasn't necessarily kept up

[@Modernbluesharmonica]

@SoundOfAnodyne : Well now there you go, g-d d-mit! Way to go.

[@corvuscrack9505]

It was when i first met you... May be your holly cazyness was the cause of your friendship ❤

[@TimGreig]

Wonderful stories Adam. I think you're being generous with the busking/police issue: it seems just another control mechanism of authority vs freedom. Here in Australia ( like other countries) it's heavily controlled with limited availability and /or permits, fees, ID and paperwork from the shiny pants brigade. 90% of the time there is no harm being done (other than happiness) and no chance of blocking streets!

[@Modernbluesharmonica]

26.

[@huachiman7]

Aw man. One correction: loonie - CA$1; toonie - CA$2.

[@RAMBINI1]

Very, VERY interesting and informative Adam, but I need to get waaaaaaaaay better playing before I even think about a life on the street. Way cool stories to listen to. Until next time.

[@johnboybarker]

RAMBINI1

[@RAMBINI1]

You appear to have started a reply to My previous post, but You stopped after My name. What's up with that?

[@RAMBINI1]

Wow! Sorry about that johnboybarker, Idk what happened there, I must have seen something shinny or "Squirl"! But after I think about it i'll get back to You . . . . . . OH! I know what I was gonna ask You, what was it like playing with. . . . dang, I for got her name. Gonna have to sign off, look up her name, then I'll get back to You again. RAMBINI

[@RAMBINI1]

Ok, . . . . told You I'd get back to you. What was it like playing with Christelle Berthon? I'd have been proud just to be on the same street with y'all when the two of You and one other guy were Busking somewhere in the EU. I could listen to those stories all day.

[@crowcruk83]

what about thefts

[@Modernbluesharmonica]

I don't think that a bunch of kids mugged you because your set list wasn't "solid." That's silly. It's crazy, in fact. And you're wrong about there being no results for a search of "mugging busking." (Leave out the hyphen.) There were plenty of results. If I got mugged by local teens while busking, I'd get depressed and quit busking for a while. But I wouldn't blame myself for having somehow incited the mugging.

[@piscator57]

1 canadian dollar is a loonie, 2 is a toonie, cheers

[@toddzillathakilla]

hey man i use a hat when i play thejasperbluesman

[@bamboosa]

@KudzuRunner - please don't be an elite. I realize that you are quite skilled. I want you to encourage all terrified adults to play music. Be well.

[@Darkshadows90]

Dude, 2 dollars are toonies, one dollar and loonies. Hahaha

[@Horwellston]

I've just been cooking, chopping chillies.. that's dangerous for a harmonica player, chilli on the fingers gets rubbed onto the lips and your lips BURN,, Ow

Wow! I watched this till almost 3Am today. As you have mentioned getting a gig, that's how I got a gig in Istanbul , Turkey, in around 2001 as I was there on a AEGEE Summer music camp workshop. I bought myself a Honeytone Miniamp and microphone, and as I was busking ( I think it was sort of prohibited ) for aobut half an hour, a guy came and started to sing some Elvis Presley song, and he then invited me to play with him in a Rock Cafe on a street that goes down from Taxim Square. My friend even made some interesting action pictures there. That was about 2 or 3 years after I started to play the blues in 1999, but I did start to play tremolo harps in 1992 and chromatics in ~1995. I got some music online on several pages, like: www.reverbnation.com/blueharp