Off the Wall Harp Tab

"Off the Wall" by Little Walter. This is the first verse. It is often said that Off the Wall has everything you need to be good at blues harp.

 

By clicking on the options here you can see how the tab looks in a other positions and places on the harp. Please note that octaves that utilize the three hole blow and two hole draw are using the same note, these octaves may not transpose correctly since it is impossible to blow and draw at the same time - at least for me.
Cross Harp
Second Position - low octave (the default)
Second Position - Middle Range
Second Position - High Range
Straight Harp
First Position - low octave
First Position - Middle Range
First Position - High Range
Slant Harp
Third Position - low octave
Third Position - Middle Range
Third Position - High Range

Tab Guide:

Blow notes have an arrow pointing towards the circle:

Draw notes have an arrow pointing away from the circle:

Bent notes have a bent arrow. The degree of bend indicates the note for those holes with more than one bend in them.

3 Draw - first bend:

3 Draw - second bend:

3 Draw - third bend:

Blow bend and overblows work the same way:

 

 

Blues Harp Songs and Riffs

The following are the basic riffs that you'll need to play blues harp. My goal here is to give you a basic understanding of what is going on in blues and what you can play at different points in the 12 bar blues cycle.

12 bar blues harp theory
 Beginner's Practice Riffs
Faking Blues Riffs
Blues Harp Scale
Triplets
Help Me lick
Hoochie-Coochie Man and Mannish Boy Riffs
Peter Gunn Bass Line

Here are some simple harp tabs for songs. They are mostly not blues, but they are "Bluesey" with plenty of bends to practice.

Stormy Weather
Amazing Grace
Black Rat Blues Harp
Don't Get Around Much Any More

I've spent some time and tabbed out some blues riffs and phrases using a little javascript engine that I designed. This will allow you to play riffs in first, second and third positions. This is great for learning to really play blues harp.

B.B. King Sweet 16
Little Walter's Juke
Little Walter's Off the Wall
Born Under a Bad Sign
Cream - Sunshine of You Love

I spent a lot of time working out almost all of Help me by Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller).