Roadhouse Blues

Roadhouse Blues Harmonica Riffs

Learn how to play 8 Roadhouse Riffs from The Doors Roadhouse Blues

DRAGON4D GAME ONLINE — Eight Roadhouse Riffs for Harmonica

Lesson Info

Difficulty: Medium

Lesson Length: 6:37

Instructor: George Goodman

Harmonica Tabs

Download the video info including harmonica tabs in pdf format for easy offline viewing

8 Roadhouse Riffs

Gear Used

Hohner Special 20Hohner Blues Harp in A

Roadhouse Blues is in E so an A harmonica played in second position works great on this.
I am playing a Blues Harp in this one.
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Musical Challenges

For Harmonica - Single Notes and Bending: Single notes and bending are required for the Rock Harmonica.
Everything you need to get up to speed including single notes and bending is covered in your membership video series Harp N Guitar Harmonica Essentials

Video Timeline

Roadhouse Blues is played in the key of E so for this we are going to need an A harmonica. That means that we will be playing in second position or ‘cross harp’ position.
The reason for this is, on an A harmonica, when you draw on holes 2, 3, 4, and 5, you get an E7 chord.

Also by setting up the chord to sound on a draw means that you can bend the notes to create tones that are part of the blues scale which sound great.

The harmonica part on this song is a great example of filling spaces and not stepping on the other musician’s toes. There’s a great comping rhythm part that sits under the vocals and then tasty fills when there’s space.

There are a ton of nuances added in the playing – there’s bends, scoops, drop offs, slurs, trills that are really hard to notate in tab form but I’ll give you the holes to blow and draw so you can form a basis on the notes to play so you can add your own inflections.

Riffs

Riff 1 – is the comping riff found throughout the song. It starts off playing a 2 draw on the offbeats
-2 -2 -2 34 -3

Riff 2 – near the beginning of the song after the first riff has been played three times. This will repeat 4 times with a tag added to the 4th time.

First 3 times: 3 4 -4 with a bend and falloff.
Fourth time: 3 4 -4 -2 -3 -3 -2

Riff 3 – after the first line of vocals
-2 -3 4 -4 4 -3 3 -3 -2 -2

Riff 4 - During ‘The future’s uncertain | the end is always near’
-4 -5 -4 -5 -4 -5 -4 | -4 6 -5 -4 4 -2

Riff 5 – guitar solo call and response similar to line ‘Save our city’
-4 4 -3 -2

Riff 6 - near the end of Morrison’s vocal improv. Starts on ‘and’ of 1:
-2 -3 4 -4b -4b -4b -4b | -4-5 trill -4 4 -3 -2
The trill starts on 1 and last for 2 beats

Riff 7 follows the sixth riff:
-2 -3 4 -4 4 -3 -2 | -3 -2 -2

Riff 8 - Let it Roll Baby Roll
-4-5 trill | -4b 3 -3 -3 -2

So remember, you can definitely put some bends on these riffs - especially the draw 3.

And that's 8 Roadhouse Riffs for harmonica.

Cheers,
George

5 Pack Case of Hohner Special 20s

The Hohner Special Case consists of 5 Special 20 harmonicas in the most popular keys: G, A, C, D, and E.
What do I like about the Special 20s?
Great Sound, Smooth Comb, Responsive to Bending - but not loose, Affordable. I play Special 20s more than any other model.

Martin Acoustic Guitar Strings

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Martin M140 Light Acoustic Guitar Strings have an 80/20 composition for brilliance, clarity, and longevity of sound and Studio-quality performance.
If it's been a while since you've changed your strings, you won't believe the difference in the sound. These are some excellent Martin strings. Need I say more? Totally affordable.

Hohner Harmonica Holder

Hohner Harmonica Holder

The Hohner Harmonica Neck Holder fits harmonicas up to 7-1/2" long, has a nickel plated finish and fits any neck shape.

I have used a similar holder for over 25 years. This no-nonsense holder will work for you.

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2 responses to “Roadhouse Blues”

  1. David Curl says:
    March 27, 2017 at 11:17 am

    These are very good and an easy to follow George. Thank you.
    May be no right or wrong here I have been learning this slightly differently…
    -2 -3′ 4 -4′ -4 -4′ -3′ -2 -3′ -2 -2

    Curly

  2. George says:
    April 8, 2017 at 3:43 pm

    Agreed. This is an easier version without bending but I definitely put a half bend on the draw 3

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