Bob Dylan - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Knockin' On Heaven's Door is classic Bob Dylan from the soundtrack to Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.
Easy guitar chords and harmonica melody make this a great song to get your feet wet with the whole Harp N Guitar thang.
Knockin' On Heaven's Door Lesson on Guitar and Harmonica
Knockin' On Heaven's Door is a great song for getting started on Harp N Guitar.
We'll start off with some easy chords and strumming, then get the right key harmonica and add some tasty parts before playing a complete run through.
Lesson Info
Difficulty: A Great Place To Start
Lesson Length: 14:28
Instructor: George Goodman
The chords are basic. The strumming is nice and simple. The harmonica melody is easy to play without bending. Single notes are nice but some bleed is good too.
Help File: The following link supplies the chords, lyrics and the harmonica tabs for Knockin' On Heaven's Door.
Knockin' On Heaven's Door Chords, Lyrics and Tabs download pdf link - for educational purposes only.
Commercial-Free Video Download: Want to watch this video commercial-free and be able to download for off-line viewing? That's just a small part of what a HarpNGuitar paid membership provides.
Gear Used
Takamine EG541SC
I am playing my black tak in this one.
This is a Takamine G Series EG541SC bought in North Carolina when I was playing in a band called Double Take.
Specs:
Top - Solid Spruce
Back - Nato
Sides - Nato
Finger Board - Rosewood
Electronics - TK40
Finish - Gloss Black
Check out more Takamine G Series Guitars
The Hohner Harmonica Neck Holder fits harmonicas up to 7-1/2" long. With a long-lasting nickel-plated finish, this harmonica rack is adjustable and fits any neck shape.
Get a Harp Rack Of Your Own Here
Hohner Special 20 Diatonic Harmonica in G
A G harmonica played in first position works great on this.
I am playing a Hohner Special 20 in this one.
On Sale Here
Musical Challenges
There isn't too much here to give you a lot of troubles. If you have a good handle on the basics, then you'll be sounding great on this one in no time.
For Harmonica - Single Notes: Single notes sound great on this but if you bleed some notes together, that's ok as well. Bob never really played things too clean.
Everything you need to get up to speed including single notes is covered in the membership video series Harp N Guitar Harmonica Essentials
Guitar - Basic Guitar Chords: We just need some basic chords and easy strumming.
If you need help here, check out the membership video series Harp N Guitar Guitar Essentials, Guitar Chords and Rhythm Guitar and Strumming.
Video Timeline
00:47 - Guitar Chords
Dead easy chords for this one - G D Am and C
1:14 - Guitar Rhythm
A simple quarter note rhythm will work for this song.
You can also add embellishments to spice it up a bit.
3:37 - Harmonica Solos - Key of G
Here you will learn the harmonica tabs for the intro, verse and chorus.
The song is in the key of G and I'm going to play in 1st position so you need a G harmonica.
Here's the best place I know of to get one on the internet - G Hohner Special 20
And here's the neck rack - Hohner Harmonica Holder
7:25 - Jam Through
Play through the entire song with me including harmonica and vocals.
12:46 - Old Promo
When I created this video, HarpNGuitar.com was just getting rolling and I was hosting all these lessons over at GeorgeGoodman.com.
Well that's changed now. GeorgeGoodman.com is for my music efforts - new releases, booking information, promo - that sort of thing.
All the lessons are here at HarpNGuitar.com. Lots are free but the meat and potatoes of the learning system requires membership which I purposefully keep very low priced to help as many as possible.
That covers Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door. Thoughts, comments, questions? Let me know, leave a comment below.
Stay In Tune. Peace.
George
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Bent Harmonica - Draw Bends on the Diatonic Harmonica.
eBook and Video get you bending like crazy.
* Wail Blues and Rock Riffs
* Graduate From Oh Suzanna to Sunshine of Your Love
* Enable the Warmth of the Bottom End
* Gain Confidence Soloing
BENT HARMONICA INCLUDES – Mechanics, Technique, Fine-tuning, and Exercises To Get You Bending the Heck Out of Your Harp
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. FREE Shipping to the US
Hohner Harmonica Holder
Martin Acoustic Guitar Strings
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.
Keys To The Blues - Blues Chart and Cheat Sheet For Harp N Guitar.
Keys To The Blues eBook and Video Series Take the Guesswork Out Of Playing The Blues on Guitar and Harmonica
2nd Position, Blues Progression, Blues Scale, I - IV - V. Make Sense Of It All!
YouTube Comments
George... Once again, masterfully done! You bring a clarity and simplicity to harmonica lessons that is deeply needed. For example, I was just informed by a very well known, nationally recoginzed harp coach that one of the keys to playing harp with a band...song, whatever is to first figure out, specifically what the chords are in the song. Then figure out the specific notes in those chords. Then... match them up on whatever key harp you are playing on. Even though this makes perfect sense...not many harp coaches have a tendency to share that critical tidbit with struggling new harp players. Thank you for taking the time to do this!
Thanks - I really enjoyed playing this ... I needed something quick & easy (somewhat) for an open mic.
11 responses to “Bob Dylan – Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door – G Harp”
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I have been playing a guitar for some time. I messed up my shoulder recently and decided to start playing the harmonica. This is a great site to learn from.
Thanks
Right on Neil. Thanks for that.
I hope your shoulder gets better soon.
Peace.
Thank you again George! It is so nice to be able to play with you. I love your lessons! I am looking forward to tomorrow when I get my harmonica out to join in with the guitar. Today, I am focusing on the guitar, tomorrow, I will add the harmonica. Thank you again!!
🙂
You are very welcome. Keep me up to date with your progress.
Hey George! Thank you so much! I’ve been playing guitar for 30 years and some basic camp fire harmonica tunes a little while. I want to play guitar and harp at the same time and signed up for your membership! Tomorrow I’m going to my favorite songwriting spot and learn to play the harp on this classic Dylan tune, which I’ve been playing on guitar for many years! I’ll let ya know how it goes! Thanks so much!
-Martin
Hi Martin! That’s what I want to hear. If you’ve got the right key harmonica, add some rhythm and let it all hang out.
Peace, George
Hi George
Really like your easy-going approach.
I’ve been learning harmonica for about a year, mostly blues, but I want to be able to sit in on sessions where the more focus is folk or country. Your inventory of lessons fits in with what I’m going for. I’m hoping to get some tips on jamming along with these songs – not just play the melody but riff on it within the chord progression. Guess the first thing is to be able to play the melody line without a hitch.
So I’ll get started. Thanks for your lesson site.
Hey George, I’ve been learning guitar for a little over a year. I’m 68 and retired so I took up piano a couple of months ago also. I just ran across your YouTube videos and I’m waiting for my first harp for Christmas. I signed up for the free course because it’s going to take me awhile as a beginner to get rolling. I can’t wait to really get learning on all the instruments. Thanks, and I’m really looking forward to your courses.
lep pozdrav, ja tej tećaji so res nazorni in lepo prikazani, tako da se veselim vsake lekcije, predvsem pa kombinacija z harmoniko zelo lepo zveni, veselim se nadaljnega sodelovanja z vami. Mladen
Translation from Slovenian:
best regards, yes these courses are really vivid and nicely displayed, so I look forward to every lesson, and above all the combination with the harmonica sounds very nice, I look forward to continuing to work with you. Mladen
Hi Mladen. Great to have you aboard. Let me know if you have any questions, concerns or requests.
Stay in tune,
George
Hi George,started with Harmonica a week ago. Now I’m playing songs like Heart of Gold or Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. I’m totally excited, how fast I got it! Thank you so much for your excellent tutorials and adds. So much fun!! Little bit challenging playing simultaneously guitar and harp. But with playing every day it sounds always better. You’re a perfect teacher! Cheers from Munich/GER