Blues Music Award winner and foremost of only a handful of
female harmonica players Annie Raines has recorded the most comprehensive
harmonica instruction to date and the only interactive video format with
"Blues Harmonica Blueprint" with 263 minutes of instruction, 68 video
lessons, and over 75 charts. It will be available as interactive video software
available via DVD-R or download July 31. Raines is eminently qualified to teach
as harmonica legend James Cotton calls Raines “James Cotton Junior” and Muddy
Waters sideman Pinetop Perkins said, “She plays so good it hurts."
Here is TrueFire's Blues Harmonica Blueprint playlist, with numerous embeddable clips.
Presented for the beginner to advanced intermediate player,
this revolutionary video drills deeper and wider than any blues harmonica
course ever published. Over two years in the making, with hundreds of hours
dedicated just to the visual notation guides and animations, "Blues
Harmonica Blueprint" features animated graphics showing where the notes
are as they're being played; detailed video breakdowns of songs and exercises;
text descriptions; live band jam tracks so you can play along with a blues
combo including guitarists Paul Rishell & Troy Gonyea; an adjustable
metronome; and a guitar tuner in multiple tunings.
One of the challenges of teaching harmonica is that one
cannot see what a harp player is doing and TrueFire's animation over the footage
of Raines cuts through that barrier.
Finally, Raines teaches solos and repertoire in the styles
of blues harmonica masters such as Sonny Boy Williamson II, Big Walter Horton,
Jimmy Reed, and Little Walter.
Having learned from Jerry Portnoy who has toured with Muddy
Waters and Eric Clapton, Raines has performed on three Susan Tedeschi albums
and with John Sebastian over her distinguished twenty-five year career. She has
been the touring and recording partner of Paul Rishell for over twenty years.
They have released six albums together, including the W.C. Handy Award-winning
'Moving to the Country.'
Over the past 20 years, TrueFire has worked with over 600
top artists and educators building what Guitar Player magazine calls "the
planet's largest and most comprehensive selection of guitar lessons. Over
220,000 students from 140 countries are enrolled in various TrueFire
educational programs"
