Amy Rister Harmonica

As somebody who has been a harmonica player for almost eight years and regularly performing live shows since 2024, I've come to appreciate the joy of introducing people to this instrument and what it can do. I don't know what it's like for any other harmonica players out there, but I speak from my own personal experiences when it comes to this. In Northern Ohio, where I'm from, most of the general public views the harmonica as either a toy used by rack players or as an instrument that's only used in the blues. I knew what attracted me to the instrument was how expressive it can sound. It could express joy, anger, and heartbreak just like any other musical instrument out there. If I know anything about my audience, it's that they want to hear something with both good technique and raw emotion; not a generic copycat of somebody popular. Getting to see comments about how I inspired so many people to pick up a harmonica in the first place is just the icing on the cake. If I want anything to be my legacy, it would be the impression I left on others through my music.
#harmonica #harmonicaplayer #supporthumanmusic

1 week ago | [YT] | 1

Amy Rister Harmonica

I have to make an announcement regarding tomorrow and Sunday. There isn't enough time for me to make videos for this week due to my incredibly busy schedule. My mom is having surgery and I'm responsible for taking good care of her while she's recovering. As a result, there won't be any videos being released on those days. I'm extremely sorry to those who've just subscribed, but I always prioritize important events like this as well as my own personal health (mental and physical). In the meantime, feel free to check out my other videos on YouTube. Thank you all so much for understanding.

Sincerely,
Amy

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 5

Amy Rister Harmonica

I know there's probably a lot of people out there asking me, "do you like any other harmonica players besides Terry McMillan?" Well, obviously I do! There's a specific crowd of harmonica players that thinks that since I talk about him so much, they view it as me purposefully restricting myself. However, you see all of these blues harp guys who listen to nothing but Chicago Blues and they get no flack for it whatsoever (that's weird, but okay). Some of my other favorite harmonica players include Norton Buffalo, Mike Stevens, Phil Wiggins, Sonny Terry, Paul DeLay, Big Walter Horton, Mickey Raphael, Ryuichiro "Weeping Harp" Senoh, Annie Raines, Rachelle Plas, Kiersi Joli, Todd Parrott, Jason Ricci, and Will Wilde. And this is just only a small portion of the many harmonica players that I like. Keep this as a reminder when you see somebody talking a lot about their favorite harmonica player, don't assume that they only like that musician.

1 month ago | [YT] | 1

Amy Rister Harmonica

For this week on Thursday, I'm actually revamping an old tutorial that I posted to YouTube almost four years ago about growling on the harmonica. I believe that it's time for an update because I think the way I explain what it is and how I do it, alongside the fact I actually edit my videos now, has improved a lot since then. I also contribute it to being mentored by Todd Parrott (who's honestly the most humble guy on this planet earth) so my teaching style developed with his help.
A lot of my fellow harmonica playing peers like to compliment my style, especially in regards to how I make the harmonica growl as it's similar to how Terry McMillan used them. Despite that, I think most harmonica "growling" tutorials are inaccurate due to the teachers often confusing it for double stops or even believing it doesn't exist at all. As somebody who learned how to do it when I was a beginner and still uses it today, I want to explain to the best of my ability how I growl on the harmonica.

#harmonica #harmonicaplayer #countryharmonicaplayer #harmonicagrowl

1 month ago | [YT] | 1

Amy Rister Harmonica

Fellow harmonica player and a good friend of the channel, ‪@jasonricci‬, uploaded this video on Friday and I just watched it today. It's a shorter video, but Jason actually mentioned my story at the end of the video. To see such a big harmonica YouTuber talk about my long history of being scrutinized about my very non-traditional path as a neurodivergent harmonica player, while treating the story with the upmost respect is honestly a big surprise. Jason is nothing but a class act and an incredibly sweet soul. If you want to check out the video, I'll link it below. Please send Jason all of your love and if you come to his show in Cleveland tonight, tell him I said "hi".

#jasonricci #amyristerharmonica #freefriday

https://youtu.be/KLhMtBm3wcY?is=MED5f...

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Amy Rister Harmonica

Hi everybody. I've been wanting to ask this because my video on "how to get a 'good' harmonica tone" is releasing tomorrow. I know that some harmonica players like to push a certain myth about what embouchure you need to have in order to be a "real harmonica player", but I want to see what is the case for my audience. What embouchure do you use for single notes?

1 month ago | [YT] | 1

Amy Rister Harmonica

I uploaded a new cover onto my Soundcloud yesterday. Maybe I'll post this to Youtube on Sunday because I like how the mixing I did turned out. It sounds more faithful to my harmonica tone than the recent "Amazing Grace" cover I did.
soundcloud.com/amy-rister-harmonica/i-saw-the-ligh…

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Amy Rister Harmonica

I've always had this dilemma of how should I label my playing style because I was gatekept from having a label for years. Trad blues musicians say my style is too country to be "real blues" and older country players say I'm too bluesy to be "real country". When they tell me that I need to listen to/play "real blues" and "real country", they really mean Chicago Blues and country music before 1970. My harmonica playing is mainly influenced by the likes of Terry McMillan, Norton Buffalo, Phil Wiggins, and Don Brooks whose playing styles can all be described as country blues, but "country blues" in the online harmonica world is described more as "Orange Blossom Special: the style" when that simply isn't the case at all. I didn't label my music for years because I like to explore different genres to my sound, but many still call my playing style as "bluesy" even though I started listening to the blues when I was 15. I mentioned in my cover of "Juke" that I play the blues in a way that represents my own voice the best instead of copying everything in a song verbatum. If not being a carbon copy of somebody from over 50 years ago makes "inauthentic", then I'm proud to be a faker.

1 month ago | [YT] | 2

Amy Rister Harmonica

My Youtube channel is almost at 250 subscribers and I'm celebrating the 6th anniversary of my first video. It's been a wild ride, but I'd love to thank all of my subscribers and the pro musicians who've helped me get this far and showed me the kindest of support. It's weird to think that at almost 8 years of practice and 6 years of Youtube, I'm now at a stage where I'm gigging in a cover band and talking to an amazing community of fellow musicians who share my passion and drive for the instrument.
Being a young and autistic harmonica player who didn't pursue a traditional sound, I was very much a needle in a haystack to many trolls online. I can't deny that it was, and still is, very hard to socialize with people who view me as a weirdo or malicious person for the intense passion that I have for country harmonica. I know that being open about the realities of being a neurodivergent musician gives older people the wrong impression of me and some have sent harassing comments/emails because of it. But hearing newer players say that I was an inspiration for them to pick up a harmonica, that my story gave them a sign of hope to never give up their passion, that is what makes me happy and successful despite being an up-and-coming gigging musician.
Thank you all so much for being some of the kindest people on the planet.

Sincerely, Amy

3 months ago | [YT] | 3

Amy Rister Harmonica

So…I'm on Soundcloud now! If I do ever release original music or do more covers, check out my Soundcloud page.

#goldenteledy #harmonica #indiemusic

soundcloud.com/amy-rister-harmonica

4 months ago | [YT] | 2