Hoochie-Coochie Man and

Mannish Boy Riffs

One of Muddy Water's greatest hits was Mannish Boy. Another similar song was Hoochie-Coochie Man. These are called stomps because of their heavy, on-the-beat, foot stomping rythms. Mannish Boy has no chord progression at all and stays in the I chord throught the entire song. Hoochie-Coochie man stays in the I, but has a V-IV-I-V type turn-around. They both use a repeated riff. There are two basic ways of playing the riffs. The first is the most common.

 

Repeat this for each bar of the blues.

The three hole draw is sometimes left out and sometimes given a little bend for color.

The alternative is lower down and uses the fill 2 hole draw bend. You must have a deep, full 2 draw bend to make this work.

Play this clean or play it sloppy, It always sounds good. (This is my favorite harp lick.)

 

The tab icons are set so that if you click (or touch) them it will play a harmonica note. All songs are set to play with a "C" harmonica in cross harp (2nd position) so the song or riff will be in the key of "G".
The exception will be the riffs where the little menu comes up and it allows you to play in first or third position or correct the key. You still will use a "C harp, but they song key will be "C" or "D" accordingly.

 

Buy the Book!

I cleaned up my tab for Sonny Boy's Help Me and made it into a short book. There's a Kindle version for 99 cents, and if you buy the paperback you get the Kindle free.

Playing "Help-Me" In the Style of Sonny Boy Williamson II: A step by step, note for note analysis of some of Sonny Boy's Signature Riffs