“Blues by the Dozen” teaches you 12 blues and blues-inspired tunes from a modal Dorian Blues to a meditative Blues so you can play with FEEL and GROOVE, not just through notes on a page.
Best of all, you don’t just learn 12 songs — you learn how blues works, so you can take what you discover here and apply it to any tune, any time you sit down to play.
The blues isn’t about perfection. It’s about feel. The more you play these tunes, the more your groove, your ear, and your own voice on the harp expand.
This is NOT “More Sheet Music to Learn”
It’s a WAY OF PLAYING.
Once you learn the feel of the blues, you can bring it into almost any tune, because blues isn’t a set of notes, it’s a language. Here’s what that means depending on where you’re starting from:
- Fledgling Players — get a simple, repeatable structure so you can play a real blues tune fast, without needing to read complicated music.
- Repertoire Builders — walk away with 12 ready-to-play blues tunes you can pull out anytime, anywhere.
- Feel-first Players — learn to play from FLUENCY and GROOVE instead of counting notes, so you sound like you know what you’re doing (because you do).
- Self-paced Learners — work through the tunes your way: challenge yourself with a new one every 12 days, learn one a week, or come back to your favorites again and again.
In this Self-Paced Class, You Will:
Learn 12 Blues Tunes
From Blues in D Dorian to Your Blues!, work your way through a full dozen — building real repertoire you can actually use.
Learn to Feel the Tune
Discover the standard arrangement approach so every tune becomes something you shape, not just something you repeat.
Learn at Your Own Pace
Work through a tune every 12 days, one per week, or binge the whole set — it’s up to you. Speed up or slow down to match your life.
What Will You Learn?
You’ll learn 12 blues and blues-inspired tunes, including Aranjuez Blues, I Wanna Play the Blues, Buddy by the Bay, New Blues Lite, and Sous Chef — plus embellishment and enhancement techniques for advanced players who want to take these tunes even further.
Once you learn the standard arrangement — play the head, improvise your own chorus, then bring it home — you can use that same structure in any blues tune.
“It was cool to find different bass note combinations that worked. Simple, repetitive patterns make it fun and easy to add swing.” ~ Tara P.
What’s the Experience?
By working through this course, you’ll build real blues fluency — one tune, one chorus, one groove at a time.
The goal isn’t to memorize 12 songs note-for-note. It’s to internalize a flexible, repeatable arrangement you can apply again and again so you spend less time re-learning and more time playing.
You’ll watch each tune’s short video, work out your own fingering and phrasing, create your own personal notes and findings, and you get to experiment — trying different phrasing, tempos, and embellishments until the tune feels like yours.
- Play your Safety Melody. It is your Home base. The music you already know, music that feels solid. You own it.
- Adventure into improv. Using the patterns from class, you explore. No right or wrong move. You have the freedom to just play.
- Come home. Return to the Safety Melody. You go back after each adventure. And every time you do that, you have gone a little further than before.
- Repeat. The adventure gets bigger each time you play. Your confidence builds. The music becomes yours, and you feel the freedom and joy in playing.
You’ll get six new Improv Rondos with the class – and in the live sessions with Deborah, you’ll learn to tailor each one to your playing level – from Fledgling to Professional. Once you know how the framework works, you’ll be able to use tunes you already know and expand them with improv, too – all with the Improv Rondo method.
It’s all about CONNECTION … not perfection.
What Harpists Say about this Class
“I LOVE the tempo and the swing rhythm. Most of the music I like (Rock ‘n Roll and R&B) has the blues notes.” ~ Lesa H.
“It’s like taking the road less traveled just to see where I will go and what it will sound like.” ~ Karen S.
“There is no need to ever learn other than this sheet, it is perfect.” ~ Mona Seering
“It was so-o comfortable and beautiful .. no fear of any wrong notes.” ~ Rosemarie F.
“I enjoyed improvising that it sounded like I knew what I was doing.” ~ Lara-May
Invest in Your Creative Freedom
“Blues by the Dozen”
START FOR AS LITTLE AS $149
PAY IN FULL
“Blues by the Dozen”
Your Investment: $297
(credit card or PayPal)
(Includes 12-Months Access)
PAYMENT PLAN
“Blues by the Dozen”
2 Payments of $149
(credit card or PayPal)
(Scroll down in order form to “Payment Plans”)
Already a Current Member of Hip Harp Academy Full-Level?
This program is INCLUDED the year-long Hip Harp Academy curriculum — so if you’re a current member, get ready to jazz it up! If your membership is ending – keep an eye out for the renewal info so you don’t miss this summer’s fun!
If you’re NOT in the Academy and you want to make sure to get absolutely everything, including a full year of classes at Hip Harp Academy check out Hip Harp Academy Yearlong Membership Here or just register here.
Hip Harp Academy Full Yearlong Membership includes this class PLUS over a dozen other classes, PLUS any bonuses offered for single classes. If you have questions about how it works, just email using my Ask a Question Form.
Build Your Blues Repertoire — At Your Own Pace
Meet your creative coach Deborah Henson-Conant
I’m Deborah Henson-Conant, and I’ve been composing, arranging and creating shows since I was a kid. I now play shows with symphonies and on solo stages with the electric harp that was created for me by CAMAC Harps, the “DHC” Harp.
But I started on the ukulele, playing and singing my own little-kid arrangements, telling stories, improvising and playing and singing with other people. And guess what? I use many of the same skills and principles to arrange the music I record and perform today – including the Grammy-Nominated album “Invention & Alchemy” and the song that won first prize in the International Songwriting Competiton (ISC).
