Stevie Wonder Profile

Ask the average person in the street to name a harmonica player and chances are that Stevie Wonder will be the most common answer. Similarly, if you were to ask a music critic or aficionado to name the top ten greatest albums of all time, Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life would almost certainly feature heavily.

Wonder, then, is something of an outlier: a virtuoso, technically brilliant player of multiple instruments, a child prodigy and one of the most innovative and successful singer/songwriters of all time, when most artists struggle to achieve just one of these qualities.

Born in Michigan in 1950, and with the disadvantage of being blind almost from birth, Stevland Hardaway Judkins, known by his stage name, 'Stevie Wonder' achieved initial success as a child star, signing to Motown Tamla at the ag of just 11. Motown's CEO, Berry Gordy, christened him 'Little Stevie Wonder' and the name stuck (albeit in later days with the epithet removed!) Although he achieved a number one record by the age of 13, Wonder had a lean spell through the rest of his teenage years, as his voice changed and he struggled to move from young prodigy to serious artist.

By the mid 1960s, however, Wonder found more success with the Motown label, both through writing songs for other artists and through releasing his own tracks. The late 1960s yielded a string of hits, such as For Once in My Life, Signed, Sealed, Delivered and My Cherie Amour, many featuring Wonder's signature virtuoso chromatic guitar solos.

Wonder's usual instrument of choice is a 16 hole chromatic - often a Hohner Super 64 or Super 64X - and his playing is marked by a forceful use of the slide, together with significant amounts of vibrato and a fluttering effect created by the use of his tongue. Players wishing to recreate his style should look to the jazz oeuvre for inspiration, as many of Wonder's licks feature a mix of blues and jazz styles.