Approach to Transposition
Hey David,
I hope this belongs here, I wondered if you got some tips regarding transposition or finding the "right" harmonica key for certain harmonics/melodies that you like and wanna play on the harp. for example I listened to peter gunn theme yesterday and trascribed what I think are the correct pitches. now I understand that If I wanna play in key I gotta play the same pitches, so my question for you is how do you go about both;
1. finding the "right" harmonica for the pitches you got
2. finding out, if you want to transpose it, which key or position would be the best?
3. how do you look at lines like these? I first figured the piece is written in F Major (if im not mistaken), but then the sax line is starting with Eb so I approached the bassline and the melody as seperate entities. I looked at the melody line as if it's in the key of Eb and the bassline as if it's in the key of F, it's just what I did on intution.. is there a "better" way to look at melody lines and stuff like that in order to find the key of a piece?
Bassline;
F F G F Ab F Bb A
Harmonics;
Eb C Eb (Higher Octaue ->) C Gb
C Eb F Gb Gb Gb Gb F Eb C Bb C Ab A
Thanks
Hello crazymilk. Send me a YouTube link of the version you're working with and I'll listen to it for you. The way most harmonica players do it is that they'll learn a song by ear in their most comfortable position (2nd Position in most cases) and see if it works. If it doesn't, then they'll try it in 3rd and/or 1st. Minor melodies tend to be played in 3rd Position. Folk Tunes tend to be in 1st or 2nd (2nd especially if the melody has some slurs/bends). So, experimentation to see which position works best is common.
Thank you. Here are more detailed thoughts now...
1) Listen to the song until you can sing the resolution note... the note that sounds like it matches the best. This is the key of the song. I agree, this is in F. Find that note on your harmonica... 2 draw for 2nd Position (yes, Bb harmonica), 1 draw for 3rd Position and 1+ for 1st Position. If it's a minor tune, every now and again 4th Position (3") or 5th Position (2+) may work. 2nd Position in this case works well, but so would 3rd. The opening lick would be 4 4 5+ 4 5 4 6+ 5 on an Eb harmonica. No bends... maybe this is a good idea. The horn line would be 7+ 6 or 4+ 3" (harder to play obviously).
2) As I stated before, grab the correct harmonica for the key and copy by ear what's going on. Experiment with multiple positions... some will work okay, some not at all, and some perfect. You won't know which one until you try them all. Within time you'll develop an ear (from experience) which might be a good position when listening to a tune without even pick up a harmonica. I transcribe harmonica without picking up a harmonica for example, but it took many, many years to get to that point.
3) I agree, bass line is 2 2 3'' 2 3' 2 4+ 3' (note the last pitch I have different)... and this one line to learn that you could play. The first couple of notes of the sax part, which is another approach you could play (most likely this is what you would play with a band) is 5 4. 5 draw is the flat-7th and 4 draw is the 5th. You should think of both lines, bass and sax, as in the same key... F in this case.
Thanks alot, regarding part 1 - the horn line doesn't work in the mid octave unless I use overblows for that Gb note on an Eb harp 3rd position. My process was going through the most common positions as you said but what I did when I said I treated the bassline and the hornline differently was that I looked at the hornline as a seperate entity and when I did that I look at the first note of the horn-line as the root note as if it is not in the key of F, so I thought to myself "which harmonica key gets me Eb in 2nd position?" and so it came to Ab harmonica which gets the horn line quite well in that and the bassline not that well but it has all the notes. what do you think about that approach? am I still playing in F major key when I play that horn line, I mean, will it sound good with these pitches o an F major key only? and secondly, from which key to which key should I transpose it to? from Eb key to some other key or from F key to some other key? this get's me confused :D
Thanks in advance this really helps me understands and get some "holes" in my music theory
Yes, using another keyed harmonica is a valid process for playing a specific lick in a song. We don't like switching harmonicas if we don't have to, so if you can find a position that can do it all, then winner... if not... then using two harps is not unheard of. If you can find that note that was an overblow lower on the range or higher on the range of your harmonica (which you often can), then that's the common solution... unless the jump doesn't sound musical (which is the case sometimes).
You and the band are always playing in the same key. So it doesn't matter which harmonica you use, in which position... you are always playing in the key of F.
That Ab Harmonica in F is 4th Position, and gives you the notes associated with the Natural Minor scale. The note that may be dissonant is the flat-6th... the 2", 5 and 9 draw... other than that, it can be a cool position. Experiment in every octave, you'll have to search for the notes that work in this song.
Have fun exploring this, this is part of the discovery process. If it sounds good, then it is right, and then you can figure out what you did :-)... just like you did for the Ab harp.
Hello crazymilk. Send me a YouTube link of the version you're working with and I'll listen to it for you. The way most harmonica players do it is that they'll learn a song by ear in their most comfortable position (2nd Position in most cases) and see if it works. If it doesn't, then they'll try it in 3rd and/or 1st. Minor melodies tend to be played in 3rd Position. Folk Tunes tend to be in 1st or 2nd (2nd especially if the melody has some slurs/bends). So, experimentation to see which position works best is common.