Blues in E on Chromatic - Part 4
So far I've:
-- showed you the two most important notes in the key of E (E in Blow 2, and B in Draw 4),
-- found some usable surrounding notes for each of them
-- then connected them into a five-note scale.
Now let's put the slide into play to add an important blue note -- the flat 5 -- and create a blues scale in the process.
NOTE: Shorthand for a slide-in note is <. For instance: 3D< Is hole 3, draw note played with the slide pressed in.
The bluest of all the blue notes is the flat 5 - where you take the 5th note in the scale and lower it. You're not lowering it all the way down to the 4th note, but to something in between that sets up tension and a very blue sound.
For instance, when you're playing on second position and bend Draw 4 down, you're playing the flat 5.
Right now we're playing in E on a C chromatic.
The 4th note in the scale is A (Draw 3) and the fifth note is B (Draw 4). The flat 5 is the note in between those two notes, B-flat (Draw 3 with he slide button pressed in).
The slide on a chromatic raises the pitch of a note. So to get B-flat, you play Draw 3, but you also hold in the slide, so that instead of A you get B-flat.
(Yeah, you could call it A-sharp, but that's not the standard way of talking about this. I could go into the music theory that explains why, but just accept that we call it the flat 5 and not the sharp 4.)
Moving between A and B-flat is easy - play Draw 3 (A), then press in the slide to play B-flat. Or start with the slide in for B-flat and release it to move to A. (When you release your finger pressure on the button, it springs back to the out position.)
Try it: 3D - 3D< - 3D - 3D< (etc.)
Now try incorporating it into this lick:
3D - 3D< - 3D - 3B - 2B - 3B - 3D - 3D<
Moving between B and B-flat requires a more complex set of actions. Both notes are draw notes but you need to change hole and slide position at the same time.
To make this easy, start with B-flat (3D<).
Now, keep your finger on the slide button. With the button in, the internal slide spring creates pressure to push the slide back to the out position.
But instead of letting the slide spring out the the right, hold the button in place and let the spring push the harmonica to the left.
The harmonica will move from Hole 3 to Hole 4 as the slide moves to the out position.
When you want to move from B (4D) to B-flat (3D<), keep your finger on the button and move the harmonica to the right, pressing the slide in by moving the harmonica.
Now use these motions - moving the harmonica instead of the button - to move back and forth between B and B-flat:
3D< - 4D - 3D< - 4D - 3D< - 4D - (etc.)
Now try incorporating these two notes into a simple lick:
4D - 3D< - 4D - 5D (repeat ad lib)
When you play this lick, it's like you're just playing 4D - 3D - 4D - 5D.
But when you move the harmonica to the right to go to 3D, your finger won't let the button travel with the harmonica. The button can't move, so it gets pressed in as the harmonica moves to the right - and out as the harmonica moves to the left.
Now let's play the flat 5 with its two neighbors in the scale:
3D< - 4D - 3D< - 3D.
To go from 3D< to 4D, you let the spring push the harmonica to the left.
To go from 4D back to 3D< you press the harmonica into the slide, by pushing it to the right while blocking the slide's motion with your finger.
To move from 3D< to 3D, you don't move the harmonica. You just release finger pressure on the side to let it spring out. To return from 3D to 3D<, use your finger to press the slide in again.
Try incorprorating this set of moves into a couple of licks:
4D - 3D< - 4D - 3D< - 3D - 3D< - 3D - 3B - 2B
and
3D - 3D< - 4D - 5D - 4D - 3D< - 3D - 3B - 3D - 3D< - 3D - 3B - 2B
Now try playing the complete blues scale:
Up: 2B - 3B - 3D - 3D< - 4D - 5D - 6B
Down: 6B - 5D - 4D - 3D< - 3D - 3B - 2B
Try playing the scale as a series of triplets:
UP:
2B 1D 2B / 3B 2B 3D / 3D 3B 3D / 3D< 3D 3D< / 4D 3D< 4D / 5D 4D 5D / 6B 5D 6B / 7B 6B
DOWN:
6B 7B 6B / 5D 6B 5D / 4D 5D 4D / 3D< 4D 3D< / 3D 3D< 3D / 3B 3D 3B / 2B 3B 2B / 1D 2B
Try playing these licks and scales four holes to the right on the harmonica to sound them one octave higher. As you get familiar with the moves and the sounds they make, start using these moves to make up your own blues-scale licks.
