New Regular Topic?
David, you have proven yourself to have a bionic ear when it comes to figuring out what people are playing in songs and being able to transcribe it. So, before you turn this power to evil, might I suggest you use it for the forces of good with a new regular topic:
"How'd dey do dat?"
For starters, can you explain how Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson of Canned Heat was able to perform his solos in "On the Road Again" on an "A" harp? Try it. It doesn't quite work.
There are tons of other examples out there - especially with Little Walter - that you can interpret for those of us who scratch our heads while trying to mimic them. I would think you could just pull out the few bars of the recordings that are applicable and not have to pay royalty fees (similar to bumper music on radio).
What say you? And how DID Wilson pull that off?
i think jason did a youtube on that piece and said the harp has a reed tuned flat(?) to make it work.
He tuned the 6 draw (F#) up a half-step (G). You can also achieve this by doing a 6 over blow. You can also use a draw natural minor reed plate to make this work. Both solutions would make the draw slide he does on holes 6-5-4 not sound so smooth though.
I heard that this was a one of the possible ways Wilson pulled this off (he never said or was never asked apparently). Knowing this though, is this common? Do many artists have specially tuned harps that they use for just one tune?
that's funny, jj. a friend and i were just discussing this.
i am of the contention that a pro player would have specialty harps to be used for maybe just a song or 2. i mean, wouldnt you want to use the right tool for the job? would you want to use some channel locks to remove some engine bolts or a socket wrench?
It's rare... but it does happen. Lee Oskar's a great example.
I don't know why this intrigues me so much. It just seems fascinating to me that Wilson did that, and makes me curious on a lot of different levels. For instance, what came first? Did he purposely tune the harp that way and built his song around the riff? Or did he come up with the riff after the song was written and realized that the harp just wouldn't work for that progression? The second seems possible until you realize that the entire instrumental track consists really of just percussion, rhythm sitar, a light bass line, and his lead harp. The whole piece is built around that harp and his vocals.
Maybe I'm being over analytical. This is the kind of stuff I love about music.
I'll keep that in mind, thank you. He does use an A Harp. The key in playing a tune in minor is to make sure you play the 3'.
Check out Mark Ford's version of the same tune on the "Mark Ford with The Robben Ford Band" CD that released in 1990... great minor second position playing... he also changes harps for the key change in the song (still in second position).
Peter Madcat Ruth also has a real nice version on his "Live at the Ark" CD.
I plan on doing some minor lessons very soon.