Playing with Piano Bar style player
I just got a new challege. Just met a new friend in our community who is a pretty accomplished piano bar style player/singer who owns a grand piano and wants to have a 'piano party'. In fact he can play and sing very well.
He's ask if I could sit in with him and another guitar player friend. I like the idea but Ive just fell out of my comfort zome.
Hi wants be to be prepared to play Piano Man, Yesterday and Scotch and Soda with fills and an occasional solo.
He want to play Piano Man in C and the other two in Eb.
Since these are not blues tunes, shall I assume I should tackle this in first postion with native harp keys?
Any ideas how I can set myself up for success here?
Gary
Just a off the wall question as I get read to play with my friend.
In all your course material Blows are signed with a + and draws unsigned. As I go through all the internet material of harmonica tabs they all seem to work the opposite. This wackes me out as im well trained in your nomenclature. Is there a logic?
The second question is my work at "Scotch and Soda". There are a couple really nice and melo rendtions out there. When I look up Tabs for the tune in Eb I see one starts on 7 blow (Eb in this key) and one on 5 blow (g in this key). Is there some element of music theory at work here?
gary
The logic is that as blues harmonica players, we use more draws than blows, so the goal is to make the draws as easy to read (no special notation).
The one tabbed for the Eb harmonica, and 7+ as the home base, then you're playing in 1st position.
If the other one has 5+ as the home key, and you're using a B harmonica, then you're playing in 5th position.
Each position has characteristic sounds... it's worth-while to try different positions to see which one suits the song best.
I'm thrown off by what you said about "(g in this key)", maybe you can explain to me which harmonica you're using in your examples.
From what I see on my Harp Ninja a 5 blow on an Eb harp is a native G pitch. That's why i was thrown off when I saw a Tab for this tune in Eb beginning on 5 blow. Perhaps its an error.
You are correct, 5+ on an Eb harp is G. If you know that song start with the first note being the key of the song, then you would assume that you're playing in the key of G on your Eb harmonica, which is 5th position (known as the phrygian mode... a minor-like key).
Hello David
My first session with my Piano/singer friend was great. Is there any blues harp artisist who plays with Piano either as solo or accompanyment? Id like to find some 12 bar blues charts I could work on with my friend.
BTW performing with a band again is at the top of my bucket list Ive now taken the first step. Thank you for all your support in making my dream begin to come true.
Fantastic, great to hear. I'm sorry, I am not familiar with duo groups of just harp and piano. As pro players, we've all done gigs with just a piano player, but I'm not aware of any recordings like that. Maybe post this in the General Discussion part of the site and see if anyone has an idea.
Ok, I can play Scotch and Soda now with a jam track. There are some long tones here so I would like to find a way to find a fill here and there.
Im just working on your fill material but I ask for some help here.
This tune is in the key of Eb and Im in first position on an Eb harp.
So here is a 7 beat whole and dotted half note that begs for a fill. The pitch is an F which is a 4draw on an Eb harp. Above the note on the chart are 3 guitar fingerings showing Eb9 Bbm7 and Eb9.
Cab you give me a leg up on figuring some suitable fill pitches?
Sure. With the Eb9 chord, options are Eb, G, Bb, DB, F. Over the Bbm7, try Bb, DB, F, Ab.
Hello Gary. Sounds like a cool opportunity. I recommend you try them in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd positions to see which position match the song best. Since they're not 12 bar blues, you'll want to work out the form and what you can do within them. I outline the process here https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/music_theory_study_6_beyond_12_ba..., specifically in "Section 5 – Transcribing Chords"