Positions and Harmonica Blues
Hello all
I'm taken with a piece by Blues Birdhead called 'Harmonica Blues'.
It seems to be in the key of 'F'. Could it be played in first position on a diatonic? I'd like to slow it down digitally and try it out but it would be nice to know I have the right harp in my hands.
On a more general point, what are the first steps in figuring out what position a piece is best played in on what key of harp. Try it out I guess but people might have some other tips.
Thanks folks
Steve
Thanks for replying Rob. I'll fiddle aroung a bit with it in 'F' and see what can be done. I don't have a E harp at the moment but if first position doesn't work out, I'll give it a go as you suggest -- although wouldn't 3rd position be Eb?
I like the idea of having a big challenge to work on slowly bar by bar as well as going through all the other stuff. Even if I don't manage it, I guess I will learn something.
3rd position on an E harp would put you in the key of F# with the 1/ 4/ 8 draw being your root notes. Check out the lesson called understanding position playing for information and reference charts.
The arrangement and progression of this song is a lot jazzier than I would normally try and figure out although further listening has got me intrigued and there are some amazing licks here!
The more I listen I am convinced that it is in 3rd on the E harp and yet the unusual note combinations still infer some doubt! One thing I am faily sure of is that you won't get far with it in 1st on an F harp. Maybe you should ask Winslow Yerxa or if David could check with Joe Filisko as he is sure to know!
I just wanted to say thanks. I started from the bottom working up and just ended at Al Blake and thought man theres a lot of music that I am just unaware of. Just wanted to say thanks . Now I'm just spending money on more lps . Having a great time - Great site
I'm pretty sure he actually played it in first position on a G harp but the pitch got altered in the recording process, putting it "in the cracks" between F and F#.
You can try it on s low F# harp (if you have one) or tune the recording back to G in software such as Transcribe! or The Amazing Slowdowner.
It's out of tune!
I think you have the answer, Timeistight- I never considered the recording pitch to be incorrect and I was certainly puzzled by this! Thanks for providing the insight!
I actually tweeked it to the key of 'F' in digitally as it was a bit out as people mentioned. Nice tip for G though. That way I could try it in the lowest and the highest keys on the diatonic and see what ound come out.
This may take a while. Thanks folks.
While the pitch of the recording puts it in F#, it's clearly first position. The harp on the recording goes nearly an octave below the lowest note on regular F and F# harps, and low F and Low F# harps didn't exist back then, so it's a G harp and the recording needs to be speeded up a tad to put it in G.
Old recordings changed pitch by changing speed; you couldn't separate one from the other. While the standard playback speed was supposed to be 78rpm, in practice it varied from about 60 to 90, so you always have to take the pitch of 78 rpm records with a grain of salt.
For instance, there is a current debate raging about whether Robert Johnson's recordings were deliberately speeded up to make him sound more exciting and urgent. That might explain him playing in some odd keys, like B (Come on in my Kitchen). Advocates of this theory point out that if you slow his recordings down, they come out in much more normal keys for guitar.
By the way, third position harmonica was unknown on recordings until about 1950 as far as anyone has been able to discover.
Hi Steve- man you have picked out a tune and a half there! Having had a (brief) listen I think that it might be played in 3rd position on an E harp. I say this because a lot of the notes being played seem to be accessible this way. Now I am no Birdhead expert and I may be missing some position beyond 3rd that is being used but that would be my guess.
In terms of figuring out the position and key of a harp track in general you are right to use the "try it out" method. Isolating the key is the first job and I know that David has some information on this somewhere but exactly where escapes me just now. Trying different diatonics until you hit the root note works as does using a chromatic as a sort of pitch pipe. In addition, with experience, your ear will start to recognise the style/ sound of different positions. I can often discern between 1st, 2nd and 3rd just by listening to the licks being played before picking up a harp.
This Birdhead track is certainly more complex than most Chicago or post war stuff, to my ear, so I await being corrected or confirmed!
Rob