super 64 chromonica M.Hohner (made in Germany)
I got an old chromonica from neighbor before they left. was never used and stevie wonder is a huge inspiration to me. Just joined this site and want to be able to play this ( i have a simple c and b tuned harmonica also to learn on.)
Wondering about opinions of stuff to learn, what songs i should try as a beginner (also been playing piano, guitar bass and learning trumpet and sax here soon).
Want to know how to use this site to its upmost abilit with learning this super 64 and being able to jam with people.
Thankyou in advance!
-Greg
Most blues players take advantage of the huge, lush D minor6 draw chord on the 64 chromatic to make a huge, bluesy sound. This approach started with Little Walter, and he and west coast tone daddy George Smith remain the inspiration and seminal influences on modern blues chromatic playing.This approach uses the slide very little, although you can hear it creeping in via the playing of such modern masters as Dennis Gruenling.
You can find third position instruction at this site, and also in three of my online articles at http://winslowyerxa.com/articles/harmonica-sessions/
If you’re up for using the slide and learning different keys on the chromatic, and don’t mind working on it, you can learn to play blues in any key. I wrote several articles going through some of those keys while harmonicaSessions was still publishing, and you can find articles on playing in A, E, and B.
One easy way to approach at least a few keys is to simply hold the slide in.
For instance, you can play blues in D without using the slide - the slide remains in the out position. But if you hold the slide in, everything goes up a semitone and you can play in Eb. Same goes for G and Ab, and for C and Db.
Playing initially with slide either all-in or all-out can be an easy way to get started in some additional keys. Once you put the slide into action instead of leaving it out or holding it in, you'll find that each key is unique and has its own quirks and possibilities.
Stevie Wonder has always played a 4-octave chromatic (though he also plays diatonic occasionally - and very well!). He started out with the 64 Chromonica, then went to the Super 64 and finally the Super 64x. Nowadays, although he remains a Hohner endorser, he's likely to be spotted playing a Suzuki Sirius 64.
Stevie's approach initially developed playing the C chromatic (and the Super 64 comes only in C) is C, but not by playing the major scale or using the blow C major chord very much. Instead, he concentrated on the C blues scale, using a lot of slide-in draw notes, including C (B#), Eb, Gb, and Bb, which give him the essential notes of the blues scale. Often he'd approach these slide-in notes with the slide out and either jab the slide in to arrive at the note (a slide jab) or move it in and then back out again (a slide bump).
You can hear this approach develop in early Stevie recordings such as Paulsby, Square, and, of course, Fingertips part 1 (the live version).
You can also read my chromatic articles via my website at http://winslowyerxa.com/articles/harmonica-sessions/ - check out the ones on using the slide and slide ornaments.