Transcribing skip it by big Walter Horton
Hi
I'm trying to transcribe all of big Walter's solo on skip it, off his can't keep lovin' you album. I'm using a standard c Richter tuned harmonica because I think the song is in Dm. Some of the parts I play sound right but just a little bit off, I don't know if it's because I'm using the wrong harmonica or just not listening well enough.
The single note lines I do correctly, but some of the tones he uses like in the beginning are hard to decipher what techniques he's using or maybe if it's just the settings on his amp. Sometimes I can't tell if he's using double stops in the beginning or if it's just distortion especially the 4 and 5 draws.
Am I using the right harp, and is the distortion kind of making him sound like he's playing dirty notes when he's not?
Thank you very much. This is really going to help me with me with the transcription process. Much appreciated sir.
Yes, he's using a C harp in third position. But not a standard 10-hole. Instead he's using a 12-hole Hohner solo-tuned 364, where all three octaves are tuned like Holes 4-7 on a standard diatonic.
The only places this difference in tuning will make a significant difference, aside from hole numbers, is in notes below C5 (the blow note in Hole 4 of a standard C harp) or above C6 (Blow 7 of a standard C harp. The bits in the middle will play ideintically, althought the hole numbers will be on number larger (Hole 4 of a standard C is HOle 5 on a solo-tuned harp).
He starts making really obvious use of the different low notes of solo tuning at 1:33, where he plays the note A. This note would be a 2-semitone bend in Draw 3 on a standard diatonic, but on a solo-tuned harp, it is unbent Draw 3 . When he moves quickly upward A-B-D, each note is an unbent note, with no sound of releasing the bending in this quick flurry.
Also, at 1:54 he plays a big chord of F-A-B-D, which is Draw 2-3-4-5 on a solo-tuned C harp but which, on a standard C harp would produce a different chord of D-G-B-D. From that point to the end of the tune, he takes advantage of the different solo tuning in the first octave of the harp he is playing.
As to some of the note sounds that you're asking about, he's using a lot of slaps and two-note bleeds, where one note is the main note but the neighboring hole, usually the one to the right, is also bled in to enhance the sound.