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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Learning By Ear -- Songs On "C" harmonica.
Learning By Ear -- Songs On "C" harmonica.
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Oda
Guest
Nov 08, 2008
5:51 AM
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Hey there (Internet is slow, couldn't log in, so I'm a guest)
-- For someone who is unfamiliar with the sounds of the harmonica in all its keys, how can I tell what's being played? Y'know what I mean?
I have harmonica's in A and C, but I mostly use the C for now. Can you guys recommend songs that use the C harmonica, so I can practice learning by ear with, knowing that the player is using something that I have.
The one I've been playing around with is;
Whole Lotta Blues - You Need Love
by: Joe Walker & James Cotton
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Aussiesucker
57 posts
Nov 08, 2008
3:09 PM
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Not always easy to pick the key of harp being used on CDs. Need a really good ear. Be aware though that in using a C harp most of the blues music you hear will be in cross harp ie key of G. If you just want to get familiar with your harp then there are lots of sites offering harmonica tabs and midi files eg http://www.harpinanawhinin.com/
There are a lot of harp players who, on their websites, provide keys to the harps used on tunes on their CDs eg Charlie McCoy is one I am aware of. Most harp players on their CDs use a variety of harps plus on many of their tunes they switch harps. There are plenty of downloadable lessons on this site that will also give you what you want. Easier and more economical to follow the lessons & instead of buying heaps of CDs to get the few tunes on C in G, to put your dollars to harps in other keys.
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Blackbird
4 posts
Nov 08, 2008
6:03 PM
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If you have Gindick's book "Rock and blues harmonica" you'll find an index of many great albums and Jon has listed the keys to the songs for harp.
Also, Adam did a couple of youtube videos on the topic of finding the song/harp key that have helped me immensely - I'm becoming better at now using a few harps to find a song in key and play along. Check his youtube lesson 51 for the first of a couple copy and comp lessons. Check lesson 134 for a really nice explanation of some music theory and finding notes with a Ray Charles song and a guitar to transcribe to harmonica. Those both went a long way in teaching me how to discover song keys, and/or adapt the harp to a non-harp song. But I gotta agree with Aussiesucker's reply- spend a few bucks on a few more keys, and apply them to the music you're hearing so you're not limited to just a couple keys of songs.
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n2fz
1 post
Nov 09, 2008
6:50 PM
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I am by no means a harp player. I cant memorize anything but I like to toot along with songs I like. The following is from my experience.
I agree you need more keys. G,A,C,D. Get better ones if you can. You will find many songs in those keys. Just keep picking up harmonicas and blowing notes until you find one that sounds good with the music. Thats probably the key. When you start to find that you cant seem to get one that sounds right buy some more keys. B,Bflat, E, Aflat. Cant afford them? Buy Johnsons instead. Only 3$ each. They are leaky as hell but you wont notice that until you get better and they also dont sound as loud either. I keep them in my van cause I dont care if something happens to them
The place that I like to find songs to play along with is cdbaby.com You can get almost the whole song played. Great ear training because you have to find the key and figure out the melody or something that sounds close to the melody.
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Oxharp
36 posts
Nov 09, 2008
10:11 PM
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Go to
Harmonica masterclass.com
Artist Song Listing
There sre 515 songs to look at here is an example of what you will find
Sonny Boy” Terry
Breakfast Dance (Raidiola Records, 2000)
1. I Live Where The Action Is – A, D Harp (2nd Position)
2. I'll Be Your Fool – Bb, Ab Harp (3rd Position)
3. Pressure Cookin' [Inst.] – G, C Harp (2nd Position)
4. Jangle Jangle (Down Mexico Way) - Am, G Harp (3rd Position)
5. Business Man – G, C Harp (2nd Position)
6. Moody Blues [Inst.] – F, Bb Harp (2nd Position)
7. Take Your Time – Eb, C Chromatic w/ lever depressed (3rd Position)
8. Hey Zydeco – G, C Harp (2nd Position)
9. Railroad Tracks - E, A Harp (2nd Position)
10. Laundromat Blues – Dm, Intro & Outro: C Chromatic (3rd Position), Solo: C Harp (3rd Position)
11. Holman And Dowling [Inst.] – E, A Harp (2nd Position)
12. Screwdriver – D, G Harp (2nd Position
Enjoy
Russ
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