I just picked up C Harmonica Book by James Major part of The Complete 10-hole Diatonic Harmonica Series. It's a Mel Bay publishing and ulike others I have seen it has some great information. Particularly on Scales, Chord structures and Appregios.
One thing I have always struggled to understand pertaining to a 12 Bar Blues progression is why the Bars are called Chords. I understand that for example and playing in C my I Chord is C, IV Chord is F and the V Chord is a G.
The definition of a Chord as I understood it was 3 or more notes played together. Well I guess you could play a "Chord" but most times it's single notes played seprately. So I just took it as "That's just the way it is".
So after glancing thru the chapter on Chords and Appregios I get to the definition of an Appregio. Appregios are chords played one note at a time insequence.
So a light bulb went off in my head and I thought AH HAAA, a Chord in a 12 Bar progession is called a Chord because it is an Appregiated Chord.
Am I more or less on the right track with my thinking?
Bars aren't called chords. Certain chords are played during certain bars. You don't usually play a whole chord, but rather notes from that chord. I guess your term "appregiated chord" would fit that description.
Last Edited by on Jul 07, 2009 10:07 PM
The chords are usually referring to the backgrounds, and they aren't necessarily arpeggiated. For example, most the time the guitar and / or piano block the chords (play all the notes at the same time) while the bass might arpeggiate it or improvise some way to fit chord notes into a walking bass line. ---------- "Without music, life would be a mistake" -Nietzsche
Appregios are sooo sick on guitar. that guns n roses fan i mentioned in anouther thread can play them nicely. check this guy out though if your wondering what they are.
That's a great book TBone69... enough to keep you busy in the woodshed for a very long time! My only criticism is I don't like the tab system, but then I never really liked tabs of any sort.
I've been going through some of those arpeggios too.
Remember, there are some chords that you cannot play on your regular diatonic - the most obvious one is the V in cross harp for instance. That's when those arpeggios come in handy.
To answer your question about the I, IV, V Chords. The numbers relate to the position of the note in the scale.
The C major scale is: C - D - E - F - G - A - B
I Chord - is C and is the first note in the scale. IV Chord - is F and is the forth note in the scale. V Chord - is G and is the fifth note in the scale.
Thanks for the replies. I just got the book yesterday so I haven't had too much time to really read it yet, looking forward to doing some serious book reading tonight.
So even though the I, IV, V Chord is called a "Chord" it doesn't have to be a true Chord, ie C Major CEG played at once. I could play C E and G as seperate notes and it would still fit the I Chord?
Oh and another thing. On the I chord or any chord for that matter do I have to start with the note of that chord or as long as it contains it does it still count?
For example if my root is C and my V chord is a G can I play G B D, B G D , D B G and have it still considered my V chord.
@TBone69: OK, in an effort to see if I'm understanding as well I'll take a stab at the last question and hope that some of the more experienced folk can confirm or correct me: In the case you'r speaking about (standard I-IV-V progression) you'd be in either the 9th or 12th bar and be representing the V chord (G). You can really play any note from the chord (G,B,D). You don't HAVE to play the root note. Although the root represents the chord the best you could play just the B and/or D and it should sound fine and fit the progression.
"Remember, there are some chords that you cannot play on your regular diatonic - the most obvious one is the V in cross harp"
on my C harp played in cross harp I-IV-V would be G-C-D isn't D the 4 draw?
Now that I typed all this I think I get what you are saying
there are 3 notes you can play at once to make a G chord and 3 to make the C but the 3 notes needed to play a D chord are not arranged on a harmonica in a way you can play all 3 at once so you have to "Represent" the chord. Or am I way off base
Actually, you can play a D chord, it's a Dm, but in the right context it could fit. Because it is minor, in the Roman Numeral system it is represented by a lower case v
Ok so what 3 notes (I'll look up the holes draw or blow) would make a G chord a C chord and a Dm and could you explain more what you mean by right context. Does that mean occasionally but don't over do it, or maybe in a pinch but it's not preferred?
Yeah kind of a brief passing thing, as long as you don't make a big deal out of it - before hitting some kind of arpeggio. The 1--4 octave is usually a safer option.
On a C harp:
G chord is GBD drawing on 123 gives you DGB (one of the inversions of the chord).
C chord is CEG blowing any three consecutive holes on the harp will give you a C chord or one of it's inversions.
Dm chord is DFA which you get drawing on 456
Last Edited by on Jul 08, 2009 2:05 PM
Ok I think I am about 90% of the way there understanding it. I just some soak time and if I can ever get rid of this sinus infection I can get back to playing and practicing with all this new found knowledge.
