Mgimino
53 posts
Aug 04, 2009
4:31 PM
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The other day I was in a music store, and you guessed it, a little fellow probably around 12 or 13 started playing Stairway to Heaven on one of the acoustic guitars. After the humorous stares some of the other people in the store, I thought "is there a cliche like this for harmonica?"
Like if someone started testing out an amp in a store and they started playing Billy Joel's Piano Man riff, would you give them "the look?" Or what song would you give them the look on? Or is there nothing at all and nothing on the harmonica is as cliche as stairway to heaven
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Michael
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Philosofy
249 posts
Aug 04, 2009
4:52 PM
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Old Suzanna. :)
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oldwailer
848 posts
Aug 04, 2009
5:03 PM
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I wish I could remember Stairway--I'd probably play it sometimes--and I still like to play Oh Suzanna with a lot of tongue blocking now and then.
So, I guess the way to deal with it for me would be to learn to extend my middle fingers while playing--then the message would be clear for those who give me the look. . .
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RyanMortos
247 posts
Aug 04, 2009
5:07 PM
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I'd think whammer jammer might do it.
Funny oldwailer, I am trying to build tongue blocking practice with oh suzanna.
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~Ryan
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
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Mgimino
54 posts
Aug 04, 2009
5:16 PM
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When I was learning how to tongue block a month ago I did the same thing, play Oh Suzanna over and over as well. Who would've thought..
I don't know about Whammer Jammer, it is a technically challenging piece and when played correctly by anyone I can't help but be impressed with all the little tonalities required to make it sound good.
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Michael
Last Edited by on Aug 04, 2009 5:20 PM
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Buzadero
115 posts
Aug 04, 2009
5:40 PM
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I taught the son of a neighbor to play the harp part on Supertramp's "Take The Long Way Home".
That damned kid played that.....and only that....for an entire summer. I'd come back in from two or three weeks offshore, and that kid would still be playing that riff. On the porch, in the yard, from his bedroom window. As much as it drove me nuts, I'm sure his parents, not to mention the rest of the neighborhood, resented me for it.
Flash forward about fifteen years. I'm in a music store, waiting on my brother to close some kind of purchase, when I hear that same cursed riff come screaming out of a turned up amp. Same off-timing, same partial, not-quite bends. My response was pure Pavlovian, twitching, cringing and shuddering. It was like tunnel vision was closing in and I had to get outside.
So, I don't know if that qualifies as the harmonica equivalent of Stairway.....but, it kills me.
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~Buzadero
Underwater Janitor, Patriot
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Andrew
486 posts
Aug 04, 2009
11:11 PM
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I'll be one of those tongue-blocking Oh Suzanna just as soon as I can get round to it, although I think it's harder to tongue-block rock and roll because of the rhythms. Funnily, I was watching The Treasure of the Sierra Madre the other night, and Walter Huston's character plays some tongue-blocked stuff in 1st on a C harp. It wasn't Oh Suzanna, but it may as well have been. I'll probably watch it again and learn the tune in case it's a popular one that I don't know.
Hmmm, that's weird - I explained the Chinatown debacle as the DVD playing fast, but how come I can accompany Walter Huston on a C harp?
Last Edited by on Aug 04, 2009 11:20 PM
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mr_so&so
174 posts
Aug 05, 2009
9:30 AM
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I've been playing a lot of third position tunes lately. The other day I was noodling a bit and out came Stairway to Heaven. It's really quite easy to play in third, and sounds better when amped up. just purchased a Vox DA5 too, so tried it with a few effects. Fun stuff.
To answer the OP's (learned that from Adam) question, I'd have to vote for Neil Young's "Heart of Gold".
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nacoran
140 posts
Aug 05, 2009
1:17 PM
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'Oh Suzanna', 'My Darling Clementine', 'Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal', 'Amazing Grace', actually the first song beyond 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and 'Row Row Row Your Boat' I learned was 'The Vesper Hymn' which I knew the notes from from when I played baritone as a kid. 'Blowin' in the Wind' is another one I've heard a lot on harp.
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kudzurunner
640 posts
Aug 05, 2009
2:00 PM
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"Love Me Do," perhaps?
I think "Whammer Jammer" might have earned the same status.
BTW, when somebody comes up with a good harp version of "Free Bird," there's money to be made.
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ChrisA
59 posts
Aug 05, 2009
3:48 PM
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First one that comes to mind would be Room to Move, back in the seventies any aspiring harp player had to play that one.
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SUNDOG
68 posts
Aug 07, 2009
8:10 PM
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Concur with Wailer's Finger.....
My favorite is "Jesus Loves Me" on my little Princess 4-holer. Amplified and reverb'd of course.
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Kyzer Sosa
26 posts
Aug 07, 2009
8:32 PM
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free bird on the harp? now youre talking... hmm i wonder if im... nah....
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snakes
328 posts
Aug 07, 2009
9:08 PM
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Have to admit that my signature song is Amazing Grace.
Something cool- I am teaching a guy at work as best I can how to play harp from scratch. He just bought a couple keys and I am working with him on single notes, train chugging, and we flirted with bending. Don't get me wrong as I'm just barely an intermediate (you'll see if I actually get up the kahunas to post Summertime) but this is a very feel good thang fer me. Dude is in his early thirties (i.e. much younger than yours truly) so I am surrepticiously teaching him about the blues masters (informationally speaking) as well.
Last Edited by on Aug 07, 2009 9:10 PM
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mickil
434 posts
Aug 08, 2009
7:13 AM
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I'd have to say Area Code 615's 'Stone Fox Chase'.
In the UK everyone who was around in the 70s knows it as 'The Old Grey Whistle Test' cos it was used as the theme to that show, which ran for quite a few years.
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'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchen; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty' - Frank Zappa
http://www.youtube.com/user/SlimHarpMick
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GobIronWard
4 posts
Aug 08, 2009
3:48 PM
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Yeah, I'm with mickil. It's one of those "Oh, you play the harp, can you play..." tunes. Pretty groovy, nonetheless.
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lumpy wafflesquirt
89 posts
Aug 09, 2009
9:46 AM
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Mickil - you and me both.
mind you,I was asked to play the theme from the midnight cowboy at an open mic night. I declined, As it is beyond me, even on chromatic.
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lumpy wafflesquirt
90 posts
Aug 09, 2009
9:47 AM
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Isn't the cliche for Guitar Smoke on the water.
[personally I prefer the Rolf Harris version]
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MagicPauley57
57 posts
Aug 10, 2009
6:31 PM
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doing an impression of bob dylan playing harp would clear the room leaving the shop to yourself to then blow the cobwebs off some big walter licks without having some little squirt with a bumfluff goatee staring at you!
or perhaps, some sonny terry whops and hollers they'll think you gone mad!
or find a nice big bassman , stick in a nice harp mic , crank it up and do some train whistles and blast them all out the shop , kaboom!
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Bluzdude46
116 posts
Aug 11, 2009
5:41 AM
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Bruce's intro to Thunder Road is fairly cliche. And I've already done the crank the volume at the music store. salesman walked up and told me young guitarists were trying to do lessons in the practice rooms, I asked him "In what key?"
Last Edited by on Aug 11, 2009 5:43 AM
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DevonTom
12 posts
Aug 12, 2009
9:14 AM
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In England when I was growing up the dubious honours go to Stone Fox Chase which was the theme music to The Old Grey Whistle Test, a music program. Anyone with half a lung would murder this one.
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MagicPauley57
58 posts
Aug 12, 2009
5:21 PM
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for whatever reason , our local music shops don't like it when you ask to try a guitar amp out for harp,they think anything other than a guitar should be plugged into it in case it might explode !
Or they just don7t understand the concept that harp players have used guitar amps for decades to get a big thick harp tone !
same a s jam nights whee the guy will only let you play through a horrible PA and try and doctor your volume .
I ofetn go to denmark st (london) and try guitars that i'll never buy and launch into some surf or rockabilly , have een known to find a nice victoria amp and a lovely red gretsch and give some Bo diddley action , they certainly don't expect that i can tell ya!
Old grey squirell fest , love that show , with whispering Bob Harris!
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geordiebluesman
225 posts
Aug 18, 2009
3:12 PM
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Bob Harris, What a twat!, When i was 16yrs old i had to suppress the urge to kick the telly screen in every time that whispering bearded git showed his goofy toothed face. This was what passed for radical music TV in the seventies, Thank f**k for MTV!
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