Little Walter's 'Can't hold out much longer'
Thanks for the Little Walter licks – very cool. I’ve been trying to figure out the opening to ‘Can’t hold out much longer’. If you’ve got time, can you tell me if I’m on the right lines here? I think it goes like this:
Very quick slide to 2 draw, followed by bent 3 draw to 1-4 blow, 1-4 draw, 2-5 draw, syncopated 3-6 blows. Then down to 5 draw, quick slide to bent 4 draw, 4 blow, bent 3 / 4 draw and ending on the 2 draw. All of that three times, then 2 draw, bent 3, 4 blow, bent 4 draw, then 4 draw bending down and up again. Finally, he rolls down to a bent 2 draw, but all the notes in between are too quick for me to pick out! I think it’s bent 4 draw, 4 blow, bent 3 draw, but can’t be sure.



Comments
dave
i'll ask david to answer this for you, he's the notation wiz.
Answer
Sure...
You were very close... good job! 2 draw is slap and instead of a 3+-6+ it's a 6+ with a little bit of 7+. LW did this some times... as Joe Filisko showed my one time, it comes from his early pre-war roots. You can also hear this on the 5th Chorus of "Juke." A side note, the first 3'-4' is not as low of a bend (very slight) as the second one.
2 3'-4' 1+-4+ 1-4 2-5 6+-7+ 6+-7+ 6+-7+ 6+-7+ 5 4' 4+ 3'/4' 2
On the third time he plays a 3+ in place of the 2 on the last note (also acts as a pickup to the last lick).
Last lick is:
3' 4+ 4' 4 slur to 4' 4 slur to 4' 3 2 2"
It's really cool to have you
It's really cool to have you guys on hand to answer this stuff - can't trust my ears to distinguish it all yet. Thanks.
Sure...
You got a lot closer than most... transcribing is very time intensive, but a WONDERFUL tool to better your ear/playing.