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Chromatic King

Original Blues Chromatic Instrumental Songwriting Contest by BluesHarmonica.com and Hohner Harmonicas

Congratulations to our winners! 1st Place is for “Gator Fryolator" by Steven Troch, 2nd Place for “Baby Bump” by Steve Molitor and 3rd Place for “Blown a Flat” by Gareth Tucker. They have won some sweet prizes from Hohner Harmonicas and Steven has the opportunity to play with Mark Hummel, Elvin Bishop, Billy Boy Arnold, Rick Estrin, Lil Charlie, Steve Guyger, Rich Yescalis, Bob Welsh, RW & June Core at "The Addition" in San Francisco on Saturday, January 17th! Congratulations to all that entered, they were all fantastic instrumentals!

Judges

Previous Contests

Annie´s Blues

mcpat76's picture

I wrote this tune for my wedding in July, However, it was not ready then. That night I played the head on the chromatic and the rest on the diatonic. It was a much slower version. I have been working on it since. It is a jazz blues in G on a C chromatic harmonica played in the blues style.

Thank you for listening.

Pat

Baby Bump

walterjuke's picture

Happiness and joy!  That's what I feel every time I see my wife's baby bump. Our son is due to arrive on November 27, Thanksgiving Day! My wife says he starts shimmying in her tummy everytime I play the harmonica.  I like to imagine him wailing away in there on his own little piccolo harp. I've tried to evoke that feeling and those sounds in this tune - the sounds of nursey rhymes, a baby crying and gurgling, joyful noises! continue reading...

Rockin Blues

iman_rahimipour's picture

For this contest I had many ideas in my mind and finally I decided to work on minor blues theme .

I started the song with a head which is repeated in last chorus - Ch 8

Also I tried to use diffren ideas and also chromatic patterns for this song .

Hope enjoy it

 

Iman Rahimipour  from Iran

Chroma Highway Blues

PeterG's picture

Following the guideline rules beyond standard blues I also love 8 bar blues and songs from say Bessie Smith through the 40s & 50s Classics to say Ray Charles.

I was influenced by some of these chord structures within my composition which is a Verse-Bridge-Verse in the key of G played three times around.To add dimension I decided on three positions 1st 3rd and 2nd so use 12 hole chromatics in G ,F and C. It's a straightforward chart for a band with a one bar drum turnaround for the harp swaps.Please turn it up loud ! continue reading...

Gator Fryolator

Steven Troch's picture

This instrumental tune is in the key of D played on C chromatic.

I used a backtrack to record it. It has 12 choruses, I repeated the first chorus  4 times throughout the song. The main idea was to make one big head using 3 choruses. So I consider CH1 - CH2 - CH3 to be my main theme. The soloing starts on CH5 and ends on CH9. 

 I'm planning to record the song so I'm wondering what the judges have to say. 

 

CH 1 : The head uses a A A A chorus form

CH 2 : AAB chorus form

CH 3 : same as CH 1 continue reading...

Blown a Flat

capitalG's picture

Blown a Flat- C chromatic in 3rd position

Enjoy

G

TRAVEL'N

Bluetrickster's picture

 Travel'n is a medium tempo blues in C - from Blues Harmonica student Les Toth - bluetrickster@yahoo.com

Remembering Mr Clarke

ErwinIost's picture

It took me a long time to finish this song. I had the idea a long time ago but i couldn't find the inspiration to give it form. Now, i found all the elements that i needed to finish my song dedicated to my mentor William Clarke.

And also my band did a great job trying to understand my idea, so for them a lot of credit!!! Nicolas Wernekinck on guitar, Johan Pasten on Bass and Eduardo Grez on Drums, we are The Blues Swingers!!!!!

This song will be part of our new CD.

 

I hope you like it and enjoy it.

Erwin from Chile

Charomba

hank stefaniak's picture

Seydel Saxony C chromatic in the key of D. Recorded in GarageBand. These exercises always fascinate and challenge me but in the end I have to admit I learn one heck of a lot by going through them. The learning will continue as I read the comments form other members of this forum and especially the judges. Thanks David!!

Chrome on the Bayou

Marty Howe's picture

Performed on a Hohner CX-12, key of E on a C chromatic.

Update (Oct 21st):  Its been a few weeks now since I have uploaded my tune and have been enjoying the interviews and lessons. I really congratulate David Barrett for such a wealth of knowledge and a very effective process for learning.  Thank you David!

Based on some of what I have learned here, I wanted to comment on my tune. continue reading...