New here, maybe the wrong place, and maybe a couple of stupid questions
Hello. I've been fooling around with blues harps for more than 40 years, but never studied it with any teacher, so I'm here on the 30 days free test that came with a new harp I bought today. I already knew that I have a lot to learn, so I will follow the LOA, but in the mean time, here is my first, maybe wrongly placed and maybe stupid question.
I've been asked to assist on a Bob Dylan Tribute concert, and even though a few of Bob's tunes are blues, most of them are not, and I'm trying to find which harp to use one two tunes. (I have all the major harps and six of the minors). So any hint on which harp to use would be greatly appreciated on these:
1. Handle with care from Travelling Willburys vol.1. I think the original is in D, but which harp?
2. My Back Pages - from Another side of Bob Dylan, or from Bob Dylan 30 anniversary concert. Once again I think the tune is in E, but which harp?
Tom, Helsinki, Finland
Most harp players seem to associate Dylan's characteristic with first position, but he sometimes played second and even fourth positions.
Here are four approaches to choosing a harp for one of his tunes (or any tune for that matter):
1. What did the original artist do?
If he played harp on the tune, listen and evaluate what position it sounds like he's playing, and emulate that (or not if you want to do something different).
2. Fit the harp to the song's chords.
If there's no harp, then look at the chords. The diatonic harmonica has two major chords built in, such as C blow and G draw on a C harp.
Look at the chords on each song.
For instance, the one in D. Obviously, D is the main chord of the tune. What's the next most prominent chord? If it's A, then those two chords fit a D harp. But if the next most prominent chord is G, then a G-harp will probably work better.
If the tune is in E, then a B chord added to the home chord of E would indicate an E harp while an A chord added to the home chord of E would indicate an A harp.
3. Play along and find what fits.
A third apporach would be to play along with the recording, and try out both the harp for first position and the harp for second position. Which one feels more comfortalbe to you and feels more expressive for the song?
If the song is in a minor key, you could try out fourth, fifth, and third positions (in that order; third is the default choice for minor blues but doesn't always fit minor songs in general.)
4. Try playing the song melody on harmonica
Harmonica players sometimes overlook playing the melody. The position that can deliver all the melody notes without any wrong or missing notes (and the resulting substitions) may be the best one for the song.