Tip of the Day

It's now time to get to work. Take a listen to the first four bars of Little Walter's "Rocker." I would like you to figure out: the key of harmonica; the key Walter and the band are playing in; where he starts in time; and how you would count this song in.

I'll get you started...

1) He's playing in 2nd Position

2) He starts with a 2" (2 draw whole step bend) that quickly goes to 2 (2 draw)

Here are your challenges in regards to timing... continue reading...

Thanks to fellow student Marc G. (thanks!) for sharing this paper.

12 Amazing Things Scientists Discovered This Year About People Who Listen to Music
http://mic.com/articles/106100/12-amazing-things-scientists-discovered-a...

Fellow student Mike Z (thanks Mike!) is also a guitarist and said that this video is really informative on how to back harp players in the traditional 1950's style. If you play in a band or with a guitarist buddy that's not hip to this way of playing, it would be wise to purchase this DVD for them as a gift.

Little Walter - 50's Guitar Styles, Instructional Guitar DVD continue reading...

Before we leave this subject of figuring out the key...

If you're trying to figure out the key of a song, and there's no harp playing on the recording you're copying/referencing, upon guessing what the key is, make sure to grab the corresponding harp and play a song you're familiar with to the music. This will confirm that you have chosen the correct key and position of harp. continue reading...

Now that you've figured out the key of the song, the next step is to dig in and work out what the harmonica player is doing. BUT, even though you may have figured out the correct key, you might be in the wrong position. As a young harmonica player I would often try to learn a new song and I would figure out two-thirds of it, with the rest being a mystery... continue reading...

No matter which technique you use from the list of three I presented on 1/6/2015, if you make an error in your key selection, it's usually because you heard that the 5th of the key sounded good and took it as the root note.

Let me help you to understand this a bit... continue reading...

If you use Method 2 from Tuesday's tip (see below) then I suggest you start with the C Major Scale starting on the 4+ (4+ 4 5+ 5 6+ 6 7 = C D E F G A B). Though F can be found on 2" and A on 3", your bending has to be dead-on for our purpose of key matching. If you don't think it's one of those notes, then use your Holes 1 through 4 range since it contains all of the chromatic notes that the middle octave is missing. The note Eb is not available in the first two octaves, so you'll need to jump to 8'+ for that one. I personally use this method for finding the key of a song. continue reading...

We need to take a quick break from the transcription series today for a fellow student in need of help with octaves. continue reading...

The first step in the process is to figure out the key of harmonica used. Here are a few common methods. We'll assume that what's being played is in the common 2nd Position for now.

1) Pick up each harmonica in your collection and play the 2 draw until you find the harmonica that matches the best. In 2nd Position the 2 draw is your home base... the key of the song (If the song is in the key of G, the 2 draw on your C Harmonica is G). continue reading...

This is my process...

1) Transcribe everything at full tempo, without picking up the harmonica.

2) Slow the music down moderately (around 15-20%) and proofread my transcription carefully as I listen. This is very handy, I'll inevitably find little fixes (such as dips, slurs, pulls that were very soft, etc.).

3) If it's a very fast song, I'll do this again at around 40% slow. continue reading...