Header Graphic
Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > How would you play "Jessica"?
How would you play "Jessica"?
Login  |  Register
Page: 1

garry
650 posts
Jun 27, 2016
9:32 PM
Heard a band do a pretty nice rendition the Allman Brothers' classic, "Jessica" the other night, and it piqued my interest. Futzing around a little I find that the opening works pretty well on the low couple of holes, until you need to go lower and run out of harp. Can't seem to find where else on the harp fits.

So I thought I'd ask the experts: how would you approach this song? What position/tuning/overblows/magic/etc? I'd also like to hear how you arrive at whatever you suggest. Still working on how to figure things out that are more complex than the normal 1st/2nd/3rd/I/IV/V.

Here's the original:




----------

Last Edited by garry on Jun 27, 2016 9:33 PM
RyanMortos
1572 posts
Jun 28, 2016
5:23 AM
I would probably figure out what notes are in the melody, the timing, and chart that out. Then pick whatever key harmonica I could play those notes at that timing at that tempo.

----------



RyanMortosHarmonica

~Ryan

See My Profile for contact info, etc.

Philosofy
760 posts
Jun 28, 2016
6:25 AM
I've always wanted to play this on harp. Its something I'll bet Christelle could knock out and be great at.
Martin
1029 posts
Jun 28, 2016
7:01 AM
First pos on an A harp would be my starting point. Begin on hole 6.
Might sound a bit squeky -- maybe there´s a low A harp around ?-- but I´m not that wild about the current trend of the low and low low harps. Gets indistinct and mushy and I prefer the squek -- which can be tempered a bit with tone and precision.
nacoran
9124 posts
Jun 28, 2016
9:57 AM
Martin, yeah, both Hohner and Seydel have low A harps. Hohner goes down to Low Low F now I think, and Seydel to Low Low Eb?

----------
Nate
Facebook
Thread Organizer (A list of all sorts of useful threads)

First Post- May 8, 2009
hvyj
3065 posts
Jun 28, 2016
11:50 AM
Don't really know, but it sounds major pentatonic to me. So I'd try that. A lot of ABB stuff is major pentatonic.

If you run out of low register, move UP rather than down. Contrary motion is ok and can be cool. FWIW
Philosofy
761 posts
Jun 28, 2016
1:01 PM
I"m not sure if its true for this song, but I know its written by Dickie Betts. He was playing around on the guitar at home, and his three year old daughter started dancing to what he was playing, and then he started playing to what she was dancing. Cute story.

I also heard an interview with Greg Allman, who said that he had the task of transposing Dickie's songs, since Dickie didn't read music. He said that because Dickie wasn't trained, his songs were very difficult to transpose.
garry
652 posts
Jun 28, 2016
6:33 PM
Thanks for the suggestions. Playing in first starting on hole 6, as Martin suggested, works pretty well until you run out of harp on the high end. Will have to try hvyj's suggestion and move down next. I also have heard that most of Allmans' stuff is pentatonic.

Not sure I'll be able to pull this off, but it will be fun trying, and you only get better taking on stuff you can't play. Besides, this will be fun at jams. I like throwing out parts of "In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed" when I'm warming up, particularly when I'm around musicians that don't know me. Really freaks the guitar guys out.




----------
Thievin' Heathen
781 posts
Jun 29, 2016
10:14 PM
If you find you like the bottom 6 for this, or any other tune, and you find you are running out of low end, you might want to try a Steve Baker SBS 365. If I'm not mistaken, his tuning scheme duplicates the bottom 3 holes for 1 more octave down.


Post a Message



(8192 Characters Left)


Modern Blues Harmonica supports

§The Jazz Foundation of America

and

§The Innocence Project

 

 

 

ADAM GUSSOW is an official endorser for HOHNER HARMONICAS