I've gotten interested in the Chromatic and have been working hard on it for a couple weeks now. I'm playing it in 3rd position. I'm comfortable in 3rd position on the diatonic so it was fairly easy to get comfortable playing the minor pentatonic scale. Next step was to learn where other common notes are located such as the 2, b5, 5#, 7. Now I'm working on the octaves. I can play them, but cleanly hitting them and moving around the harp using them in scales and songs will take time. I'm working on it...
What I'm looking for is some suggestions on good chromatic harp songs to work on. Songs that someone at my level can work through and learn from. Nothing too far out of reach at this point. I don't have much of a library of chrome blues so I'm looking for some suggestions. Wiliam Clarke, George Smith, Dennis Gruenling? Any specific suggestions?
rod piazza 'who knows whats goin on' has a great tag fill --r piazza ' STRATOSPHERIC' harpburn' 'first lov' hart throb' I only own a Bb and c chromatic, so if I want to work on a song outside of the keys I can play in 3rd-----I put the song in 'Audacty' and change the pitch Audacityis free----I too finally got motivatedtolearn chroomatic in third---good luck
At bluesharmonica.com, Dave Barrett's got a series of lessons on chromatic. They're great! Starts with the intuitive approach-- which it sounds like you've gotten down-- and then has five study songs of increasing difficulty. They're different grooves-- slow blues, shuffles, and rock beats. ---------- Marc Graci YouTube Channel
Don't overlook Little Walter, who started the whole third-position chromatic approach. He recorded several great solos and instrumentals on 16-hole chromatic, both on his own and accompanying Muddy Waters.
Check out Muddy's original recording of "I Just Want to Make Love to You,' where Walter plays third-position diatonic behind the vocal but switches to chromatic for the solo; "All Aboard," where Walter provides the sound of the train moving on chromatic while Cotton supplies the train whistle on second-position diatonic. Also "Ooh Wee," with Walter providing lots of dark, low-register sound on his 64, and his jazzier take on "I'm Ready."
On his own, Walter recorded several instrumentals with chromatic, sometimes switching back and forth with second-position diatonic, such as "Blue Lights," "Teenage Beat," "Flying Saucer," and also his vocal with chrom solo "Blue and Lonesome."
Walter didn't often play octaves on chromatic but he did use splits with a three and four hole spread, which may be easier to deal with as you adapt to the wide five-hole spread required for octaves on the chromatic. His tongue action on the mouthpiece was usually from side to side as opposed to the on-off motion favored by George Smith and most of the players who came up in his wake, including Piazza, Clarke, Hummel, Gruenling and others; Kim Wilson is more of a Walter disciple.
Also, Walter rarely use the slide when he played 16-hole chromatic. One tune where he did was Muddy's "Don't Go No Further," which is in Eb. Walter is playing with the slide in, but uses an out-to-in slide movement near the end of the second verse of his solo.
If you want to widen your knowledge and experience of the chromatic beyond existing models, you might check out the long series of chromatic articles I authored for David Barrett when he was editing the Harmonicasessions.com webzine. You can access those articles via my website here =========== Winslow
i always liked that riff. its just a great groove. and those lyrics! rod never did use the button much, more little walter perhaps than george smith. he tends to use the chrom to get those low notes. i have always preferred that style than full on chromatic style myself. i remember seeing him and he had the button taped in, what we now know as 10 th position. pretty sure he considered it 3 rd. but we now know better "thanks winslow" early on bill clarke did not use the button much, it grew more and more chromatic as time went on, but usually always in 3 rd position. firmly rooted in the blues.
Considering the thread, perfectly appropriate. I think you might try second position on the chrom--works for me, I use an Orchestra tuned harp so it starts on the low G.
Even sans button use I think the 4 and 5 hole splits the chrom offers are one reason to use it rather than the diatonic but the other is the minor six chord is there in full on the low end of the chrom where you have to start on draw 4 on the diatonic to get it. The big draw chord and the change in tonality because of the tuning gives a very different flavor and the big draw chord is a powerful tool..
chrom is so cool I gotta work on it more! ---------- 4' 4+ 3' 2~~~ -Mike Ziemba Harmonica is Life!
Last Edited by slaphappy on Sep 07, 2016 7:00 PM
@Goldbrick I rally like the sound of an amped chromatic, especially with the octaves. But I never said I wouldn't use the button. When I say I play in 3rd position I mean that I'm playing the root note out of the 1,5, and 9 draw holes. I don't mean that I'll restrict myself to only the standard blues scale out of this position.
These are all great tunes and places to start but it's time to move farther on the Chrom. I would learn litle by little all of the blues scales on the Chromatic. There are a lot of keys that work great not just 3rd positon. Here's a tune in A minor using a C Chromatic.