Just to drag the thread back on topic, I find that F is one of the best keys for C chromatic--and it is, of course, Lydian . . . So Lydian Chromatic LOL
Last Edited by Gnarly on May 25, 2017 11:06 PM
A local player with whom I intermittently play gigs joined me recently playing two sets at a local venue. We took turns on vocals and I played mainly diatonic, but I love mixing in chromatic just for variety. Since it is live improvised music with little rehearsal it is not flawless, but it still entertained the audience. Here is a G Hering 5148 chromatic played in a club setting accompanying "Dark End of the Street."
It was an audio recording of a gig, so I put it as a sound track for a cat video I recorded at home to put on YouTube. No deeper meaning about a relationship between a cat and a squirrel is inferred! ----------
Doug S.
Last Edited by dougharps on Jun 11, 2017 9:03 PM
@Winslow, I get what you're saying and I'm sure you're 100% right about the proper terminology. But I've played bass for some years now and have always hear it called a sharp 5 on the bandstand. My guess is that blues players are familiar with the 5 and its more natural for the typical blues guy to just sharp a chord they're already used to playing.
I'd have to think for a second about a flat 6, but I'd instantly get a sharp 5 in the situation where someone is telling me the changes on the bandstand and I have only a few seconds to get it in my head before we play.
But thanks for the clarification on why its properly called a flat 6. Interesting stuff.
---------- Jim McBride Bottle 'O Blues microphones www.bottleoblues.com
Actually, as I think about it. More commonly I hear someone say something like ... "its like The Thrill is Gone", than to actually name the chord (sharp 5 or flat 6).
Also, I notice more guitar players naming chords than harmonica players. I learned the scale positions for all the holes on the harmonica early on in my playing, and have always thought of it in that way. When I started on bass it was natural for me to do the same. I'm not saying I don't know the chord names, because I do. But for example, if a song is in G, and someone tells me it goes to Bb, I have to think for a second, whereas if they said it has a flat 3rd I know immediately and without thinking exactly where and what it is. How many of you know every note in every key harp? Not me for sure!
---------- Jim McBride Bottle 'O Blues microphones www.bottleoblues.com
@dougharps - You're letting the cat out of the bag! You show up all smiling at seminars and classes at SPAH or theHarmonica Collective (and probably elsewhere, too) like an eager student, and then later you show up at the jam circle with a chromatic and take the whole room to school! Nice to hear you getting out in front of the public.
I never think of positions when playing chromatic, only keys. I have tried other tuned chromatics, but the pitch is not bright enough to cut through the blues bands I play with, especially when you have pounding drums, screaming guitars, and thundering bass. The tones of the lower pitched harmonicas seem to get lost.
I surrendered to learning to play in different keys on the chrome. I am comfortable in E, but I find A more challenging. And that is a favorite key with guitar players. I bought an orchestra tuned Seydel chromatic to get a few lower end notes when playing in A, but I still find that I grab the standard C chromatic.
@Winslow I really appreciate your positive comments on my efforts. I hope to see and hear you again at SPAH in Tulsa.
@Marty That was really smooth blues in E on a C chromatic! I generally choose chromatics in keys more amenable to playing in E. I do think positions on keyed chromatics.
I have sometimes heard others play blues in E on a C chromatic at SPAH blues jams, and your playing would be in the small group who can do it well with fluidity of phrasing. Those who can do it well are generally the chromatic harmonica pros.
Doug-Glad you are getting some recognition for your playing. You deserve it!
Marty- That was also impressive. Playing in E on a C chrom is supposed to be difficult,but you made it look easy! I couldn't help but Google you and the first Marty Howe that came up was not you. He's better known by his nickname-Gordy.
I enjoy your playing at HarmoniCollege. I like the different takes on songs at harp jams, and I listen carefully, especially when someone makes their musical statement with good playing. ----------
@Tuckster, Yes, that Marty Howe that you Googled is a hockey player (now retired) who is the son of the more famous Gordie Howe (now passed away) of Detroit Red Wings fame.
The Blues harp (diatonic) really has a distinctive sound. But the chromatic certainly has advantages melodically. I like to try to make the chrome sound more bluesy by bending the notes more like a blues harp. I have observed that the early blues cats who played chrome created a distinctive style using fat chords etc in certain positions, and that evolved into a traditional chromatic sound (in the blues tradition).
During the time these blues pioneers were developing the sound of the chrome, the chromatic harmonica s were difficult to bend the notes and generally leaky. So I think that contributed to the chromatic blues style sound.
However, todays chromatics are a lot more air tight and you can bend those reeds to make them sound more bluesy. I wonder if better instruments were available "in the day" that the chromatic blues tradition sound may have developed differently. We may have witnessed more bluesy playing with bending chrome notes closer to the sound of Stevie Wonder.
In any case, I love the sound and advantages of both diatonic and chromatic harmonicas, and my approach has been to try to make the chrome sound more like a blues harp, and make the blues harp sound more chromatic.
"During the time these blues pioneers were developing the sound of the chrome, the chromatic harmonica s were difficult to bend the notes and generally leaky. So I think that contributed to the chromatic blues style sound."
Where are you getting this? It's false as far as I know. Chromatic harmonicas in the 1950s were pretty good as far as I can tell from vintage instruments and from the attestations of old-timers who were playing during that time. The instruments recorded from the 1930s on, by both soloists and harmonica bands, show a high level of airtightness and compression, even acoustic overdriven sound. These qualities are often remarked on in discussions of these recordings.
Older chromatics were no less bendable than present ones. You can hear chromatic players bending notes from the 1930s on. They didn't give it as much focus as diatonic blues players do, because it wasn't central to what they were trying to do, but they did use it. When Little Walter took up playing chromatic, he evidently was fascinated by the unique sound of the chromatic, not with trying to make it sound like what he was already doing on diatonic - what would be the point? While he did occasionally bend notes on chromatic, he seemed to focus more on the different sound palette that chromatic afforded him. =========== Winslow
This is some of the the chromatic playing that Little Walter might have heard when he picked up the chromatic harmonica. Plenty of note bending, but not like blues harp and not intended to imitate it.
Larry Adler Bending notes and growling on Saint Louis Blues in 1935:
Thank you for such beautiful examples of chromatic harmonica playing blues and bending notes. Very inspiring playing and point well taken regarding the possibility of bending notes on the chrome.
My experience that playing those chromatic Hohners from that time period is that they are leaky and stiff, and bending response is certainly more difficult than the marine band diatonics of back then. For me, in MY experience coming from first being a diatonic player, switching over to a Hohner Super Chromatica, seemed very stiff and inhibiting. The chromatic harps that I play now, such as the Hohner CX-12, Suzuki G-48, and the EastTop, are for me, MUCH MUCH easier to play and bend notes like a diatonic.
It is interesting that in your inspiring examples of Larry Adler and Jerry Murad, that these guys are not blues guys primarily, but "harmonica players". Interesting to contemplate why we don't hear many examples of the dedicated blues guys playing like this.
Wouldn't it have been wonderful to have gotten the likes of Larry Adler or Gerry Murad together with Little Walter and his band? Now that would have been something to hear! Especially in the context of an authentic dedicated blues band rhythm section.
Now here is the sound of chromatic harmonica playing blues that I love! Although, as Tony Bennett says right at the beginning of this recording "there is only one Stevie Wonder"..
"It is interesting that in your inspiring examples of Larry Adler and Jerry Murad, that these guys are not blues guys primarily, but "harmonica players". Interesting to contemplate why we don't hear many examples of the dedicated blues guys playing like this.
"Wouldn't it have been wonderful to have gotten the likes of Larry Adler or Gerry Murad together with Little Walter and his band? Now that would have been something to hear! Especially in the context of an authentic dedicated blues band rhythm section."
Certainly the potential existed for paths to cross - both Little Walter's "Juke" and the Harmonicats' mega-hit "Peg O' My Heart" were recorded at Universal Studios in Chicago (but about five years apart).
While collaborations almost never happened full-on, you could tell these guys were listening to each other. For instance, here's the Harmonicats doing a very clear Sonny Terry imitation circa 1960, with bass player Don Les playing diatonic and someone else doing the whooping:
Also, Little Walter was known to listen to pop tunes and try to incorporate them into his playing. Later live recordings show him playing "Canadian Sunset" and "Watermelon Man" (the latter under a different title).
And George Smith recorded "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."
A recording exists of George Smith and Toots Thielemans playing on the same performance, Frankly, Toots sound like a fish out of water. But Toots also did some recording in 1959 with the Chess rhythm section of Willie Dixon (bass), Lafayette Leake (piano), and Al Duncan (drums). The results have never been issued; it'd be interesting to hear what that sounded like.
I have several chroms by different manufacturers. Please, please, please don't buy the latest and greatest as your first chromatic. I have a few, but my preferred tool for practicing and lessons is a SWAN 1040 in C. I paid $39.95 for it on AMAZON, including an extended two year warranty. Practice your scales, know theory. You can always get a Hohner, Suzuki, or even a Seydel later on. Just remember, when starting out, a $400.00 Seydel won't make you sound better than playing on a $40.00 SWAN.
