sharpharp
48 posts
Jun 13, 2018
9:51 AM
|
As most of us know John Lennon was a keen harmonica player.With that in mind is it pure coincidence then that a song like ticket to ride plays so easily on our little diatonic,especially if begun on draw hole one.I wonder if any of those Beatles classics began as just a little tune on a harmonica,I would love to think so.
|
CarlA
948 posts
Jun 13, 2018
12:53 PM
|
........,We can only hope and pray that such is the case.
|
Martin
1478 posts
Jun 13, 2018
1:28 PM
|
Lennon was rather lousy on the harmonica. I doubt if he could produce any coherent melodies on the instrument.
But what is notable, and interesting, is that a considerable amount of Lennon songs has the min 7th note and more than a touch of the mixolydian mode in them. (Of course, Lennon would balk any hint that he knew such a higfalutin word, tough guys aren´t supposed to do that.)
|
Arrick
150 posts
Jun 13, 2018
1:28 PM
|
I have a friend who writes jingles and composes music. He’s not a harp player perse but uses the limited note selection of a diatonic harp to find hooks and melodies quickly. He claims the harmonica is the best instrument to do this with.
|
Rustys26
78 posts
Jun 13, 2018
7:05 PM
|
I can't imagine that there is an instrument better than the piano to write melodies with......
|
The Iceman
3589 posts
Jun 14, 2018
5:49 AM
|
True that the piano has ALL the notes....in order to divide those notes into subsets, one must have some theory knowledge and a bit o' practice on the instrument.
A diatonic harmonica - especially when you consider position playing approach - creates these subsets without needing that theory knowledge. So, it makes sense that some prefer this route to deliver to them good note choices.
btw, in my opinion, John Lennon WAS a creative harmonica player....as a matter of fact, "Love Me Do" was an early introduction to harmonica for me!
----------
The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Jun 14, 2018 5:50 AM
|
SuperBee
5431 posts
Jun 14, 2018
7:25 AM
|
He took opportunities to learn some technique from Harry Pitch and Delbert McClinton. I can only think of 2 songs he played on, but were there others beside LMD and ISHKB?
|
Gnarly
2508 posts
Jun 14, 2018
4:00 PM
|
Glad you asked--
https://youtu.be/YwOv7v1vnoo
|
SuperBee
5432 posts
Jun 14, 2018
6:46 PM
|
Wow, 16, although that’s Beatles numbers with a harp, not necessarily JL in all cases. Still a lot more than I would have imagined.
The video asserts he used a G Chromatic on 6 of those. I’m sure I’ve seen this discussed at some time. Not quite clear if it’s required, I’ve used a diatonic on LMD and seems to work fine
|
Gnarly
2509 posts
Jun 14, 2018
11:38 PM
|
Yeah, I can play the solo on LMD with a cross harp, but you can tell it's being bent--and the record doesn't sound like that.
http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q29.html6afbbk
|
SuperBee
5433 posts
Jun 15, 2018
5:20 PM
|
Ah yeah pat missin identies the harps somewhat differently than the video. All the stuff identified as G Chromatic has a different explanation from pat. Mostly C chromatic and a couple 12 hole echo vampers in various keys.
|
