I've spent the last few months focusing on the chromatic, and purchasing a couple too. I now have a Swan 10-hole valveless, a 12-hole Horner CX-12, and a 16-hole Suzuki SCX 64. All have rounded mouthpieces which are well suited to my tounge-blocking style. I'm having a lot of fun again, finding out which diatonic skills transfer.
Last Edited by mr_so&so on Oct 24, 2018 7:55 PM
I did this a couple of years ago. Bought a big Swan, like a Hohner Super 64 copy. Haven't really gone into learning chrom properly, just sort of adapting 3rd position playing on it, like a lot of blues players. I love it, and it has resulted in me composing and recording a minor blues tune:
Taking a break from one instrument and transitioning to another for a bit always reenergizes me.
The chromatic is kinda like a guitar player picking up a bass. In theory it is nearly the same, but there are subtle difference. At our local jam, the house band encourages guitar players out of their comfort zone and onto the bass. Similarly, bass players grab a guitar, and I was asked to play drums. (First time) It opened my eyes to the intricacies in the music that I hadn't previously noticed.
Although the "music" created when we are on alternative instrument isn't of the same quality as when we are playing our regular stuff, our level of focus is so much greater and we leave with a sense of accomplishment. You don't worry about mistakes because everyone else is too, you just smile...
Last Edited by agarner on Oct 25, 2018 10:41 AM
Nicely done Gareth! Some nice bending there. That's one thing I'm working on still, those single-reed bends. The harps I chose are supposed to be quite bendable, but it's one of the skills that needs some adjustments from diatonic.
Last Edited by mr_so&so on Oct 26, 2018 4:45 PM
Thanks Mr So&So, the bending in that solo was actually done on a diatonic in 3rd position, which was a contrast to the chrom, but seemed to fit well. Best of both worlds, innit!
Incidentally, the chromatic wasn't a Swan, my memory was playing tricks, but a Planet - a cheapo copy of a Hohner Super 64 - good enough for mucking about with but lacks responsiveness on the lower end. happy with it for the price, though.
Agarner, that jam night sounds great! I like the idea of trying to swap instruments - a drummer I used to play with got me to try drumming at a practice once. I do my own percussion on my solo stuff, but kit drumming shreds your head! ---------- Harpeaux Edwards
Great post Mr So & So Gareth, nice work. Playing chromatic harmonica blues is one of the areas that I am putting much more work into. My friend Dave Shaw put me onto an album by Big Dave and the Ultrasonics, “No Sweat” He was with Qantas and did a lot of trips to the US and saw them live several times back in the day when they were together( Lucky bastard!) Beg, steal or borrow a copy of this album. Dave Morris plays harp and the track “Letter From St. Louis” just blows me away. It’s a regular C chromatic and it’s taken me into my first steps button pushing!!!!!! Up until now I’ve watched a few really good chromatic players, Carey Bell, George Smith and others that when playing in 3rd position don’t seem to or rarely use the button. Paul Oscher’s “What Have I Done” is another great example of magic sounding chromatic which he plays on a C chromatic with the button held in so it’s Db and he’s playing a semi tone drop in Eb. I had no idea how to incorporate the button to improve note choices and broaden my skill set. As an ear player I really had no idea how to try and improve. I bought a couple of books from Amazon (pretty much a complete waste of money) But that one track “Letter From St. Louis” has unlocked things for me. I’ve got the intro and the outro down solid and currently working on the solo which is close with the help of Amazing Slow downer. I’ll post the track to Youtube and copy it here once I’ve sorted how to add a picture to the sound file so I can upload it which I’ve just done. Just hope it works. Have fun with these two Mr So &So and good luck with your journey with the chromatics. I went crazy and bought CX-12’s in G, Bb (George Smith uses a Bb a bit) D and F and had to have a 4 octave C and found a Super 64 X on eBay for a bargain! I also went crazy and bought a G-48 but I really like the CX-12’s. I just added George Harmonica Smith's "Roaming" which uses a Bb chromatic and diatonic which is another favourite track at the moment. Enjoy
John, Thanks for posting those tracks. I'll have a close listen. I've also not done a lot of button pushing yet. Just the standard third position stuff. I'm a huge CX-12 fan. Mine is in D to get the lower pitched bottom end. I'll get more keys if I can find them cheap.
Last Edited by mr_so&so on Oct 26, 2018 4:49 PM
@John MG -- On Roaming, George Smith is not playing a Bb chromatic in 3rd position but what he's actually playing is a C chromatic in 1st position, and that requires much greater use of the slide button plus more knowledge of where the scales and all the notes are on the chromatic. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Hi Bob, I'm sorry, I can't agree with your thoughts that George is using a C in first. There are runs he does on his chromatic parts that just cannot be done with the same fluency on a C in first position. If you have a Bb chromatic and play along with it, you will immediately hear what I'm talking about. If you try and replicate some of those phrases on a C harp they are simply too complex. Those phrases are easy simple little glissando's on the Bb. His opening notes at the 2:47 mark on what for me is definitely a Bb chrom are 3D,4D,5D sliding from the 3D to a hold on the 5D on a Bb. On the C chrom the pattern for those same notes is 3B,3D,4B and I don't believe there is a chromatic player out there that could play that little run on a C chrom with the fluency he achieves. If I'm wrong I'll be more than happy to eat humble pie. I'd be interested to hear what Winslow or Gnarly think?
Harp Doc. He may have axially rotated the slider 180 degrees, I think that would reverse the action so it was always C# with the button out and C button in. Or made he's made one of the front screws on the mouthpiece act a clamp on the slider to hold it in. It's one of his regular pieces and there are a number of his versions of this song on Youtube and they are all in Eb so I'm sure he'll have his Chromatic set up and ready to go for this and other songs in Eb. As you can see from the clip, he never goes anywhere near the button!
Here's a clip of Carey Playing with his brother and you can see the way he's taped up the button slide that there is no way he's ever using it! But what a sound!
ME.HarpDoc: I happen to have read this old thread not too long ago: http://www.modernbluesharmonica.com/board/board_topic/5560960/5490784.htm?page=2 There, Paul Oscher explains that he pushes the button in and then tightens the screws of the mouthpiece to keep the slider in place.
