Hi, new to the Dirty Blues forum. Been playing for a while, just getting into different positions and stuff. Was wondering if anyone could tell me what position this arrangement of Baby, Please Don't Go is in. Thanks!!
That would be 2nd position. For blues, 2nd position should always be your first assumption - probably 85% or more of all blues harp is played in 2nd. That's just a fact - doesn't mean other positions aren't wort knowing about.
Personally I don't like the 1 draw back to 2 draw during the turnaround (like "-leans" in "new orleans" - I would go all the way down to a 1 blow there. ---------- /Greg
Jlnx - i think i recognise the book and all of the songs are 2nd position (maybe one is in first position?).
You are in the right place to get this sort of information.
Positions give you opportunity to empahise sweet parts of the instrument. For example 6draw/ 6 draw bend isn't really held in second position but in third it can be very sweet.
The blues in the book are standards so if you are doing a copy yo would probably be best to stay in the same position as the original.
Thanks guys. It seems I just can't get this tune to sound right. Maybe it's all those bends and half bends. I'm gonna put this one on hold for now, come back to it in the future.
Can I ask you to have a look at this Hoochie Coochie Man arrangement? Again, I'm having trouble finding the root note.
I instantly typed in 2nd position then had another look. I'm now thinking this is 1st position - Major pentatonic scale ??
I didn't get on with the book - its years old and so probably offered people a great resource but now with the internet there is better.
If you search for the song you will find a breakdown of the chords (and on youtube a backing track version) and then can try out a few harps to see what position fits.
I could be wrong with my guess at the position but definately if you want to think about playing in new positions a few backing tracks and a handful of harps will allow you to take your first steps.
Hmm, I gotta be honest, these tabs seems screwy to me. Or they're just totally different version of these songs or something. Take that with a grain of salt, because I haven't been playing very long, but they don't look anything like the ways I'm used to playing these songs. I thought Baby Please Don't Go was blue 3rd to 2 draw for the main riff. Maybe someone else can confirm.
The problem with this tabs is that they tabbed the vocal part and not the harmonica part.That's where the confusion is . ---------- Free video harp tabs and backing tracks
No wonder so many people get confused. Those are the screwiest "arrangements" I ever saw to both of the tunes. Wonder who told that person he was a teacher? What a waste of a student's time.
---------- "A man who will not FORCE himself to rise above his circumstances is doomed to a life of mediocrity"....Ty Cobb
Yeah, Sorin is dead on - they tabbed the vocal melody - not a decent harp part or "the" harp part - whatever was the popular version in the day. If you want to learn blues, I HIGHLY recommend you look into the Harmonica Masterclass books by David Barrett. He is one of the best, if not the best teacher on the planet. More published than any other - so he knows his methods WORK. ---------- /Greg
I agree with Greg , David Barett is the man for this kind of stuff , his books have backing tracks with vocals and the right tab. I have some videos of me playing the tabs from one of his books, in my beginner days , so you can get an idea of what you would get.
That was fun. When I saw the tab I played it in my head and kept stumbling over it. It worked out like a test of my ability to look at something musically "new" and translate it. The discussion described what I was hearing.
So much fun! And for even more fun get together with a buddy and run those 4th position tabs against some 2nd or 1st position riffs. You gonna hear blues colors like you never done heard b4!
