That was interesting. I love Little Wing. I never would of thought of attempting it on the harp. It seems that the guitar player was playing half Hendrix and half the SRV version. And with no Trem arm on that Strat that lends itself to the Clapton version also...I'd say all bases covered...lol. To me the harp playing sounded like a guitar solo done with the harp. I'm not a big fan of that type of approach. I'm not saying it wasn't good, I know you can play. I just don't go for that type of soloing personally. Then again, I'm not a big fan of a lot of harmonica played with what I call regular music. Non blues, or melodies, camp fire etc. Yea...I'm boring. lol
Thanks for posting that.
---------- Tommy
Bronx Mojo
Last Edited by on Aug 29, 2011 12:17 PM
"Little Wing" is easy to play on harp. It's in E natural minor. Use a C harp in 5th position and it lays out perfectly note for note. No sweat.
What position are you playing it in? It sounds like you are having to approximate some of the melody, but in 5th position the melody is playable note-for-note. No approximations or OBs necessary.
The tune is in E natural minor which is Aeolean mode. The tune doesn't work quite right in Dorian because of the major 6th (C#) you get in the Dorian mode. C# doesn't work over the Am chord, the third of which is C (not C#). This is why you are having to fudge certain parts of the melody. I know a lot of harp players will use third position for all minors, but, FWIW this tune isn't Dorian. It's Aeolean. I play it all the time in Fifth position.
Fifth position is actually Phrygian mode, but you can play Aeolean in fifth pretty easily because you have the minor 3rd, minor 6th and minor 7th without having to bend. I think Mad Cat Ruth does "Little Wing" in fourth position, but I like the way it lays in in fifth. I think it's a little rough in third. Too much fudging is required on the IV (Am) chord if you use third position/Dorian mode. FWIW.
Look, look, the position does not determine the mode how you will play ... just the notes and scales make it! I did dorian mode... And I love the 6th major tension You can try and see!!I used this tension!
I think it's difficult to play minor in second position. Blues is easy in second, but to play minor in second you have to hit the 3 draw half step bend dead on pitch even in passing, and you need to avoid blow 7 (and, if it's natural minor, you also need to avoid blow 2 and blow 6 and either avoid blow 8 or bend blow 8 a perfect half step) all of which is a lot to keep track of especially at fast tempo. Can it be done? Yeah. Is it easy to do? No.
The fifth position minor key is the relative minor for the second position major key so it's easy to modulate between them on one harp. You can also play Dorian in fifth by bending draw 4 to get the major 6th and avoiding blow 7.
Playing C# over an A minor chord is not "tension," It's a bad note. I listen to harp players try to play natural minor in third position all the time, so it's done a lot, but most of the time fourth or fifth position will give the player better note selection for playing in natural minor keys. Third is perfect for Dorian minors, though.
