I'm the proud owner of a new Super 64 Chromonica, and I'm startled to discover--naive me--that Stevie Wonder is doing something very weird on "Fingertips"....assuming, that is, that he's playing it on a standard chromatic.
The tonic is played on holes 4 (low), 4 and 8, all with the button pressed in. I don't even know what to call the damned thing. Button? Slider? F if I know.
The blues scale that SW plays, coming down off the 8d (Button in) goes like this:
8d (B) 7d (B) 6d (B) 6d 5d (B) 4d (B)
Will somebody please tell me if that's the way SW plays this song? I was expecting regular dorian mode, not this.
I'm well aware that I sound like a complete newbie. Yes. As far as talking chrom harp, past standard 3 position stuff, I am indeed a newbie.
WFT should, of course, be WTF.
Last Edited by on Nov 04, 2011 1:46 PM
See how the blues scale is distributed in 1st position on a C chromatic. It sets up well for the 4th/flat 5th 'warbles' by pressing and releasing the slide rapidly on hole 10.
I used Paint on the table from HarpOn! (http://www.angelfire.com/music/HarpOn/chromlayouts.html)
The button is the "slide".
Philippe
PS: Being a relative newb to the chrom too, I actually had to take my chrom and try it with the song. I never really experimented with 1st pos assuming I had to mostly blow. Now that I have looked into it, I might start learning this position!
Last Edited by on Nov 04, 2011 2:39 PM
That's why first position works so nice on a chromatic: you've got all your major scale notes with the slide out; with the slide in, you've got all the blue notes plus the tonic and the fourth.
Stevie always seemed to like keys where he could play lots of notes with the slide in. Trills work better that way.
Hmmm. I've played first position on a chrom before--many years ago--but I played it with the root on the blow.
Hmmm. So the double stops he plays are all right there on a regular big/long C chrom? I'm amazed.
Diggs, thanks for that great clip. I think I've seen it before, but then again: this IS the way to play blues in that position. He really lays down the standard. Perfect in every funky/soulful respect.
Last Edited by on Nov 04, 2011 8:30 PM
There are a couple things he does here that are different. First he just omits one note from the blues scale in Dorian mode. Diggs would know more about this, but I think the technical term is: Dimminshed minor pentatonic scale. Dimminshed, he played the minor 5th (F#) instead of the major 5th (G). Jazz musicians will do this and it sounds good. Blues musicians won't usually make that substitution. OK the second thing is typical Stevie style. He played the 8D I (8 Draw Button in). That is a C the root note. Two reasons he does this. First is its just easier to go from 8DI to 7DI to 6DI. There all with the botton in. Thats easy! He also liked to do the little draw bend ALOT. He doesn't do it here, but did it alot. As far as double stops (As Adam mentioned). Most people that play first position chrom do not play with the botton in 50 % of the time or more. So I just want to share this. This is something I came up with awhile ago. I think this is a cool way of playing first position. I'm like most other people and play alot of blow notes. When I run out of air I'll play a draw double stop with the botton in. I just stubled on to this one day studying the note layout of the chrom, but every blow note you play on a chrom is a chord tone. OK every one knows that. Now look at all the draw note with the botton in? They all work perfect for Blues music. You can't play a wrong draw double stop with the botton in anywhere in C. I have never heard anyone mention this before and I think its just one of those easy things people over look. Ofcourse that means you can play chords, 4 hole split and 5 hole octaves. Atleast I thought that was a major break through when I figured it out! lol
Edit: That Vid from 64 was great!
Last Edited by on Nov 05, 2011 5:55 AM
@chromaticblues: Thanks! I guess I stumbled onto the same thing you stumbled onto. When I started this thread, I didn't do the one thing that I always do: figure out what key I was actually playing in. I didn't pull out a diatonic harp and quickly do that. I assumed that with the button in, I was playing in some exotic sharped key.
You're exactly right: with the slide in, it's a diminished minor pentatonic scale. Descending, it's the octave, b7, b5, b3, root. I really like that trill: 4th, b5, 4th. This way of "slide-in" playing reverses the way I'm used to trilling, but I'll just....have to learn.
I'm still having a hard time getting those double stops like Stevie in '64
not really on the video speeded up, there are other vids of this same song, same thing.. he makes fun of it...and watch the very end and they turn it off. in any case, don't try to play chrome along with the newer version
I am surprised to hear it is in C. Years ago, I learned this off a tape and I learned it in B! The tape must have been slow 1/2 step or my ear is a lot worse than I thought. Primich has a version of Caravan in D on Travelin' Mood which I learned in Db on a chrome. We were friends and when I asked him why he chose such a tough key, he look puzzled. Then we figured out my tape was slow. Anyway, it is a great exercise to learn any song in any key.
I love the names you guys come up with for scales.LOL Try thinking it's more like a blues scale without the perfect 5th. Think the button is beyond just trills think ornamentation. This is whole art form on chromatic that depends on the key the chord change the melody. For blues and jazz that half step approach to the target melody note gives flavor to any tune but be careful not to overuse it. Sometimes it's within the key sometimes it's not.
---------- Emile "Diggs" D'Amico a Legend In His Own Mind How you doin'
