didjcripey
163 posts
Dec 02, 2011
5:59 PM
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Anybody done or got any ideas how you'd tackle Tom Petty's 'Running down a dream' for harp?
Our band does a big variety of styles and genres (if it was up to me it would be just about all blues, but we get plenty of positive comments about our variety) and this is one of the ones that I am completely lost on. A couple of supporting chords is just about all I can manage. We've got a hot lead guitar that really rips on this, and I'm wondering if I should just leave it alone, though I already sit a few out and would like to figure something out.
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Lucky Lester
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FMWoodeye
78 posts
Dec 02, 2011
8:51 PM
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Well...I HAVE had a few cocktails, but I pulled it up on You Tube, grabbed an A harp and doing some background improv stuff seemed pretty intuitive, especially hitting the 2 hole full-step bend when he sings "cruise control," but now my memory is fading. But I remember
cruise control -- wahhhh --
Anyway, maybe you're trying to do too much. If people hear a steady diet of harp -- not THESE people -- the interest tends to fade. Some background licks with maybe some sustained notes and/or chordal stuff seems to work with this song. Gotta get me some audio/visual equipment to demo these concepts. We could get together on Skype or maybe speaker phone and I could show you what I mean.
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HawkeyeKane
508 posts
Dec 03, 2011
6:24 AM
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I'll second Woodeye. An A harp, background chord work with maybe a few tasty licks here and there. That's about all you can do with a song like that. Like you say Lester, your guitarist is wailing on it. Because it really is a wailing guitar song. That's not to say that it's impossible to figure out a solo on it. Hell, I think it'd be cool for the guitar and a harp to alternate the solo lines in the coda of the song! Just gotta work it out.
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Hawkeye Kane
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FMWoodeye
81 posts
Dec 03, 2011
9:32 AM
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I sometimes imagine in my head (redundancy alert!) a guitar solo and harp solo simultaneously, complementing one another. There were (are) bands that use two lead guitars. Dixieland jazz is the closest example I can come up with right now....but it doesn't really convey what I'm imagining....in my head.
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HawkeyeKane
512 posts
Dec 03, 2011
10:04 AM
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I know what you mean about the two lead guitars. Prime example of that (although it wasn't really a band) is George Harrison and Eric Clapton playing While My Guitar Gently Weeps together live. Some of the greatest fret bending and whammy bar work of all time right there.
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Hawkeye Kane
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timeistight
237 posts
Dec 03, 2011
11:03 AM
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Can you double the opening guitar riff? That might sound cool if you were nicely locked in. Other than that, I'd just play pads on the roots or roots and fifths of the chords while the guitar shredded. You could do that on an A, D, C, G or even F harp, depending on the range you wanted.
I wouldn't try to play a lot of blues on this; I don't think it'd really fit, and you'd probably end up stepping on the guitar.
Last Edited by on Dec 03, 2011 11:06 AM
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ianharpo
79 posts
Dec 03, 2011
2:08 PM
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I'd go and buy a beer at the bar.............this is definately a guitar players "show off" number - best to sit those out and take the kudos points from the git fiddler for letting him shine imho
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didjcripey
164 posts
Dec 03, 2011
2:53 PM
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Thanks for the inputs guys. I think I was probably pretty close to what you've all suggested; a few chords and octaves, mostly backing the vocals but also a bit behind the guitar. The opening riff is possible on harp but doesn't sit comfortably for me, and I think it sounds pretty hot on guitar anyway. I'd like to figure a solo, but it would be hard to build something at the same level without bringing down the song.
I'd like to hear your ideas for some background licks, FMWoody, so if we could get to together on Skype that would be good. Shoot me an email on didjcripey@yahoo.com to organise if you like.
Nothing wrong with Ianharpo's suggestion either, it really is primarily a guitarists song.
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Lucky Lester
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FMWoodeye
82 posts
Dec 03, 2011
3:19 PM
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Okay, I'll do that. Sounds like fun. One lick that I imagine (in my head) that would sound good throughout, stay in the background and complement the guitar lick is the AC/DC riff from Whole Lotta Rosie (I think is the title). You would play it in eighth notes starting on the upbeat, 2 draw, 3 draw, back down to 2 draw, up to four blow, three BLOW, three draw, two draw. Accent the four blow and last three draw a little.
Hey, that's also the Savoy Brown version of Louisiania Blues.
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