One of my goals currently is to really make an effort to open up the whole whole range of the harp in 2nd position. I just can't seem to make any bluesy riffs up there without including the 6 overblow (minor third) at least, so I'm also working on making that note sound good. Today, while working on good notes up there, I started playing an extended and modified blues scale (up to the upper minor third),
What caught my attention was how good it sounds to do a descending riff from 10b'' down to 6b, then continue on down using the regular blues scale
5d, 4d, 4d', 4b, 3d', 2
The "extended" blues scale at the top of the harp has the same number of notes as the regular blues scale and contains all blues scale notes. Somehow, if these two scales are played one after the other they sound really complementary.
I'm not sure if what I'm saying makes sense, or if it's just kind of a "duh, those are all blues scale notes" thing. But now I think that by practising that extended scale I will definitely be able to open up the whole harp in 2nd, because it feels like I'm able to play a whole scale up there, and not just a few good notes.
@Stevelegh, I'm not really a harp tinkerer, so I've not managed an overdraw yet. 6ob is what I can do without much effort, so that's all I'm willing to add in at the moment.
@Frank, what octaves do you like to do on the high end in 2nd position? ----------
Regardless of position, I'll use any octave that is available and will work...I think in the key of "C" and I imagine the layout of a "C" harmonica in my mind regardless of the harp I'm using. So with that reference, I'll use the b-b, c-c, d-d, e-e, f-f, g-g, a-a octaves...I could play them as single notes too, its an artistic choice...I'm "musically challenged" and always try to keep things as simple as possible but definitely as interesting as possible also - and octaves are a nice easy way to change my sound on the high end.
Last Edited by on Feb 27, 2012 3:55 PM
I am also currently working on improving my playing at the top of the harp too. I can't overblow (not for lack of trying, this is something else I am to working on) so I have taken to tuning the 7draw down a half step which gives me the minor 3rd in second position.
Anyway, the notes mr so & so describe are in fact most of the notes in the blues scale in the upper octave with the exception of the flat 5th which would be the 7od as Stevelegh suggests.
The full step bend on the 10 blow should give you the minor third of the next octave up (I think). The 10blow unbend should also give you a blues scale note, the 4th.
So, blues scale notes all the way through the harp:
@so&so: Yes, yes, and yes again! I've been playing versions of the scale you outline for the past 20 years. At every clinic I teach, I've been urging folks to use that upper octave. The 6ob and the 10b whole-step bend are required, as you note, to make the blues scale work up there. I practice some version of that upper-octave scale every time I pick up the harp.
The next step beyond this is to add in the 7od to get the flat 5th. I'm still working on that. I can get it on some harps and not on others; I know what to do with it when I get it.
Todd Parrott works the upper octave blues scale in a straight-ahead blues/gospel vein better than anybody out there, IMO. He's very fast, gets all the notes (ob and od), and, most importantly, makes it all sound very soulful. Soulful speed-demons are...well, it packs quite a whallop. In 99% of performance contexts, I'm the fast, adventurous, upper-octave guy relative to my fellow harp guys. When I stand on a stage next to Todd, that trick ain't gonna get me very far. And I really don't mind.
Todd's too modest to say this, but I think he's got the best chance of any harmonica player I've seen to cross over and become the public sound and image of what pure-D American blues harmonica is about: unamped, very little tongue-blocking, just straight-up, stand-at-the-mic-and-blow-hell-out-of-it stuff. Sweet, strong, soulful, and clear, with much more blues than Buddy Greene. (And we love Buddy Greene.) He's definitely modern, in technical terms--all those ODs and OBs, some of them bent and/or held and vibratoed--but his tonality is straight down the middle of the blues/gospel/country road. Most listeners won't hear "modern." They'll just hear "great!" Todd should be center stage at the Grand Ol' Opry, he should be the first-call studio guy in Nashville and L.A., he should be all over movie and TV soundtracks. He's really got it. One reason among many that he's got it is that he makes huge use of the upper octave blues scale you've outlined above.
Last Edited by on Feb 28, 2012 9:24 AM
I couldn't agree more with your last 2 paragraphs. Todd is amazing and deserves to be famous.
Check this vid. The whole thing is great, but the outro at 9:09 is amazing. I soo want to play like this. (Todd, I will be booking some Skype lessons soon. Jan / Feb is a hard time for me financially).
7od Tips anyone? I have a 75% success rate with the 6ob and want to introduce the 7od now. Not sure what I should do. Is it like a bend or reverse overblow?
ALso what does the 7od harp set-up entail please?
Last Edited by on Feb 28, 2012 9:36 AM
@kudzurunner, it did take that "aha" moment for things to finally click that I now have a workable scale up there. I'm already starting to build new licks and transpose licks from the bottom of the harp to the top. This will be my main project for a few months, I'm sure. I'm mostly a tongue-blocker now, which diverges from what you've said, and I do the 10b'' and 6ob TB'd, at least on the low harps. I'm excited to keep exploring that upper half of the harp in 2nd. ----------
You probably know that it is the blow reed that does the work and produces the overdraw note, while the draw reed chokes (stops vibrating)and is silent.
It is trying to choke the reed that is difficult at the start. To make this easier you could remove the coverplates and rest your finger on 7 draw reed then attempt the overdraw.
I usually drop the tip of my tongue down a little lower which automatically raises the middle of the tongue and this helps. Unlike a normal bend where you grab the air and draw the pitch down with lowered jaw and mouth, on the overdraw I'm not shaping the bend but simply drawing the air sharply back with my mouth shape locked in place with the lower tongue tip position.
When the overdraw sounds it won't sound like a bending note but rather a single note (a semitone higher than the blow 7)
The gapping needs to be a little bit tighter particularly on the draw reed which needs to 'choke' If you set it too tight then normal draw 7 will not work properly when playing with normal breath pressure so then you have to ease it back a bit.
Hope this helps, but these things are notoriously difficult to describe. It's like wrting down instructions to tell someone how to whistle.
At first you will feel like you have to draw quite hard to sound the note but once you have it you find you can use more finesse and less breath power ---------- Grey Owl YouTube Grey Owl Abstract Photos
Last Edited by on Feb 28, 2012 2:47 PM
I really enjoy when Todd shares about harp via video - for me it really makes the concepts come alive and tangible. And his relaxed approachable demeanor is a plus...a totally remarkable player and it's a pleasure to listen to his sensational innovative tonefull playing!
@ tooka - I very much second greyowls description of the 7 OD. I can get it on some of my harp. Not in a musical context, though. :). I can't say I use the flat five all that much in the middle octave either except as a wailing note 4D-4D'-4D etc. That is probably a great flaw but in runs I usually skip from 4B to 4D or vice versa or slur bend when descending... No real NOTE per se.
That's part of why I cant seem to go for the 7 OD, apart from it's much harder for me than the 6 OB. 6B, 6OB, 7B, 8D and so on sound perfectly fine and there's no way in hell I can wail between 7OD and 8D.
I'd really like to hear what Kudzurunner 'know what to do with it when (he) get it'. Not that I doubt that you do in any way, Adam. It's just that I have no clue myself :)
But then again, I'm lacking in just so many ways ---------- Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
Wow! Todd has the most musical ob od style I've heard. His intonation is spot on, you can hardly tell how he is achieving the notes. Its like he has extra reeds fited!!
I'm very impressed. Beautiful playing Todd :o)
Thanks for the good info above.
Highly recommend Joe Spiers harps. I've got a stage 1 Marine Band. Its the best,most easy to play harp I own. After hearing Todd I realise I'm nowhere near reaching the instruments potential,
I'm just tuning back in since I left for the Tulsa Harp Summit. Hanging out in MI this week with very limited internet access....
Wow! Thanks a million for the kind words, Adam. And thanks to all of you as well for the kind comments.
In all honesty, I learned to play fast and to use the upper register of the harp by listening to players like Buddy Greene and Terry McMillan, though Terry used the upper register more often on other folks' albums. I never was able to incorporate overdraws the way I do now until I got into custom, squeal-free harps like Joe offers. If the harp squeals, then it makes playing overdaws much more frustrating.
To me, playing an overdraw bend feels much more like playing a regular draw bend than it does when you bend an overblow. 2 suggestions I often offer are to:
1) Play the harp with the covers off, and use your finger to block the 7 draw reed so that the overdraw (which is the blow reed sounding) will pop right out. This will at least give you an idea of how it's supposed to feel.
2) Buy an all-blow pitch pipe. I think Suzuki makes them, as do other manufacturers. Since they only have a set of blow reeds in them, they will overdraw perfectly, and will bend up perfectly without squealing, because there is no draw reed (which is the one that squeals).
Once you at least get an idea of how/what it's supposed to feel/sound like, you'll then need to try it on your harp with the covers on, but having a good harp that's been set-up for this is the key. Remember, you're forcing the harmonica to do something it wasn't designed to do. Of course, they didn't have bending in mind when they invented it either, but overblowing and overdrawing is a more radical technique in my opinion, so setting up the harp will be required to nail it consistently.
As for general use of the higher octave of the harp, I sometimes encourage folks to get a lower tuned harp like low Eb or low F and practice playing tunes in the higher octave on those keys. It's the same layout of course, but it seems a little less intimidating when the harp is lower. A lot of ballads or hymns sound good on low harps like this, as well as Christmas songs.
@took..for the 7 od..relax and try to open you mouth and throat as much as you can. Imagine there is a hole right behind your two front teeth and you are trying to pull air into that hole.
Overdraws took me a lot longer than overblows, but once you get the technique they seem more natural than an ob.
Last Edited by on Feb 29, 2012 12:10 PM
"there's no way in hell I can wail between 7OD and 8D " Pistolcat.....once you get the 7 od and learn to bend it up 1/2 step (same note as 8 draw)you can really wail. It is the same two notes as wailing on draw 4 and bending it down.
