Kingley
2831 posts
Jun 30, 2013
10:26 PM
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Whilst I'm not great on chromatic, I can play a fair bit in third position blues on chromatic and am fairly confidently jamming in it, but I'd like to move beyond that. I should probably mention that can also play a little in first. I would like to learn to play more fluently in at least three other keys on the chromatic. I'm aware of Slidemeister.com and Harptabs.com which are both good resources for chromatic harmonica material.
So far my initial plan after watching a couple of Michael Rubin's videos on YouTube is to print off the scales and run through them in my practice sessions. Hopefully at some point they'll sink into my thick skull and stay there.
So my questions really are:
What's the best way to approach moving beyond third position blues playing?
Is it better to learn songs in various keys or run scales?
Am I better off learning the make up of chords or is it better to concentrate on learning scales and notes first?
What are the best keys to learn at first?
Are there any good free resources out there to learn from?
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Hopefully my ramblings aren't too confused and make some assemblance of sense.
Last Edited by Kingley on Jun 30, 2013 10:29 PM
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jbone
1289 posts
Jul 01, 2013
3:47 AM
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King, you may be further along than me actually. I did want to say that I have 2 chromatics I keep in my case and use often, they are a baritono 12 hole in C and a 12 hole in G. I keep a mid range 12 hole in C also but have not played it much lately.
I just sort of follow the progression along when doing chro in 3rd. Having pretty much no musical training, I have still learned a lot by just experimenting.
Not much for 1st as yet. I actually learned to play a Chrometta 8 in 2nd initially but could not get all the notes I wanted and some were blow on the Chro and draw on a diatonic, so I opted for less confusion at the time.
I'm a big fan of some chromatic stuff Carey Bell did along with Will Clarke and James Cotton, among others.
My framework is basically to follow the chord progression and take small forays via single notes during solos.
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Gnarly
627 posts
Jul 01, 2013
5:23 AM
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Probably the best way to learn chrom is to relate it to holes 4-7 on the diatonic--American notes, solo tuning.
I have a few YouTube videos on chrom--
GaryLehmann is the user name.
It's always good to learn the fingerings for scales. I like the keys of C, F, G, and Bb. I DON'T like A!
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Frank
2542 posts
Jul 01, 2013
5:58 AM
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Approach learning other keys the same way you became proficient at 3rd...
Use your knowledge of the effort it took to learn 3rd and transpose that knowledge to any other position.
That would suffice I suppose?
Personally I would learn songs and study the scales and chords they used to work off of :)
Last Edited by Frank on Jul 01, 2013 6:01 AM
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chromaticblues
1421 posts
Jul 01, 2013
7:38 AM
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Try doing this. Learn how to play a 12 bar Blues in the key of C G and Dm.
In C you'll need to play a little in F and G.
In G you'll do the same in C and D.
IN D you'll do the same in G and A.
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timeistight
1281 posts
Jul 01, 2013
8:36 AM
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"What's the best way to approach moving beyond third position blues playing?"
Learn it like any other musical instrument. Start simple plying familiar melodies in friendly keys.
"Is it better to learn songs in various keys or run scales?"
You need both.
"Am I better off learning the make up of chords or is it better to concentrate on learning scales and notes first?"
You need both. Chords are derived from scales so one helps the other.
"What are the best keys to learn at first?"
Start with C major and then gradually add the sharps and flats: F, G, Bb, D, Eb, A, etc.
Are there any good free resources out there to learn from?
12-hole chromatics have a very similar range to the flute, so if your local library has beginning flute books you can use them.
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Kingley
2832 posts
Jul 01, 2013
9:27 AM
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Gnarly - Thanks. I'll be certain to check out your videos.
"Personally I would learn songs and study the scales and chords they used to work off of :)"
Frank - Thanks that sounds like a good idea.
Timeistight - Thank you. I didn't know the similarity to the flute. That could be very useful. I'll have to check out the library.
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barbequebob
2298 posts
Jul 01, 2013
9:58 AM
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What Gnarly is saying is essential how the chromatic harps are laid out and basically each octave on a chromatic repeats that.
Learning to play blues on a chromatic in 1st position for players not used to using the button is going to be a challenge, but what you're essentially doing is kinda like turning 1st position into 3rd and you'll find certain phrases may be a bit more challenging to play but also in return certain things become much easier to play as well.
Learning the scales becomes much more important here. On occasion, I've done tunes on a chromatic where I"m starting out in first position, playing a 64 in C, then go up modulate to C#, then D, then Eb, and finally E. When you have a band behind you that PAYS ATTENTION to what's happening, you can really flip people's minds out easily because it's something you usually don't see harp players pulling off SUCCESSFULLY and crowds eat that stuff up like crazy, especially when playing a slow blues and that's doing something I've seen plenty of guitar players do over the years.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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Kingley
2834 posts
Jul 01, 2013
10:34 AM
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Thanks for the info Bob. My plan so far from what everyone has said so far, is to learn some songs (not necessarily blues) to keep the learning fun. I also plan to practice scales to give me a more solid grounding.
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timeistight
1282 posts
Jul 01, 2013
10:46 AM
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My advice above is more about learning the whole instrument rather than just using it for blues. If you're primarily interested in blues chromatic, I think the best position after third is twelfth: F on a C chromatic. You can play an F minor pentatonic with the button held in or an F major pentatonic without touching the button. Adding one button move to each of those scales gives you F blues scale and an F major blues scale. Those four scales get you through a heck of a lot of blues in F.
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1847
888 posts
Jul 01, 2013
10:48 AM
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i put in a jimi lee backing track
played along on a diatonic "D"
then swithched to a D chromatic
an A arpeggio with the 6 th added is right where you would expect it you can use the button to get the flatted 3 rd that is as far as i have gotten
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third times a charm!
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Kingley
2835 posts
Jul 01, 2013
10:51 AM
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Timeistight - Thank you for the information. I'd like to move beyond playing just blues on the chromatic. Of course I still want to be able to play blues on it as well. So the info on playing in F will come in very handy too.
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MP
2799 posts
Jul 01, 2013
1:20 PM
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Kingley,
Dude! go for it! you won't regret it. there is an enormous sense of accomplishment attendant to getting even one single tune down.
people flip, well the harp players do- when i play the chromatic as it was intended to be played. Paul Delay called it, "pulling the trigger". :-) i like the way Paul put it.
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MP
affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
click user name [MP] for info-
repair videos on YouTube.
you can reach me via Facebook. Mark Prados
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