STME58
593 posts
Nov 26, 2013
11:03 AM
|
I am trying to put together a few Christmas themed songs that work well for unaccompanied harmonica. Does anyone have some good suggestions?
Thanks!
|
1847
1337 posts
Nov 26, 2013
11:12 AM
|
----------
i get a lot of request when i play my harmonica
"but i play it anyway"
|
TetonJohn
172 posts
Nov 26, 2013
12:19 PM
|
Merry Christmas, Baby (Charles Brown) -- i do alter the words just a bit to fit the setting -- for example, she got me 4 blizzack tires for christmas and now i'm livin' in paradise.
Also, "Sittin' on Top of My Sleigh" to the tune of sittin on top of the world.
Eg. The North Pole is freezin' cold; but Mrs. Santa is warm to hold, so don't worry, I'm comin' -- I'll be sittin' on top of my sleigh.
The Artic Ocean, it's big and wide; but all the chimneys, are on the other side, so don't worry, i'm comin', etc.
The chimneys i love, are long and tall, they hold me tight, and never let me fall, so don't worry....
But these two are blues, and I know you don't need such limitation!
Last Edited by TetonJohn on Nov 26, 2013 12:24 PM
|
Buzadero
1161 posts
Nov 26, 2013
12:28 PM
|
Sonny Boy's Christmas Blues
I'm Your Santa -- Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials
Christmas on the Bayou - Lonnie Brooks
One Parent Christmas -- Saffire, The Uppity Blues Blues Women
Lonesome Christmas -- Son Seals
Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin' -- Tinsley Ellis
Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me -- Charlie Sexton
My Christmas Tree is Hung With Tears -- Sarah Brown
Christmas in Prison -- The Boxmasters
BeBop Santa Claus -- Babs Gonzalez
Santa's Secret -- Johnny Guarnieri
----------
~Buzadero
Underwater Janitor, Patriot
Last Edited by Buzadero on Dec 02, 2013 5:50 AM
|
barbequebob
2390 posts
Nov 26, 2013
12:34 PM
|
----------
Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
|
HarpNinja
3618 posts
Nov 26, 2013
12:47 PM
|
I downloaded a harmonica E-book...wanna say it was like $7. I played from tab with a piano player over lunch at work as a surprise. It went really well. That book had anything you'd want to play notated in first position.
----------
Mantra Customized Harmonicas
My Website
|
STME58
594 posts
Nov 27, 2013
11:10 AM
|
Thanks for the postings. I enjoyed listening to them.
I can see I am going to eventually need to get comfortable singing. Most of these great song suggestion are not recognizable to a general audience as Christmas songs without the words. They are great songs but I don't have the skill yet to adapt them to a completely unaccompanied setting.
I am also finding that overblows are handy if you want to play a broader range of recognizable tunes. I have a couple of harps I can reliably overblow 6 and 4. I just about have Mel Torme's "Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire)" to a performance level. It can be done with just a 6 overblow. It also requires a 6 draw bend so choosing a harp that both of these work well for me leads me to a Bb.
I like HarpNinja's recommendation. I am off to the music store to buy a Christmas "Fake Book" (or a Real Book if they have it). If they have something for harp I won't have to sort through to see what I can play.
|
Aussiesucker
1347 posts
Nov 28, 2013
7:19 PM
|
Today when I did this it was 36C or 98F & i felt like I was in a sauna. Made a mistake with one of the lyrics (can you pick it?) but I wasn't going to submit myself to more torture. Interested in any comments?
----------
HARPOLDIE’S YOUTUBE
|
Aussiesucker
1350 posts
Nov 30, 2013
6:59 PM
|
Another tune that is a must on any Christmas repertoire. Very easy 1st pos tune.
----------
HARPOLDIE’S YOUTUBE
|
ricanefan
136 posts
Dec 01, 2013
10:13 AM
|
All Christmas songs are great solo acoustic, except "Little Drummer Boy", which requires at least 1 drum.
O Holy Night
The First Noel
Do You Hear What I Hear
The Christmas Song
Silver Bells
Rudolph
Frosty
I could go on and on
|
Grey Owl
398 posts
Dec 01, 2013
11:16 AM
|
@ STME58
Here's one I posted on Youtube around 4 years ago (one of my first postings after a long break from the harp)
This song was/is pretty big in the UK at Christmas. It is called 'Fairytale of New York' by The Pogues and I'm playing it without a backing track. No overblows required but a tricky little draw bend is needed (not that often though, thankfully). It's a great song and slightly different from the usual Christmas fare.
The song is sung by Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl with a great interplay of lyrics between them.
Here are the lyrics (I cut it short and finished at the '...and the boys from the NYPD choir.....x2'
small phrase on the harp then:
'It was Christmas eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me: won't see another one
And then they sang a song
The rare old mountain dew
I turned my face away and dreamed about you
Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I´ve got a feeling
This year’s for me and you
So happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
Where all our dreams come true.
Small intro phrase repeated
They got cars big as bars
They got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It´s no place for the old
When you first took my hand on a cold Christmas eve
You promised me Broadway was waiting for me
You were handsome you were pretty
Queen of New York City when the band finished playing they yelled out for more
Sinatra was swinging all the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night.
And the boys from the NYPD choir were singing Galway Bay
And the bells were ringing out for Christmas day. X2
You´re a bum you´re a punk
You´re an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy christmas your arse I pray god it´s our last.
And the boys of the NYPD choir's still singing Galway Bay
And the bells were ringing out
For christmas day.
I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you
I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can´t make it out alone
I´ve built my dreams around you
And the boys of the NYPD choir's still singing Galway Bay
And the bells are ringing out
For christmas day.'
----------
Grey Owl YouTube
Last Edited by Grey Owl on Dec 01, 2013 11:27 AM
|
nacoran
7381 posts
Dec 01, 2013
12:10 PM
|
Don't forget 'O Christmas Tree'. That's one of the very first songs I figure out on harp.
----------
Nate
Facebook
Thread Organizer (A list of all sorts of useful threads)
|
GMaj7
312 posts
Dec 01, 2013
2:22 PM
|
Here's one from last year..
Think it was on a Melody Maker tuned harp
----------
Greg Jones
16:23 Custom Harmonicas
greg@1623customharmonicas.com
1623customharmonicas.com
|
STME58
596 posts
Dec 01, 2013
9:14 PM
|
Thanks for the input guys.
I had a gig at a restaurant last night, kind of a piano bar without the piano or the bar :-).
I was able to pull of "The Christmas Song" with 6 overblow. And a song I found in a book "Grandma got ran over by a reindeer" that required a harp change (I Just couldn't get "Nuttin for Christamas" to work in the time I had to prepare). I screwed up a couple of tunes that I tried to read out of a book having only run though them a couple of times before hand but no one threw anything at me!
It was not all Christmas. I got a request for something from the 40's and was able to oblige with Tuxedo Junction, In the Mood, and American Patrol.
I was able to do a rendition of Deck the Halls that I had been working on that shifted into a series of blues riffs with the melody just recognizable. As least a couple of the audience members liked it.
I will have to keep working on my repertoire as I expect to get more opportunities to do this sort of thing. Thanks again for your postings. Especially the sound and video clips.
|
