John95683
139 posts
Mar 02, 2014
9:42 AM
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Does anyone have, or can point me to a source for, the keys for William Clarke's tunes? Thank you.
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tmf714
2445 posts
Mar 02, 2014
10:27 AM
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Last Edited by tmf714 on Mar 02, 2014 10:36 AM
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tmf714
2446 posts
Mar 02, 2014
10:28 AM
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Last Edited by tmf714 on Mar 02, 2014 10:47 AM
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tmf714
2447 posts
Mar 02, 2014
10:30 AM
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John95683
140 posts
Mar 02, 2014
11:38 AM
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Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you very much
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Greg Heumann
2621 posts
Mar 02, 2014
11:45 AM
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Nothing wrong with asking the key of a song, but I CAN tell you that experience will prove there are a couple of rules about keys:
Rule #1: Just because someone you listened to does a song in some key doesn't mean the guy YOU play with will choose the same key. If you're a singer, you choose the key that best fits the song to your vocal range. You need to be prepared to play any song in any key.
Rule #2: You need to learn how to figure out the key of a song all by yourself. I learned the following from David Barrett many years ago and it is a skill I use every time I am on stage unless it is my own band (where I know every key in advance.) Dave calls this "using the C harp as a pitch pipe"
1) Memorize the names of the notes available on the 1st 4 holes of your C harp. Unbent, the blow notes from 1 to 4 are C, E, G, C and the draw notes are D, G, B, D. From there you can figure out that a 3 draw half step bend is a Bb. A 3 draw whole step bend is an A. etc. You only have to do this once. It will be with you for the rest of your life. Go ahead, memorize the note names!
2) Learn to hear to the root note of a tune. This is the one note that you could play over all 3 chords of a I-IV-V progression that will sound like it fits. The bass player should be hitting it at the beginning of every "I" section. I used to find this note by humming to myself - now I go straight to the harp. Find what works for you. You will get better and better at this.
3) Now, find that note on the 1st 4 holes of a C harp. (when you're starting out - hum it, play it, hum it, play it - make sure.) THAT note is the key of the song. Now you know which harp to pick up, depending on the position in which you want to play.
This is a skill that you will get better and better at over time. It is good to improve your listening skills in general - you should be able to actively "hear" the root note of a tune quickly - as well as the root note of the IV and V chords - in your head- and know where they are on your harp.
I can now do this in just a few seconds. I always get it right the first time (always for blues, only "most of the time" for other kinds of music where my ear is less developed to chord progressions.)
I encourage everyone to learn this method. There is nothing that looks more like "amateur" on stage than seeing a guy pick up harp after harp trying to find the right one.
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/Greg
BlowsMeAway Productions
See my Customer Mics album on Facebook
BlueState - my band
Bluestate on iTunes
Last Edited by Greg Heumann on Mar 02, 2014 11:46 AM
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tmf714
2448 posts
Mar 02, 2014
1:05 PM
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"There is nothing that looks more like "amateur" on stage than seeing a guy pick up harp after harp trying to find the right one."
You mean like Mickey Raphael?-
If someone is going to play a William Clarke tune,I want to hear a reasonable facsimile of it-I would most preferably like to hear the song sung in the same key as William,using the correct harmonica for that song-the key and position that William used on that particular tune-in general I would agree about other peoples music-but if your going to pull out a William Clarke tune,you better do a damn good job-otherwise,don't do it any injustice by "faking" it-
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Last Edited by tmf714 on Mar 02, 2014 2:45 PM
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John95683
141 posts
Mar 02, 2014
1:16 PM
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I'm just interested in playing along with the recordings, so it is very helpful to me to know the correct key. I have no intention of playing anything by Mr. Clarke on stage.
Having said that, Greg's advise is very good. Thanks, Greg.
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SuperBee
1722 posts
Mar 02, 2014
1:26 PM
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I'm happy to see that list, but I feel like 'cash money' is a C chromatic. I mean, I felt it was...not sure why. Just sounded 'valvey'. I'll just give it a go in second position...
Last Edited by SuperBee on Mar 02, 2014 1:38 PM
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tmf714
2449 posts
Mar 02, 2014
1:41 PM
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If your talking about "Cash Money"-the second song in this vid-its a G harp in 2nd position for sure-
Last Edited by tmf714 on Mar 02, 2014 2:44 PM
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DukeBerryman
200 posts
Mar 02, 2014
8:21 PM
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@Greg Thanks for the tips - I just started doing this tonight - it's working for me. And good to know my ear will get better.
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CWinter
124 posts
Mar 03, 2014
5:45 AM
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What ever happened to that website where it listed the keys of many classic blues tunes? The one where the photos in the first couple of posts were taken from? I used to refer to that website all the time....then one day it was gone. What the hell?
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tmf714
2452 posts
Mar 03, 2014
11:50 AM
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I printed out all the pages I cared for one day at work when I did not have much going on-Dave Barrett said don't plan on it coming back anytime soon-it went away when his new website launched-
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