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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Little help on notes in a chord progression
Little help on notes in a chord progression
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Rgsccr
388 posts
Jan 22, 2016
10:55 AM
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Hopefully I titled this in a way that accurately describes my question. First let me say, that, like many of you, I mainly play by ear, and I think I can hear the notes I should be playing. However, a recent video of Jason Ricci talking about his personal and musical philosophy got me thinking (not necessarily a good thing). In particular, as he was talking about Little Walter's genius, he illustrated how Little Walter was able to fit the deep three draw bend (normally a no-no) into many of his riffs by finding the right chord of the I,IV,V to play it in. That got me wondering why particular notes fit into the progression. Long story short, a friend, Brian Lee gave me a much needed primer on scales vs. chord progression (I hope I am saying that correctly), and got me to read some in Winslow's "Harmonica for Dummies" and also "Music Theory for Dummies." So, for a second or so, I thought I had a handle on this, but then I started looking at a Lee Oskar chart showing the notes that you can hit on each diatonic harp and I realized that I am still pretty foggy. Here is what I don't get (sorry for the long intro but I don't think my question would makes sense without it) - if I am playing a C harp in second position (song is in G), the I is the draw 2 (G), the IV is the blow 4 (C), and the V is the draw 4 (D), correct? Then, why do notes like the three draw half step bend (Bb) or the draw four bend (Db) fit. What I thought I understood after talking to Brian Lee is that they fit as part of the scale that you are now into when you play the I, or the IV, or the V chord. That is, notes that fit into the I chord would be on the G scale (for a C harp in second position), notes that fit into the IV would come from the C scale, the V from D scale. Is that correct? If so, I don't see where Bb or the Db are on those scales. Now don't worry, I was able to put all of this in the background and play just fine, but I still would like to know what it is I am missing. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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STME58
1527 posts
Jan 22, 2016
11:06 AM
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I think you will find part of your answer in the G blues scale.
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Rgsccr
390 posts
Jan 22, 2016
11:31 AM
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Ok - that does help STME58. Thanks.
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DannyRanch
58 posts
Jan 22, 2016
11:37 AM
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Hi,
Pretty much, besides scales, you can learn the chord tones for each of the 12 bar prog
The basic notes for a chord will be a triad, the I III and V of a chord (along with the VII)
So if you have the Key of G on a C harp you will find it like this:
I G: G(R) B(3) D(5) -- F(7b)
IV C: C(R) E(3) G(5) -- Bb (7b)
V D: D(R) F# (3) A(5) -- C (7b)
The G blues scale is a scale that is focusing on blue notes, which will be in this case Bb is one of them.
You can see B is the 3rd of G, so if you flat it, you get a minor third (which is a blue note as it puts a lot of tension.
That note also works well during the IV as it is the minor 7th of the C chord.
Now, why the 3 triple bend (as I call it lol) works on a G song?
Based on the D blues scale (for 3rd position) that note is a Ab which is a flatted fifth related to the Tonic D.
In my opinion that note would be most likely used during the V chord part on the 9th measure as it matches the chord
In addition to playing with the chord notes and the G blues scale you can use the C blues scale for the IV chord part and the D blues scale on the V (but its only a measure)
(that will fit First and third position)
Thats why learning a bit of 1st and 3rd is really good Idea to improve your 2nd position playing.
Also if the song is mayor-ish you can play with a natural B to keep a light sound, but if it is a minor-ish song, keep that flat otherwise it will clash, same will go for the 3rd of the D (F#) will be most likely played as an F (minor third)
:B
Last Edited by DannyRanch on Jan 22, 2016 11:40 AM
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Rgsccr
391 posts
Jan 22, 2016
2:02 PM
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Danny, thanks, that is a very good and understandable explanation. I do play third position from time to time, and, less frequently 1st, but my understanding of why certain notes work well in those positions is no better than with second. This is really helpful.
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