Header Graphic
Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > Chord Progression for Fast Large One?
Chord Progression for Fast Large One?
Login  |  Register
Page: 1

SuperBee
5813 posts
Feb 08, 2019
9:22 PM
Hi, everyone. i'm wondering if someone can help me with the chord progression in Little Walter's "Fast Large One". it doesn't sound like a "V IV I" to me, but i dont have the ears or knowledge to pick what it is.
Thank you,
GamblersHand
693 posts
Feb 09, 2019
6:35 AM
Not 100% sure but I think it sounds more of less like a 12-bar, but the 10th bar stays on the V (ie. A)


That said, these guys throw in the IV on the 10th bar, and it sounds good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEa3_oruEJw

Last Edited by GamblersHand on Feb 09, 2019 9:08 AM
barbequebob
3564 posts
Feb 09, 2019
8:28 AM
Fast Large One is actually a very sped up version of a tune called Let Me Off Uptown by Gene Krupa featuring Anita O'Day on vocals and Roy Eldridge on trumpet and here's that tune and so you may be able to hear things more clearly:


----------
Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Rhartt1234
252 posts
Feb 09, 2019
8:37 AM
It's a 12 bar Blues but the turnaround is a ii V instead of a V IV.



It's very common turnaround in uptown and jump Blues tunes.

Last Edited by Rhartt1234 on Feb 09, 2019 8:38 AM
SuperBee
5814 posts
Feb 09, 2019
9:40 PM
Thank you, all, for assistance. Rhartt1234, that confirms what i was expecting to discover when i first began to wonder what i was hearing here, so thanks very much, i appreciate your help.

The hook is indeed from Let Me Off Uptown, but the song is quite different, being a 12 bar structure (with the odd stray beat), where Let Me Off Uptown seems like an 8 bar with a bridge.

GH thanks for that video. i like it.
GamblersHand
694 posts
Feb 10, 2019
6:04 AM
I really need to improve my ears - I did think it could be a ii - V - I but for the life of me couldn't hear a different change over the 9th and 10th bars
GamblersHand
695 posts
Feb 10, 2019
6:04 AM
I really need to improve my ears - I did think it could be a ii - V - I but for the life of me couldn't hear a different change over the 9th and 10th bars
The Iceman
3769 posts
Feb 10, 2019
10:52 AM
Listen to the bass .. bass outlines the changes...if you play this song in the key of "D", starting with the 9th bar, the bass is playing "E,F#,G,G#,/ A,G,F#,E, / D,F#,A,B,/ D,B,A,F#".

If each bar consists of 4 quarter notes (on the bass), this would "spell out" to be E- (ii chord) for bar 9, A7 (V chord) for bar 10, ending on D (the I chord) for bars 11 and 12.
----------
The Iceman

Last Edited by The Iceman on Feb 10, 2019 10:54 AM
barbequebob
3565 posts
Feb 11, 2019
9:46 AM
The 2-5 change is very commonly used as a substitute for the 5-4 change and LW recorded quite a few tunes with that, especially when the guitar player in his band was Robert Jr. Lockwood. Two examples are here below:





Too often, harp players just listen to the soloing and don't pay attention much else beyond that and the dead give away here is to NOT listen to the harp or any other lead instrument but the bass line itself.

The harp solo in My Babe is a 12 bar using the 2-5 change instead of a 5-4 change.
----------
Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
The Iceman
3770 posts
Feb 11, 2019
10:37 AM
+1 for listen to the bass line...

I love having the band drop out aside from the bass (and drummer IF they are in locked in mode) during a harmonica solo - all the relaxed room in the world to explore ideas without bumping into a wall of mid range.
----------
The Iceman
SuperBee
5817 posts
Feb 11, 2019
3:47 PM
Thanks BBQ for those examples. That will help me.
And Iceman thanks for spelling out that bass line line, that is really helpful and will help me focus.
GamblersHand
696 posts
Feb 12, 2019
7:33 PM
+1 to SuperBee's post - thanks Iceman and barbequebob
SuperBee
5821 posts
Feb 13, 2019
4:43 AM
I am fairly new on the chromatic, in a way...I’ve had one a long time and studied it some, can play it tongue blocked and get a few tunes out of it, have worked through Barrett’s introductory 3rd position lesson and worked out how to moved around the 3rd position minor plus flat 5th, and generally skip over the 4 hole.

But this number is a real education for me.

I believe this comes from the first recording session where Walter used a chromatic harp; the same session as That’s It and Lights Out (and some great records where he played diatonic, like Blues with a Feeling, 1/4 to 12, You’re So Fine, Fast Boogie).
As is often the case, it was not apparent to me just how neat it is until I sat down to study it, phrase by phrase.
My buddies must think I’m such a square for liking this stuff...that’s too bad because I really do!


Post a Message



(8192 Characters Left)


Modern Blues Harmonica supports

§The Jazz Foundation of America

and

§The Innocence Project

 

 

 

ADAM GUSSOW is an official endorser for HOHNER HARMONICAS