Depends on root key of the song. I do similar stuff in 3rd position so I can access the whole harp with TB. ---------- Music and travel destroy prejudice.
I like using a C chromatic for this song in Am. It is a lot easier on a chromatic than on a diatonic as you don't have to hit bends exactly on pitch. The chromatic has the notes available without using bends, yet can be played expressively. ----------
I'm more comfortable playing it in 2nd position on a Dm harp. I asked Jason Ricci about it once and he played it for me in G, third position. Staple gypsy jazz tune, well worth learning. I have heard it on a chromatic, missing something to my ears.
Indigojam. You might find this video useful. After running through the song with a harp layout showing the notes played on the first part of the video, he then goes more slowly into more detail. Again in 4th position on a C harp.
Here’s a Video I made quickly to demonstrate a tuning that will work. The Harmonica is F harmonic minor, so wrong key for this tune but you could make one in A minor. Of course, you probably just want to practice your overblows and bend it like Ricci. https://youtu.be/-uDQU_pnHS0 Not much of a performance, I didn’t practice, but it is feasible.
Nice find Gnarly. Here is a guy with some nice ideas on what he calls an augmented E harp?? Just to add to the already impressive bunch of players in all the videos above.
Thanks man--I have too many weird tunings to master them all, mainly practice chromatic but diatonic is the right tool for lots of music. And Richter (excuse my German) is a great tuning for lots of it, but harmonic minor has those weird intervals, cheating appeals to me. I learned Minor Swing from a David Grisman record, haven't really learned the version most folks are playing these days.
The guitarist in this video evidently learned it from the same source--at :23 (the beginning of the head) he plays two Am arpeggios, then plays a Dm arpeggio and realizes his mistake. At least I didn't screw up in front of a Mooncat . . . hey Jason, don't look at my video man . . .
Last Edited by Gnarly on Jun 28, 2020 11:42 PM
Rory's got two different tunings he dreamed up on chromatic to include more chords. I asked him once to share the tuning, but didn't hear back from him.
