groyster1
389 posts
Aug 23, 2010
11:57 AM
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I just now read where LW used different harp keys to play in different harp positions during the course of 1 song-this is the first I have heard of this-do any of you pros or amateurs do this?
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toddlgreene
1693 posts
Aug 23, 2010
12:16 PM
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I sometimes switch from 2nd to 3rd when we play Fever. I like to use 3rd position when I solo, and I like playing fills/swells/ect. in 2nd. I like mixing the colors of different positions within the same song. It sounds a lot more interesting(to my ears), and keeps me on my toes as well.
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Crescent City Harmonica Club
Todd L Greene, Co-Founder
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Joe_L
564 posts
Aug 23, 2010
12:29 PM
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Yes. I've done it. Switch between second position on a diatonic and third on a chromatic. I've also played horn lines in third position and switch to second for a solo.
Little Walter did this on Blue Lights and Thats It. Carey Bell did it on his Delmark CD. Little Willie Anderson used to do it. Billy Branch did it on their cover of the James Brown classic, Sex Machine.
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barbequebob
1176 posts
Aug 23, 2010
1:39 PM
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I've done this plenty of times and harp switching hasn't been confined to blues. In fact, there's quite a lot of that happening in country music and one classic tune to check out is Charlie McCoy's uptempo version of a country fiddle classic "The Orange Blossom Special," where he switches from an F to a Bb during the song.
Back to blues, there are tons of examples of this from other players. George Harmonica Smith did that alternating between a key of G MB to a 64 Chromatic played in D and back on a tune called "Blues For Reverend King,' also alternating between a key of G chromatic played in 3rd position and a key of D MB played in 2nd on a cover of "Last Night" (which tho it was supposed to be LW's tune, but it's actually a different tune entirely), and if you check out a thread Tahoe Mike started about George Smith, (I can't think of the name of the tune right off the top of my head), George switches from a Bb chromatic played in 3rd, a Bb MB played in 3rd, and a Low F played in 2nd.
On Bonnie Raitt's cover of "Runaway", Norton Buffalo switches harps 4 times during the solo.
Certain phrasings tend to be easier with the harp changes based on the breathing patterns alone and what the player is trying to achieve.
If you really listen very closely, you can actually recognize the keys and positions because certain playing patterns from those positions have a tendency to show up.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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joeleebush
64 posts
Aug 23, 2010
2:25 PM
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@groyster1
One of the prettiest examples of "the Jacobs switch" is in his "Flying Saucer". Using the 64 and then sailing into the diatonic after things get rolling.
I shamelessly steal licks from all those tunes and we throw together a thing I call "ThunderFlash", which starts out as "Thunderbird" and then gets switched into "Flying Saucer"..then into Reed's "Boogie in the Dark"...and bringing it all on home with a Piazza switch into a diatonic C and blowing those sax octaves on the low end with a tag off on the top end.
If you start fooling around with some of that switching you're going to really like it.
And if you REALLY want to blow the harp players minds, take an old chromatic button from your junk box and super glue it on the upper end of that diatonic C and when you switch into 3rd on it start making various hand movements on the end as if you were working that button......they will go crazy "wanting to know".
Then on break, don't let 'em see it...LOL. Tell some lie about "its a secret experimental model Charlie Musslewhite gave me", or some such nonsense.
Mischief like that is fun!
Regards
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KingoBad
346 posts
Aug 23, 2010
3:44 PM
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James Cotton switches from a G in 2nd to a low D in 1st pos. to a C Chrom in 3rd on one version of Blues in My Sleep.
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LittleJoeSamson
420 posts
Aug 23, 2010
4:47 PM
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I do it quite often now. Diff keys and 10-holers to chromatic.
Just have them lined up not backwards !
I often do a little trick that is somewhat signature for me, that surpises other players ...both harpers and other musicians that involves switching harps in a minor keyed song.
I've passed it along to few others...but one was Kim Wilson, and I'm pretty sure he used it later on.
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conjob
78 posts
Aug 23, 2010
11:34 PM
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i've seen a couple of you tube videos where madcat ruth does it
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5F6H
285 posts
Aug 24, 2010
12:54 AM
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Paul Orta has/had a slide harp (Koch type thing), top plate was A, bottom plate was D, so at the press of a button he could switch between 1st & 2nd, or 2nd & 3rd.
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