This song can be played note for note but I'm improvising around the tune on this occasion, dipping in and out of the melody. I'm using a rotary reverb effect to get that dreamy spaced out vibe.
Sounds like you are playing this in second position which, IMHO, is very difficult. FWIW, this tune lays out perfectly in fifth position (E natural minor on a C harp) with only one grace note bend. But what you're going sounds great.
While I must admit I haven't heard Clapton's version I just don't see how anyone could make it better than Stevie Ray Vaughan did, that is one of my favorite songs period, regardless of genre, instrument, whatever. Pure ear candy, man. I love Jimi's but SRV just took it to another level.
---------- It's MUSIC, not just complicated noise.
Great cover :)! A very different approach to how i normally play the song, so it got me a lot of inspiration :)!
@hvyj Actually, fifth position isn't the natural minor. It's the phrygian mode, on a C-harp, E Phrygian. Only difference to E-Minor is the 2nd note (F#) is lowered a semitone down to F, so 5th position also works fine. Natural minor on a harp would be the Aeolian mode (4th position), with the root of A, when played on a C-harp.
I like this in both 2nd and 5th position, gives me two very different variations, 5th position gives a much more "gloomy" feel, i think :).
EDIT: Posted the message, leaving half a sentence incomplete.
Last Edited by on Feb 03, 2011 2:32 AM
@Ostefondue: Yeah, that's correct. But if one avoids the flat 2nd (draw 5 and draw 9) fifth position is very usable for playing natural minor material and one can always bend for the major 2nd if needed (D2* B9*).
I especially like fifth position for playing natural minor blues and the 2nd is not an important note for blues. And i often use Fifth for playing other natural minor material as well. But, yes, fifth is technically Phrygian mode.
I've heard Madcat Ruth play "Little Wing" in fourth position which also works since it is pure natural minor (Aeolean mode). Different feel than fifth.
@Ostefondue Thanks very much. I am a musical theory ignoramus, but it is slowly dawning on me that I play pretty well everything 2nd position!! It is something I grew up with and don't find too challenging, it feels natural. I think this stemmed from the fact that I started off learning 2nd position blues then tried to play along to the melody lines of pop/rock tunes which seemed to work best for me in 2nd position because I could generally find all the notes of the melody. When I tried other positions I just couldn't find the whole melody (OB's required, which I knew nothing about at the time)
One exception was On the Road again by Canned Heat in 2nd position I found I couldn't find that high note at the top of the solo and it really bugged me. I've only recently found out Alan Wilson retuned the 6 draw up a semi-tone!!??? Outrageous!! that shouldn't be allowed....it's cheating!! Caused me untold grief. Would like to hear 5th position.
The performance of mine ncpacemaker posted as a tribute to me (!?) is in fifth position (G natural minor on an Eb harp).
FWIW, I use fifth for minor key reggae all the time and it seems to work great. The advantage to playing "Little Wing" in fifth is that it's not necessary to hit any bends except one grace note.
I like playing in different positions. Since they each have a different sound and feel it keeps me from playing the SOS all the time. It also makes it easier for me to find and hit the right notes since my ear is nowhere near as refined as yours.
Last Edited by on Feb 03, 2011 10:57 AM
"One exception was On the Road again by Canned Heat in 2nd position I found I couldn't find that high note at the top of the solo and it really bugged me. I've only recently found out Alan Wilson retuned the 6 draw up a semi-tone!!??? Outrageous!! that shouldn't be allowed....it's cheating!! Caused me untold grief. Would like to hear 5th position."
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Good one owl, in a similar vein, one of the first songs I tried to learn on harp was the Beatles Love Me Do. It was quite easy except for one certain section I was having trouble with. I assumed it was John doing some fancy bending that I just couldn't get. Wasn't till much later that I learned he was playing a chromatic.
Thanks hvyi. I will try 5th postion, however I feel I give myself an unecessary hard time sticking to the melody line on lots of songs as I end up having to OB on certain notes. Maybe best to do more of what I've done on Little Wing and just roam a lttle. Time to spread my wings:)
I'm so fortunate to have majored in music in high school, so everything with which notes to play over which chords is no problem for me at all. I'll try to record my 5th position version some time soon - Where did you find your backing track, i'm jammin' with midi-files right now :).
@Ostefondue. I'd like to hear it. Here is the source of the backing track. It's a pretty good site that doesn't have an extensive collection but they are free and some tracks are pretty good. You will have to be selective as some tracks are just drums and a bit of bass and others have vocals on.
Check Little Wing harmonica version from Middle C Music-Jazz All Stars feat Howard Levy+Fred Yonnet ---------- Excuse my bad English. Click on my photo or my username for my music.
@ rbeetsme...I LOVE that version by the Corrs ( I had not heard it before, so Thank You ! ). Jason is also outstanding. Fun to play along...both versions.
@ hvyj Thank You, too. I had played Little Wing in 3rd...but always felt it was limiting for harmonica, and it's such a beautiful song. By going to 5th on a chromatic really opens it up for me. I can't wait to try it with the band and experiment with FX.
@LittleJoeSamson: Btw, it's playable note for note in fifth on a diatonic. If you play chrom, that's great, but you don't need play to it on chrom to in order to play the melody note for note.
Last Edited by on Feb 03, 2011 3:39 PM
The best version I ever heard was Hendrix and Butterfield live from the Cafe A Go-Go,June 17,1968. Hendrix wrote the song,and add Butterfield on harp-there is none better.
The guy playing third position sounds good, but he is playing an approximation of the melody. Nothing wrong with that, but it's such a haunting and recognizable melody that it really rivets the attention of the audience when you open a harp solo by playing this melody note for note--it's like the audience doesn't expect to hear that from a harmonica and they get transfixed. The melody is playable note-for-note in 5th position with almost no bends except those bends you choose to put in for effect.
I don't usually get obsessed about hitting a melody with precise accuracy in a solo, but I like doing it on this tune because i think it sounds incredibly cool. And it always seems to almost startle the audience when they hear it coming from a harmonica. And holding the attention of an audience is never a bad thing. But, of course, there are other valid ways to interpret this tune on harp and there's nothing wrong with this third position solo or Greyowls's second position rendition.
Last Edited by on Feb 04, 2011 1:30 PM
Country tuned harps (smo-jo tuned 5 and 9 draw raised a 1/2 step) are the best for 5th position... on a regular Richter-tuned you have to avoid the 5 and 9 draw).
PS. why can't the effin "spam prevention" display something that's actually legible ?
@Joch230 re 3rd positon video: and hvyj --- "that guy" is BART LECZYCKI - awesome player from Poland. He was a big hit at SPAH 2010. Also, btw Howard Levy has taught Little Wing on his HLHS web site and he plays in 2nd position. I "think" he can play it in other positions so why did he choose 2nd? Hmmm.
@Greyowlphotoart Sounds to me like you ARE playing this in 5th position on a C harp. Or did I miss something ?
Sounds great! I've never tried this song, so I played along, and downloaded the backing track. My Lee Oskar E natural minor harp (playing in 2nd position) sounds right on, so the regular C harp would be in 5th.
Sometimes its hard to tell exactly what position one is playing in, and 2nd and 5th are very closely related since its "easy" to play in 5th if you can play in 2nd.
@AirMojo: No, with all those bends Greyowl is playing in 2nd. But you make a good point. playing in different positions is just playing the same harp in different keys, G major (C harp 2nd position) is the relative major of E natural minor (C harp 5th position) which means they use the SAME SCALE--just starting on a different note.
Here's the difference: In 5th position D2/B3 is the 3b. D4 is the 7b and B4 is the 6b. No bends necessary to hit these notes of the natural minor scale in 5th. BUT because he is playing in 2nd position, Greyowl is having to bend to hit these degrees of the scale (except when he hits 5D which is 7b in 2nd position) and he can't play 6b at all without an OB. This is because the unbent notes of 5th position are at different degrees of the SAME scale if you are playing in 2nd position. On a C harp this scale starts on E in 5th position and on G in 2nd position.
The whole concept of changing positions is to put yourself in a scale or mode that gives you more of the notes you need for the particular tune you are trying to play w/o needing to bend or OB. Even Bart Leczyki's bends don't sound as dead on pitch as the same note played unbent and Bart is a great player. Now, playing blues this sort of imprecision is part of the idiom and sounds cool. in other styles, it can come off as an approximation of what the other instruments are playing note for note (especially if you can't get all of the melody notes anyway even with bends) which may or may not sound stylistically correct.
FWIW, when i play in 4th or 5th position, i sometimes have harp players in the audience come up to me and ask where I buy my minor key harps. Usually, they seem disappointed when i tell them i don't use minor key harps. (You don't need different equipment to play in different keys and too many harp players seem to put too much emphasis on gear.) But my point is that these positions make it easy to play minor melodies accurately and completely without so many bends and without needing to resort to approximations. Of course, there are certainly other ways to skin this cat.
Anyway, here's something you can have fun with: When you are playing G on a C harp (2nd position) and take your solo, play E minor (5th position). Most of the time it'll work just fine and will certainly put some musical variety into what you are playing. It's one way to break out of playing the SOS.
Last Edited by on Feb 05, 2011 1:48 PM
