Blues Harp Modes?

Rick Schmidt · From: Prescott AZ, USA

Ok...I'm probably one of the only musicians I know who's never tried to play the harmonica. I do know that some guys make a whole lotta music outta those damn (sometimes pesky) little things...;(

Do they use the notes a major scale on a diatonic "blues" harp? If so,what mode is used when they play "cross harp"? Do they "cross harp" when they play straight country? ...ala Charlie McCoy?

I think there's something for us steel players to study here. The uniquely idiomatic bends that harp players use sound like they'd be a natural for us.

Of course then there's Toot's Thielman!

Jerry Gleason · From: Eugene, Oregon, USA

Blues harp players don't care nothin 'bout no modes, man....

Actually, I don't know how it breaks down mode-wise, but here's a little harmonica 101 which you may already know:

A blues harmonica player chooses a harmonica key a fourth from the key of the song. To play the blues in G, you use a C harmonica. The "blowing" notes in a ten hole C harp are from the bottom up:
C E G C E G C E G C
The "draw" notes in the same ten holes are:
D G B D F A B D F A
(How this was determined, I have no idea...)
You can easily scoop the draw notes in the lower and middle register and get a 1/2 step bend (lower), which gives a lot of possibilities.

A pentatonic scale (1,3,5,6,b7) can be played thusly:

3(out) 3(in) 4(in) 5(out) 5(in). This pentatonic scale forms the basis for a lot of blues licks and their variations.

Toots Thielman plays a chromatic harmonica with more available notes, but I still have no idea how he makes it all work...

[This message was edited by Jerry Gleason on 05 November 2000 at 12:29 AM.]

Al Marcus · From: Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)

Harmonica!

reminds me. I played a 64 hohner push button harmonica in the late 30's. I had already played guitar.

I taught my buddy to play the chords on a Ukelele and we entered The Clevland Plain Dealer Amature show in Cleveland Ohio, where I lived for a time. It was on the Radio WTOM.

What do you know? We won! How could we lose in OHIO. We played "Beautiful Ohio" naturally.

I got my buddy to take guitar lessons where I was taking steel lessons, and then we started playing in bars. I Quit the harmonica as the Steel Guitar was it for me...al

[This message was edited by Al Marcus on 05 November 2000 at 06:19 PM.]

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

I first got turned on to "Toots" by watching the old Jimmy Dean TV show. That dude has to be the "Buddy Emmons" of the harmonica!

BDBassett · From: Rimrock AZ

What Jerry said.

I seem to get more attention when I pull out a simple little Marine Band than when I tote the big MSA into a club. It's very strange. But there is something very appealing about a harmonica. Even badly played they can produce a very emotional sound. (Just ask Bob Dylan)
Charlie McCoy played both cross harp and straight (read same key) harp depending on what he intended to do in the song. Of course his mastery of the thing sometimes makes it hard to tell. Little Stevie Wonder plays chromatic harp such as in For Once In My Life.
Then there's Toots. Just incredible. He even wrote the jazz classic Bluesette. His recording of that song on an old Quincy Jones record is mind boggleing.
I think the only harp player I can't stand is the guy from Blues Traveler who seems to want to put 64th notes throughout ever thing his plays. Maybe there is such a thing as Too-much-of-a-good-thing.
To sum it up Rick, just go buy one and toot around on it awile. Remember, it's all just suck and blow.
BD

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