[Harp-L] Nobody knows you when you're down & out

[Steve Baker <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I played this live for many years in the key of C using a country  
tuned harp in F, 2nd position. For me country (major 7th) tuning is  
by far the easiest way to play this kind of jazz inflected blues  
number and I use it on most songs of this type. Other examples would  
be "Ain't nobody's business if I do" or Don Nix' "Same old  
blues" (not the JJ Cale song of the same name). I find the name  
"country tuning" a bit misleading because it suggests stylistic  
limitations which aren't there and I always referred to it as the  
"major 7th tuning" for that reason.

Of course it's great for country music, but it works brilliantly on  
countless folk, pop and rock numbers too. I must have used it on over  
50% of the titles I've recorded as a session musician over the last 20 
+ years. To refer back to the "Honky tonk women" thread a while back,  
I play that on a CT because the dominant chord is very major.

At SPAH I'll be joining Phil Duncan, Jellyroll Johnson, Jimi Lee and  
Berl Welch for Phil's seminars on "Gospel & Beyond" and "Country  
Music & Beyond", which will deal with the practicalities of using CT  
in a variety of musical contexts,

Steve

www.stevebaker.de
www.bluesculture.com