[Harp-L] Re: Dylan (and positions)

["Jonathan Metts" <jonathan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Agreed. Man in the Long Black Coat - greatest harmonica track, ever.

It's definitely one of Dylan's best.  He plays this song in F# minor on an A 
harp... yes, Dylan plays 4th position!  It's a great song to learn that 
position, because he uses very few bends on it and you can pick it out by 
ear.

As for normal Dylan-style 1st position playing, that will be a great 
exercise in re-learning 1st position.  His style is surprisingly hard to 
imitate (though easily spoofed).  One of his tricks is to play a single note 
and, while holding it, widen his mouth to get a small chord.  He also does 
that in reverse, going from a chord to single note.  You can learn a lot 
about these techniques from the book "The Harp Styles of Bob Dylan" by Amy 
Appleby.  It's not a fakebook at all (only a dozen or so songs are tabbed 
out), but the entire focus is on his harp playing and how to learn it.  The 
songs chosen by the author are quite diverse and include 1st, 2nd, and 4th 
position playing.  There are also detailed chord charts and guitar tabs for 
those songs, which your guitar player might find useful.

The other excellent source I have found is Christer Svensson's list of the 
harp key and position for just about every song Dylan ever played harp on. 
You can find it here (bookmark it!):

http://www.dylanchords.com/harp/harpkeys.htm

Those two resources should help you tremendously in your tribute band!

Jonathan Metts, Official Harp-L Dylan Fanatic