From: G. E. Popenoe <gpopenoe@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Chaka Khan I Feel for You
To: "Joe and Cass Leone" <leone@xxxxxxxx>
Cc: "winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx" <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>, "harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Friday, May 9, 2008, 4:44 PM
It is conceivable that he played in F# because the finger
pattern is
mostly a reverse of the F pattern which is not that
complicated but I
like the chipmunk notion.
Gary Popenoe
On May 9, 2008, at 11:52 AM, Joe and Cass Leone
<leone@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
On May 9, 2008, at 2:01 PM, Winslow Yerxa wrote:
It's definitely a chromatic harmonica (Stevie
Wonder), with a
little sound processing.
Yes, it is definitely 'Millionized' (for lack
of a better term)
By the way, there's an extended version of
this record that came
out on a 12" single with a longer harp solo.
While the tune comes out in F#, Stevie didn't
play it in F#.
This is correct. While everyone seems to feel that
Stevie is this
super human player who can play in any odd key and
STILL sound
marvelous, the truth is that he picks normal keys just
like everyone
else and the recordings or HIS tracks are either sped
up or slowed
down to give the impression that he is in F#, Gb, B,
E, and other
not so easy keys. I always suspected that is was to
disssuade other
players from trying to copy him. AND I don't think
it's coming from
HIM. I have to admit though that it is less common
these days. I
have had recordings which were BETWEEN the keys. I
thought it was
my player, but after checking several other players, I
wound up with
the same deal.
The tape was either sped up or slowed down and he
played it in
either F or G (I'm not where I can check which
it was).
Because of the 'Chipmunks' timbre to the edges
of the notes (which
he is VERY good at to begin with), I believe the track
is a sped up
F. Something about the combinations of notes and the
way they are
'chipped', leads me to believe he is in a DRAW
key. G isn't as fluid
as F.
p.s. just my opinion smokey-joe
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