Re: [Harp-L] Bluegrass Chromatic Harmonica

David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> · Sat, 8 Nov 2008 07:55:59 -0800 (PST)

David, 

Maybe you can help me on this. I can't find any Bill Monroe in standard notation, I'd like to play stuff like Bluegrass Stomp and Bluegrass Breakdown note for note. The only thing that seems to be out there is mandolin tab and heck, I can't even play mandolin tab on the mandolin, I need standard notation there, too. Right now, I'm figuring out stuff on the mandolin by ear, then playing it on the chrom. That is a very slow process.I need to get some notation. 
You would not believe how long I've been working on that opening riff Monroe does on Muleskinner Blues. That is a hard one to figure out. Notation would make that a heck of a lot easier.

Dave
___________________________
Dave Payne Sr. 
Elk River Harmonicas 
www.elkriverharmonicas.com 

----- Original Message ----
From: David & Jackie Naiditch <french10@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx; harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, November 7, 2008 4:49:38 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Bluegrass Chromatic Harmonica

Winslow,
  I started off playing chromatics in different keys, but fell into a  
rut.  My improvised lines starting sounding too similar.  A jazz  
musician friend urged me to force myself to play every tune on a C  
chromatic, regardless of the key.  This was the best advice I ever  
received.

It was very challenging at first, and I had to practice scales in  
various keys.  Eventually, however, I learned that each key has its  
own strengths and weaknesses; each key suggests different riffs as  
being more natural than others.  Then I learned to “cross-pollinate”-- 
translating what I learned in one key to others, making a few natural  
modifications.  As a result of playing all keys on a C chromatic, my  
improvising became far more interesting, and my musical vocabulary  
greatly expanded.  Don’t know if this approach will work for  
everyone, but it sure worked for me.

Today, I rarely switch chromatics and often attend jams with only a C  
chromatic.  The only time I consider switching to other keys this is  
when I’m trying to play the head to a tune that is played very fast  
and in an awkward key.  The bluegrass tune, Rebecca, for instance, is  
usually played in the key of B and is typically played ridiculously  
fast.  Unless I’ve just consumed a Doppio Macchito, I’ll switch to a  
B chromatic.

Best regards,

David Naiditch,      www.davidnaiditch.com

On Nov 7, 2008, at 12:10 PM, Winslow Yerxa wrote:

> David -
>
> Glad you've joined us. It's great to have another trad-oriented  
> harmonica player with a unique approach on the list.
>
> Jimmy Riddle didn't always play a C chromatic. He had 12-hole  
> chromatics in several keys, allowing him to use, say, an A  
> chromatic to play in Bb. And sometimes he played in the slide-out  
> home key. It didn't hurt that he could record with some heavy  
> Nashville session cats who could play in any key he wanted.
>
> Of course string-friendly (and bluegrass) keys tend to be the open  
> strings on fiddles, guitars, etc - G, D, A, maybe E. On a C  
> chromatic, these keys have major scales that require a lot of  
> breath changes and can't take advantage of the alternate slide-in  
> Draw C and Blow F. Keys like F, Bb, Eb, and Ab all use C and F and  
> can be played more smoothly - with fewer breath changes and more  
> neighboring-note ornaments (because the neighboring notes are on  
> the same breath and you can move between them smoothly). But, as  
> you note, such keys don't find much favor in bluegrass circles.
>
> So let's say you're playing in string-friendly keys and are not  
> particularly interested on chordal playing (like that of Riddle, or  
> of David Payne, whose efforts started this discussion). Melodic  
> flexibility and neighboring-note ornaments may still be of  
> interest, and using chromatics in keys other than C can help here.
>
> Irish accordionists figured this out several dacades ago, and I  
> stumbled on it myself early in my investigation of traditional  
> music. They often play  instruments with one row of melody buttons  
> tuned like a B harmonica and the other like a C harmonica. On such  
> a B/C instrument, G plays like Ab, D plays like Eb, and A plays  
> like Bb. These scales require fewer changes of air direction and  
> offer more neighboring notes in the scale (and therefore ornaments)  
> in the same air direction.When I made myself a B chromatic, I  
> retuned an E chromatic (which is pitched lower than a three-octave  
> C chromatic) so that I could cover notes all the way to (and  
> slightly below) the bottom end of a fiddle.
>
> Simiilarly, Don Wessels plays Scottish music on an F# chromatic  
> (which he bought stock from Richard Farrell, who used to offer them  
> for Irish music). On an F# instrument, G plays like Db, D like Ab,  
> A like Eb, and E like Bb. Don has a nice CD out; you can hear  
> samples at CDBaby.
>
> Of course, most keys of chromatic come only in a three-octave  
> range, which can be limiting. Four-octave instruments, on the other  
> hand, come only in C. However, you can always re-tune . . .
>
> Winslow
>
> Winslow Yerxa
> Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
>
> --- On Fri, 11/7/08, David & Jackie Naiditch <french10@xxxxxxxxxxx>  
> wrote:
> From: David & Jackie Naiditch <french10@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] Bluegrass Chromatic Harmonica
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Friday, November 7, 2008, 11:03 AM
>
> Mark Panfil, Tony Eyers, Richard Hunter, Bob Loomis, Winslow Yerxa,  
> Michael
> Polesky,...
>
>  Sorry it took me so long to respond to the bluegrass chromatic  
> harmonica
> message thread of October 27, 2008.  (I joined Harp-L after this  
> thread was
> created, and it was Michael Polesky who pointed the thread out to  
> me.)  I really
> appreciate the kind words from all of you harmonica greats about my  
> bluegrass
> chromatic playing on my new CD, the “High Desert Bluegrass  
> Sessions.”  I’m
> pleased
>  that you agree that the chromatic harmonica can sound good in  
> bluegrass.
>  As you know, the harmonica isn’t commonly played in bluegrass, and  
> the
> chromatic is extremely rare.  I hope this changes.  My next CD will  
> probably be
> gypsy jazz, another genre where harmonica is rarely used (but where  
> accordions
> are established).
>
>  Winslow,
>
> Like you, the late David McKelvy reminded me of Jimmy Riddle’s  
> bluegrass
> harmonica playing.  I heard Jimmy’s record many years ago.  The  
> only tune I
> can remember is “Stony Point” where, as you mentioned, he used the  
> slide-in
> blow chord, thus playing in Db on a C chromatic.  As you point out,  
> my approach
> is very different, partly as a result of all the jamming I do with  
> musicians who
> aren't harmonica players.  Bluegrass musicians, who tend to be wary of
> harmonica players, wouldn’t take kindly to a harmonica player  
> requesting that
> they get out of their standard key and
>  play in some weird key like Db!  And
> thanks for noticing the jazz-sensitive tones that I sometimes throw  
> in.  This
> jazzy approach to bluegrass came from listing to folks like Jethro  
> Burns and Pat
> Cloud.
>
> Bob,
>
> Yes, Pat Cloud is “a banjo god,” and I’m really fortunate to be his
> friend and have him record with me.  He has taught me a great deal  
> about
> bluegrass as well as jazz.
>
> Best regards,
> David Naiditch
> http://www.davidnaiditch.com/
> http://www.myspace.com/highdesertbluegrasssessions
> http://cdbaby.com/cd/naiditch2
>
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