[Harp-L] Norwegian Wood

["John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>]

Playing this Beatles tune is a great exercise to develop precision in  
bending the 3 hole draw and 2 hole draw accurately to pitch,  A jazz  
band leader I play with sometimes  calls this tune when i sit in.   
He  has a masters in music, so i had him write out the melody for  
me.  Playing the tune in second position,  it is necessary to hit  
3D** 2d** and 3D* at different points in the melody line.  The tune  
lays out perfectly in second position is actually fairly simple if  
one can hit the bends on pitch. But if you don't hit these bends  
accurately, the tune just doesn't sound right. Slurring the bends  
like one might do playing blues won't work because the melody won't  
sound right if you slur.

What makes it such a great exercise is that the melody is so familiar  
and  recognizable that it's easy to tell by ear if the bends are off  
pitch as you play them.  So, it's relatively simple to adjust one's  
technique for accuracy--I mean it's easy to recognize if you are off  
pitch and how far and in which direction.  So it provides a very  
effective reference point. I can sit around and just play the melody  
and adjust bending technique by ear until it sounds right instead of  
focusing on practicing the mechanics of bending technique in the  
abstract.  Then I can  keep repeating it over and over to try to  
develop consistency.

Anyway, it's ben a very useful exercise for me, so i thought I'd pass  
it along.

FWIW

JP