Re: [Harp-L] Stevie Wonder harmonica

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Winslow Yerxa wrote:
<Stevie plays fairly rarely in F#, yet a myth persists that he favors it. 

Where "For Once in My Life" is concerned, he's definitely playing the solo in F# on a C chromatic.  The slide work he does on the piece can't be done in the key of F or G on the scale tones he uses, so there's no chance that he speeded up or slowed down the solo to play it in a different key.

To say that Stevie plays some solos in F# is not to say that he "favors" the key; indeed, I wrote to this list a couple of years ago with a short list of some of Stevie's solos and the keys he played them in, precisely to make the point that his trick bag isn't limited to sharped keys.  However, sharped keys are certainly within his capabilities, and he doesn't shy away from them when he solos.  (e.g. "Isn't She Lovely" is in E (4 sharps); on one James Taylor piece he solos in both C and C#.)

I'm obliged also to point out that Stevie is not only a harmonica player.  Much of his recorded output features him on keys of one sort or another.  Blind keyboardists do tend to favor sharped keys, because it's easier to find the black keys by touch unassisted by sight.  Hence the old (condescending) jazz designation of "F# piano player" for blind pianists.  

That said, it's likely that Stevie chooses his keys as any other singer does--to flatter his voice first and foremost.  His skills on the chromatic harp are more than sufficient to allow him to solo effectively on whatever key his voice dictates.

Thanks, Richard Hunter

 



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