Re: [Harp-L] Question about harps played by Bobby Darin



Hello Eliza,

I too am a Bobby Darin fan.

I learned very much about entertaining from his style.

Midnight special is in the key of A

He is using a D Harmonica and Cross harp or second position

Of course you could never be sure but at that time I am pretty sure That he was playing a Hohner Brand And I think marine bands were the only ones available at the time.

And the other song, Bridge over troubled water

The song is and C

And Bobby finally picks up the right Harp which is an F

Again playing some riffs and cross harp position

You have good taste in music bravo!

Good luck and happy harping

Best Rob Paparozzi




Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 28, 2014, at 12:30 PM, Eliza Doolittle <eliza.doolittle@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> That my first harp-related question to the list is a silly question is very much in character for me. I'm asking because it's easy to see it hasn't been asked before by making a search; for all other questions I had I've found and I'm finding answers in the archives. At least so far.
> 
> I'm a great fan of Bobby Darin's. Not as a harp player: without knowing much about harps, I've always believed him to be just fine, playing adequately but simply (my hat's off to him as a drummer and percussionist, though). Which I've seen was commented on a few years ago here in the list. What I like about this is that trying to copy something of what he plays seems an attainable goal for me in the more-or-less short term (developing more interesting ideas with that point of departure would be the next step). I'd like to do this because whenever I watch him I do feel like singing along, dancing along, jumping along and, why not, playing along (being equally unqualified for all of them!).
> 
> For me, one of his most contagious songs with harp is this 'The Midnight Special':http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbW55CTqf_U
> 
> Would you please tell me which harp he's using in this song (jump to 2:57to hear it)? The song is in A, but I don't know whether the harp is in A, in D, or in some other key.
> 
> And, as a very secondary question, can you see/hear what is the brand of his harp? Just out of curiosity (I'm not going to buy a harp only because BD played it, and apart from that, I cannot find anything but Hohner in my town anyway). You can have a better view inhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFNxhYs3N10(at 3:49). What's the key of this one? He picks the wrong one first, but all I can say is that both of them seem to have a lot of Gs.
> 
> Thanks a lot in advance.
> 
> Eliza Doolittle


Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 28, 2014, at 12:30 PM, Eliza Doolittle <eliza.doolittle@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> That my first harp-related question to the list is a silly question is very much in character for me. I'm asking because it's easy to see it hasn't been asked before by making a search; for all other questions I had I've found and I'm finding answers in the archives. At least so far.
> 
> I'm a great fan of Bobby Darin's. Not as a harp player: without knowing much about harps, I've always believed him to be just fine, playing adequately but simply (my hat's off to him as a drummer and percussionist, though). Which I've seen was commented on a few years ago here in the list. What I like about this is that trying to copy something of what he plays seems an attainable goal for me in the more-or-less short term (developing more interesting ideas with that point of departure would be the next step). I'd like to do this because whenever I watch him I do feel like singing along, dancing along, jumping along and, why not, playing along (being equally unqualified for all of them!).
> 
> For me, one of his most contagious songs with harp is this 'The Midnight Special': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbW55CTqf_U
> 
> Would you please tell me which harp he's using in this song (jump to 2:57 to hear it)? The song is in A, but I don't know whether the harp is in A, in D, or in some other key.
> 
> And, as a very secondary question, can you see/hear what is the brand of his harp? Just out of curiosity (I'm not going to buy a harp only because BD played it, and apart from that, I cannot find anything but Hohner in my town anyway). You can have a better view in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFNxhYs3N10 (at 3:49). What's the key of this one? He picks the wrong one first, but all I can say is that both of them seem to have a lot of Gs.
> 
> Thanks a lot in advance.
> 
> Eliza Doolittle
> 



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