[Harp-L] Stevie Wonder FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE

[Michael Rubin]

Offline, someone challenged me on stating that any note on a chromatic can
be bend 3 half steps.  I agree it seems impossible for me to be currently
able to do it on a hole higher than 9 draw.  The next question he had is
whether or not they can be played musically.

Currently I am just in the beginning of my explorations of using bends on a
chromatic as actual pitches instead of just as inflections.  This is
probably why I hear what Stevie is doing as such, because I am seeing
examples of it every now that I am getting deeper into it, possibly even
where it is not occurring.  Once you become aware that cars come in yellow,
you start seeing them everywhere.

So far, I am finding plenty of uses for half step bends and have been
performing live using these ideas (during my one or two gigs a month in
Covid).  I will occasionally foray into a whole step bend but have yet to
use 3 half step bends musically.  Honestly, most of the time, I choke the
harp.  But not all of the time.

Just because something is difficult does not make it impossible.  I am not
vowing to conquer this, but it is on my radar.

Michael Rubin

On Mon, Sep 21, 2020 at 6:28 AM Michael Peloquin <peloquinharp at xxxxx>
wrote:

>
> George,
> The only real rules in music are: does it move the listener. (for lack of
> a better term: does it sound good?) Many rules/laws were made long ago and
> subsequently amended, relaxed and changed over time - thankfully for all
> things jazz, pop, blues, rock and societal.
>
>
> I was told once that there is no such thing as a minor six chord because
> chords are built in thirds - e.g. Cm6
> It would technically be a minor 7b5 (half-diminished) chord with the 3rd
> in the bass — Am7b5/C
>
> BS I say - technical nonsense that gets in the way of true understanding
> of functionality.
>
> trills, mordents, turns are all executable diatonically or chromatically
> IMHO — just like most everything in music
>
> For Once In My Life is harmonica and pop music mastery - the modulation
> was there for pop interest purposes and also to accommodate Stevie's
> chromatic solo - I am sure he could have played a great solo in the key of
> F, but it was so much better and more Stevie-ish in F#.
>
> My vote is that standard 1/2 step slide movement occurred on this tune.
>
> I hope that we can agree that listeners don't hear our theoretical geek
> talk.
>
>
> Michael Peloquin
>
> Check out my DVD sets: Pro Harmonica/Pro Saxophone Secrets Made Simple<
> http://harpsax.com/>  http://harpsax.com<http://harpsax.com/>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Harp-L <harp-l-bounces at xxxxx> on behalf of George Miklas <
> harmonicat at xxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2020 7:23 AM
> To: Michael Rubin <michaelrubinharmonica at xxxxx>
> Cc: harp-l harp-l <harp-l at xxxxx>; Robert Hale <ynfdwas at xxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Stevie Wonder FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE
>
> George Miklas
> 10:22 AM (0 minutes ago)
> to Michael
> Michael and others... RE: trills,  namely, Baroque trills in the
> traditional sense.
>
> Lets set some ground rules.....
> 1.) a trill is diatonic
> 2.) trills are approached from above the note - this creates the musical
> effect of "dissonance and consonance" or "dissonance and release."
> 3.) there are both whole and half steps in all diatonic scales.
>
> So in the key of C...
> C trill will be a whole step (trill starts on D)
> D trill will be a whole step (trill starts on E)
> E trill will be a half step (trill starts on F)
> F trill will be a whole step (trill starts on G)
> G trill will be a whole step (trill starts on A)
> A trill will be a whole step (trill starts on B)
> B trill will be a half step  (trill starts on C)
>
> The slide on a slide chromatic acts to raise all pitches 1/2 step.
> Most "button crazy" chromatic harmonica players call "randomly pushing the
> button rapidly" a "trill" when 5/7 of the time, it is not a "trill," but
> instead it is "randomly pushing the button rapidly."
>
> Does that make sense?
> *--------------------------*
> *George Miklas <
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>
> On Sat, Sep 19, 2020 at 9:54 AM Michael Rubin <
> michaelrubinharmonica at xxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Not 4 and 5 draw, I meant 3nad 4 draw.  No coffee yet.
> >
> > On Sat, Sep 19, 2020 at 8:52 AM Michael Rubin <
> > michaelrubinharmonica at xxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > > It's cool with me to call something a half step trill, but isn't a
> whole
> > > step distance implied within the word trill?  As far as I know you can
> > only
> > > trill by shaking between 4 and 5 draw (and their higher octave repeats)
> > on
> > > a chrome and 6 and 7 draw on a diatonic.  "Trilling" a half step isn't
> > > really trilling, it's something else.  I call moving between 2 notes
> > > rapidly by repeatedly pushing the button in and out a "flourish", but
> > > that's my own term and has no basis in classical music terminology.
> > >
> > > On Sat, Sep 19, 2020 at 8:40 AM Slim Heilpern <slim at xxxxx> wrote:
> > >
> > >> I know this solo well, not sure what trill you're talking about. The
> > solo
> > >> is definitely in F#, lays out perfectly in that key, no whole step
> > trills.
> > >> There is definitely a half step G to G# trill.
> > >>
> > >> - Slim
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> > On Sep 19, 2020, at 3:31 AM, Robert Hale <ynfdwas at xxxxx> wrote:
> > >> >
> > >> > Stevie Wonder FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE many pros play it and tab it as a
> > >> > half-step slide, but I hear a whole step trill.
> > >> > Slowing it down and isolating it, I am sure of it.
> > >> > The recording is in F#, but that whole step trill can only occur
> > between
> > >> > Draw holes 3 and 4, putting it in the Key of G, or G# with slide in.
> > >> > What's your call?
> > >> >
> > >> > Thank you, from Mesa, Arizona USA
> > >> >
> > >> > Robert Hale
> > >> > RobertHaleMusic.com
> > >> > Robert at xxxxx
> > >> > 480-720-8897
> > >>
> > >>
> >
>