[Harp-L] Beatles Harmonica

Ken H in Ohio airmojoken@xxxxx
Mon Sep 5 13:16:55 EDT 2022


Michael Rubin said.. << Lennon could play a melody.  He could play single
notes and double stops
well.  He could play chromatic on Love Me Do (If that was him) well enough
to fool generations of diatonic players.>>

I think it is very important to be able to play melodies... not just blues
licks.
When someone finds out that I'm a harmonica player, they often ask me to
play something,
I will play a medley of a few melodies, and yeah, there could be some blues
licks in there too,
but a recognizable melody always entertains someone more than just rattling
off a few blues licks and riffs.

Of course it helps to be able to sing when playing blues licks--that's a
BIG plus !
But if you can play a melody, the harmonica is doing the singing... you can
sing too if you choose.

I enjoy learning melodies... have spent more time lately learning Irish
songs,
and playing around with my new Seydel 1847 Fiddle Tuning in D.

Ken H in OH



On Mon, Sep 5, 2022 at 12:58 PM Michael Rubin <
michaelrubinharmonica at xxxxx> wrote:

> Lennon could play a melody.  He could play single notes and double stops
> well.  He could play chromatic on Love Me Do (If that was him) well enough
> to fool generations of diatonic players.
>
> But I agree, their harp playing abilities are low.
>
> On Mon, Sep 5, 2022 at 11:52 AM <meagher at xxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Different strokes for different folks!
> >
> >
> >
> > IMHO, they are both **trash**. As harmonica players I mean. They’re both
> > so talented as to be from another species. But if we’re talkin harmonica…
> >
> >
> >
> > Jagger played a reasonably proficient blues, and deserves some marginal
> > credit for extending that limited skillset into adjacent genres, as he
> did
> > in “Might As Well Get Juiced.” On a logarithmic scale, he’s maybe a 5/10.
> > At best.
> >
> >
> >
> > Lennon, to me, is a 3/10, where someone like Alanis Morisette is a 1/10
> > and Little Walter is a 10/10. I’m not hearing the technical advancement
> you
> > do, though. He was an EPICALLY good songwriter that used harmonica
> cleverly
> > to advance his (world class) melodies, but I’ve never heard him do
> anything
> > I couldn’t train a newbie to do in six weeks (or less), whereas at least
> > Mick is out there bending notes and making blues licks happen.
> >
> >
> >
> > My unpopular opinion is that John Lennon was an incredibly talented
> > songwriter and a terrible harmonica player and most efforts to recast
> that
> > are just boomer bullshit whitewashing of their heroes. Mick, at least,
> > played the blues, if weakly.
> >
> >
> >
> > Have at me!
> >
> >
> >
> > Ev, aka The Tree
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > *From:* Michael Rubin <michaelrubinharmonica at xxxxx>
> > *Sent:* Monday, September 5, 2022 11:48 AM
> > *To:* meagher at xxxxx
> > *Cc:* Gary Lehmann <gnarlyheman at xxxxx>; harp-l at xxxxx
> > *Subject:* Re: [Harp-L] Beatles Harmonica
> >
> >
> >
> > I completely disagree.  Jagger is a poor imitation of blues players,
> > Lennon is a fine example of originality in pop music.  IMO Lennon is the
> > far more technically advanced player and more important to the progress
> of
> > the instrument.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Sep 5, 2022 at 10:44 AM <meagher at xxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > For Stones fans?
> >
> > It's always a contest.
> >
> > The Stones always win.
> >
> >
> > What was the question?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Gary Lehmann <gnarlyheman at xxxxx>
> > Sent: Monday, September 5, 2022 11:43 AM
> > To: Evan Meagher <meagher at xxxxx>
> > Cc: harp-l at xxxxx
> > Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Beatles Harmonica
> >
> > Like it’s a contest?
> >
> > Sent from my iPad
> >
> > > On Sep 5, 2022, at 8:51 AM, Evan Meagher <meagher at xxxxx> wrote:
> > >
> > > Harmonica is one of the places where the Stones kick the tar out of
> the
> > Beatles. Mick won’t make anyone forget about Sonny Boy Williamson but his
> > (and before him Brian Jones’) harp playing exceeds that of Lennon by a
> > million miles.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>


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