Hello everyone,
almost exactly one year ago, I started learning to play acoustic guitar at the age of 44 I am a big fan of the Scottish singer/songwriter Gerry Cinnamon, who also uses the harmonica in many of his songs. So in that way, the harmonica came to my attention!
My question is, how hard is it to learn how he plays in the songs āWar Song Soldierā and āWhat have you doneā? (beginner - low intermediate - intermediate - advanced,ā¦).
And a second question: what kind of harmonica would be needed to be able to play the tunes in these songs, or is that irrelative? (my knowledge is almost zero about harmonicas)? How about the key?
Thank you very much!
(the songs are on YouTube and Spotify, the Hampden Park live versions are worth watching as well)
Hi @Flandrach do you have link to this particular artist as Iāve never come across him. Iāll give it a look see if I can determine what the keys are and what key the guitar is in etc
Well Iāve had a go on the guitar, itās capoed off at second fret, The chords are Dm F A, pretty much all through. Iāve matched the harp to it, itās very Springsteen so, itās first position on a C harmonica, Iāve played along, there are some bent notes in it but itās mostly 3 -4-3 draw and the notes are bent only every so often, because of the key itās really a perfect opportunity to learn harp as you need a C harp to start with. I am pretty certain itās played on a rack which is not something I know about that much as if I play guitar I play guitar, if I play harp I play harp ( the rack to me is a veritable contrivance of the devil, as I prefer using my hand techniques. Difficulty level. As an experienced player I think if you can bend you 3rd hole and purse a chord this is pretty simple, as I say itās very much in the Springsteen, Dylan, folk genre. Hope thatās a help
Well, down on 7th fret, I wouldnāt play a folk song that far down the neck, instead I would just play Am at the top of the neck etc. if you are playing it there, it would be in a key of B which honestly would be miles off and wouldnāt at all sound close you would need a B harp, Iāve tried this, it just doesnāt have the dramatic punch of the original tune and tbh you are making much harder on yourself to play. Unless you have really tiny fingers. If you do choose to play it in Am without a capo then for first position harp youād need an Am harp but then you get a whole lot of different problems, lots of beginners have problems with minor tuned harps because they sound a bit weird at first.
Ahh no wonder ultimate guitar.com is terrible for chords mate, they are usually miles off,when I started out on guitar I used to use that then I as I got better at guitar I realized that most the stuff on there is terribly inaccurate. Youād have more chance learning songs off YouTube, Iām self taught but I got to a learning plateau couldnāt progress I went to a really good teacher he got me past that plateau, so I understood more about what I was doing
Well you certainly have a point, but sometimes it is a good starting point. When there is a song that i would like to learn, first thing i do is check on ultimate guitar, and if the chords are more or less playable for me, then i go on youtube and look for tutorials. James Testani āGood Guitaristā, Justin Sandercoe āJustinGuitarā, Andy Crowley, Lauren Bateman, Amber The Stellar Guitarist, Lee John Blackmore,ā¦ and many others really helped me a lot
Anyway, this is a harmonica forum so i donāt want to hijack this place with my guitar stories haha, sorry for that!
Hope to buy my first harp soon and see how far i can go with!
Hi @Flandrach and @Andy2 Iām biased because these days I only play solo tuned chromatics, If you havenāt yet bought your first harp have you thought of a 10/40 East:top chromatic? easttop t10-40 review - Google Search
You can play in almost any key and without using the slide itās just a solo tuned diatonic. For Am use -3 or -7 as the root. Blues chromatic is usually in D and thatās -1. Most if not all the diatonic/blues harp players will be up in arms because blues are considered the preserve of diatonics, so tell that to Muddy Waters who often used a chromatic for blues. Thatās my view for what itās worth but I repeat I am biased. Jay1 Oh by the way thanks for pointing out Gerry Cinnamon -GREAT Jay1
I love Chromatic itās just having the patience to learn it, a lot of my favorite blues artists are also Chromatic players. However for this sort of song I think the Chromatic might sound a bit bright, diatonic has that moody sound. But youāre right when you say it might prove simpler in some respects
Hi again @Andy2. There are several 10/40 non valve chromatics on the market and the suspicion is many are made by East:Top. I now know of the Kmise and Cascha and there are probably others. All the parts appear to be interchangeable so itās a case look at prices, Iāve seen them as low as Ā£15 ,thatās less than $20 US and up to twice that price which is still good value for money. They are reasonably good out of the box and very good with a bit of attention. Holes 9 & 10 are slightly different tuning with 7 G 8 C as per normal but 9 E 10 G & -7 A -8 B again as normal with -9 D -10 F but donāt let that put you off. I have no commercial links with East:Top but I do like the 10/40 and the Forerunner 1 and 2 but itās the 10/40 I carry with me everywhere. As to learning chromatic, you can treat it initially as a solo tuned diatonic and get used to the chromatic benefits as you become more familiar with the feel of the instrument. If I, an ex-drummer, can do it anyone who plays another musical instrument can. Jay1
Hey Jay, thanks for your view on this, i will certainly do some further research when iām back home from work.
Glad you liked Gerry!
Well, it would be awesome if both you and Andy2 could record and share some tunes on the War Song Soldier song haha! Have a good day both and many thanks for all the info, much appreciated!
Sorry, @Flandrach no can do. I use my laptop in court and courts donāt permit anything if it includes a recording apparatus, even have to leave my mobile in the robing room. Plus Iām technically challenged with anything electrical. @Andy2 may be able to do something but I have no idea how to post sounds Jay1
Unless someone catches me live and films it, I really donāt have the facilities to record, Iām in a small flat, so the only practice I get is 20 - 60 minutes a day if Iām lucky ( if the Neighbors and the wife go out) we never take phones out to a gig mainly because we have 8 Grand kids and our Sundays is our time.
I am a big fan of the Scottish singer/songwriter Gerry Cinnamon, who also uses the harmonica in many of his songs. So in that way, the harmonica came to my attention!
Jay1
Jay1