Does anyone know the notes for Saskatchewan in 1881 by colter wall. If not is there anyone on here that can listen to it and break it down for me. I’m kinda new to playing and I’d like to learn this song but i definitely can not just listen to a song and learn it like that. Is there anyone that could help me out. Thanks in advance
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Hi Beau
Catchy tune. Its in the key of C apparently. So you can try nutting it out on a C or F harmonica. When the melody is totally in a human voice the key is tricky because the singer can float around making whatever sounds they like on or off key. If you keep trying to even get the first few notes you’ll be on your way. Maybe someone with a better ear than me will have time to tab it out for you. I’ll have a try over the weekend but i can’t guarantee it will be right. His voice is really low which makes it harder for me. Maybe if you can find the sheet music actual notes you can transpose it to harmonica.
Toog
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@BeauC8 welcome to the forum! WOW! GREAT tune. Nice Piedmont-blues style guitar, sweet bluesy melody sung by a great singer. Thanks for sharing this.
That music’s not gonna help you much as it’s what the guitar is playing which I’m guessing is impossible to play on a harmonica.
I assume what you’re wanting to do is to play the vocal melody on the harmonica?
If that’s the case, since this is a bluesy tune, you’d need an F harmonica to play along with the recording, as @toogdog mentioned.
But playing this kind of melody is not easy. It requires a lot of bends - some of them (namely, -3’ and -3") require quite a bit of control that takes a lot of practice.
Here’s the harmonica tabs in the key of C, played in 2nd position on a F harmonica, for Saskatchewan 1881 by Colter Wall:
-4 -4’ -4 -4 -3 -2
-3’ -3” -3’ -3’ -3’ -3’ -3”
2 -2 -2 -3” -2 -3’ -3” -2 -2
-3” -3 -3” -2 -1 -3
-1 2 -2” -4 4
-3’ -3’ -3’ -3” -2
I LOVE the melody of the second to last line -1 2 -2" -4 4. So pretty. Thanks again for turning us on to this sweet tune.
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