The harmonica in this blows me away, its beautifully haunting the way ole mate caresses those reeds, it’s something else.
I’m struggling to play this not due to the difficulty per se, more the fact that I cant discern which keyed harmonica he’s using. After trying on all my harps I think it’s an E harp mainly due to which notes are draw bends but I’m truly baffled.
If anyone knows the song and can share their expertise, or if you don’t know it take the time to have a listen and try figure it out and get back to me with a key and even tabs I’d be forever in your debt.
@yuriythebest Oof. Yeah, you’re right the backing track wants you to play twice as fast. If the backing track is on YouTube, you can slow it down using the backing track.
Thank you sir! Unfortunately, after turning draw reed 3 into a clicker last night I’ll have to wait until i get a new harp or learn to change a reed before I can have a real crack at it
It still plays but doesn’t bend very well. Thanks once again
This led me down the rabbit hole of “Double Time” - seems every time I try to pick a “simple” track there are always core skills to learn
Now THIS is the important stuff for beginners I wish I trained at earlier, not chasing after bends/licks. That’s like learning to build arches and embellishments before knowing how to lay brick.
Continuing on, moved up to the 75bmp mentronome (double time, so actually 150)
I’ve noticed it got easier if I kept “switching” between 150bmp on the metronome (I’d still play at the same rate, but it would “guide” me), then 75bmp on the metronome (still playing the same speed, just double time, every second beat like in the video would be just me tapping my foot), and repeating this switching over and over until the neural connections in my brain strengthened
I’ve been working on this song! Love the trading 4s between the clarinet and harmonica on the solo section. Honestly not a difficult song, if you have some draw bend experience. The second harmonica response during the clarinet/harp solo is the trickiest riff imo.
If anyone wants to give it a shot, the song is in C and the part is played on an F harp in 2nd position.
Yes, it’s a great song. I’ve been practicing the opening harmonica bit, for a long time. I can’t say that I find it to be easy, but it’s fun and something different for me, as I’m more into melodies. So many draw notes, I run out of breath. I can’t easily control my bends but that’s a good reason for me to keep trying, as I can learn (slowly) but still enjoy playing it. It’s one of very few tunes that I use my F harp for.
Thanks Yuri, you certainly have come a long way. I have found a few sets of tabs for the song, but I’m trying to be more selective, than I have been hitherto, about new songs to learn. As has been discussed previously, there are some beautiful songs that don’t necessarily work so well on a harmonica and since I already have too many in my repertoire, I’m trying to get some insight into new ones before I commit to them.
Hi Luke, I finally got around to recording my progress and after wayching your video on the blues scale I realised the solo in Elevator to Heaven is just that.
I could’ve recorded more takes until I nailed it but camera’s make me nervous so it is what it is
I’m trying my best to get started on learning some new songs. Currently, I’m attempting to learn some video game music prominently featuring the harmonica for some upcoming covers. I discovered the soundtrack for MarioKart World recently and it features a lot of good harmonica tracks on it. What I’m trying to learn first is the main theme, which is played on a B harp in second position.
I honestly love how the harmonica in most of the songs featuring it in the game sound like its parts were done by a sax player or generally have more of a saxophone vibe to it, while still keeping that harmonica feel to it. Nothing of this is so apparent than in “Ribbon Road” (played on a D harp in A, 2nd position) and the day version of “Steam Gardens” (played on a Low and Regular F in A minor, 5th position).
Here’s these songs:
My goal with learning these songs is not only to do covers of them, but also to work on some embouchre style transitions (specifically from lip pursing to tongue blocking and vice versa). My tongue blocking game is incredibly weak compared to players who do it full time, but I’ve thinking about working on my hybrid playing with these songs. I don’t like extremely flashy tongue blocking only playing (which is the main reason why I don’t like the crowd that push it as a “cure-all” and dunk on lip pursing for “not having as many techniques”, because doing nothing but spamming every TB technique you know is more “bluesy” than actually trying to build an emotional solo), but I’ve always gravitated towards a hybrid approach to blues which used both lip pursing and tongue blocking, mainly with players like William Clarke. I just mainly lean on the lip pursing side because the songs I typically play revolve around only lip pursing (mainly for country, gospel, and rock). This is also my default embouchre for playing melodies and chromatic. I feel like I can always improve on my playing style. Also, I just want to see how my country style phrasing would sound like with a bit more tongue blocking, for curiosity’s sake.
not exactly related since that video game uses “real” harmonica sounds, but one of those “things for the future I’d do one I get ‘good’” is try out the .RPS Effects ‘Arcade Machine’ Analog Synth or something similar - I don’t think anyone has tried it with a harmonica yet
@KeroroRinChou wow! I just love that you are thinking outside of the box for sources of harmonica songs to learn and inspiration! That is really cool! I look forward to hearing about your progress! Keep it up!
Continued practicing “Oh Susannah.” This backing track is 75bmp but is meant for “double time”, so I practiced with the mentronome at both 150bmp (regular time) and 75bmp double time - I kept switching between the two.
Unlike with bends where you can use the awesome bend-it-better app to check if you are hitting a note, seems there is no reliable way to check if you are understanding the rhythm/timing correctly - to me this seems “generally” okay apart from a few parts- can anyone confirm? Once I receive the “all-clear” I can move on to the next stage and try to make it sound as in the FunkyHarp channel video (posted above)
Awesome! My wife and I purchased a switch 2 with Mario kart a couple months back and as soon as I heard that intro harmonica riff I picked up my C harp and quickly learned it haha. Its a great lick for practicing that 2 draw wholestep bend!
As posted a little while ago, I decided that I had too many songs and archived several of them. I also wrote myself a virtual speeding ticket and banned myself from learning any new songs for a while.
Well, I’ve given in to temptation, and I’m aiming to learn “I’d love you to want me” by Lobo. Harproli does a really nice harmonica cover, and when I heard that, I wanted to play it too. Of course, I’ll probably never be able to play it as he does, but I’m going to learn it anyway. That guy really can play. He does a clever outro after the last chorus, which I’m trying to tab out and copy. Hopefully I’ll get there before too long.
