How to Easily Choose the Best Harmonica for a Song
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- Richard Sleigh ( hotrodharmonic... ) shows you a super easy way to construct and use the circle of fifths to find harmonica options for playing any song. This system is easy to remember and gives you a way to gradually memorize more of the information for instant recall. As long as you have a scrap of paper and something to write with, you're in business...
Super helpful visual. I think I just found the next tattoo for my forearm.
Thanks, man! If you get the tattoo, let me know!
@@richardroysleigh a1dq÷
His description is not strictly aimed at complete beginners. Its for people who already know the best positions to use for different songs, (they know from experience that some positions work better for a given particular song/style). For example a given position for that song may have less (low notes or high notes) notes to bend, mostly diatonic notes etc or it just might be that they only learned the song in a given position. So lets assume you already know a ton of songs and your own favourite positions to play them all in (they won't all be first position). So you want to join in at a session and you know the melody of the song being played and you know that the style/song (it just so happens) is very easy to play in 12th position (you learned that song in 12th position) but you nearly always play it using a D harp. So lets say the song being played by the band is instead being played in the key of 'C', well in 12th position the harp to use is hence a G harp (Using method in above video, circle of 5ths count 12 anti clockwise from C to G).
Do you see how this is only going to become apparent once you have learned a lot of songs already. This video is aimed at such players. Anyway, here is another example. Lets say its a song you know how to play really well but you always play it in 2nd position as that is the easiest way to play it. Now you usually play that song with a C harp. But the band you want to join in with is playing it in the key of Bb. So how do you figure out the harp to use to allow you to play Bb in 2nd position? Well use the technique described Bb circle of 5ths one step anti clockwise back from Bb gets you to Eb. So you pull out your Eb harp to jam with the band in 2nd position which is the Bb key the band is playing in. You might still be able to play the same song in first position (a Bb harp) but maybe there is just two many high notes in first position (which makes a high pitched sound, drowning out the other players) , hence why you learned to play it in 2nd position initially. Hope that helps anyone who is a beginner.
Yeah I’m a beginner about 5 months in. This video was still confusing a bit to me. I’ll get it figured out at some point I guess. All this different keys and positions stuff has been confusing for me.
So if a song is in E you use an A harp? If it’s in F you use Bb? Uggh! I just want to get to the “now I get it” moment in my brain! Lol
I’ll read your post again in detail and see if I can figure this out!
I 've read a lot about the Circle of Fifths but your explanation his the best. The various charts drive me crazy.
Now i see the road clearly ahead.
Thanks.
great info. Richard! sharing on my Harmonica123 FB page!
Thanks, Ronnie - I hope you are doing well and tearin' it up out there!
Thank you Richard!
Good that you discovered this at last :)
Sweetness. Thank you!
You're welcome!
Perfect, clear, easy... nice Richard great vid.
Thanks Michael! I'm glad you found this useful!
Thx! I have not ventured past 2nd position, but when i do, i will be prepared! PS thx also for giving another reason for the value of the circle of 5ths.
Learning / memorizing the COF will pay off over and over again. It is the deluxe Swiss army knife of music theory.
Great video. So if I am playing a blues song in e say a 3 bar blues what key Harp should I buy like a B? Do you just count 5 back that is the harp you should buy? Thank you
Thank you, I now understand this :)
The ( flats) WHERE are the ( sharps )???? In the circle???
Is it the same??
flats and sharps are the same thing just notated different. G#= Aflat for the purposes of the chart.
The flat keys are counterclockwise and have a b(flat) in the name of the key, the sharp keys are clockwise and do not have a # in the key name. The key of F is the outlier.
Thank you
Is there an exercise book/tab or note, for the pentatonics for C chromatic?
if i made a song in Aminor and it goes to C,Dminor,F and G,,do i need A harp or a E harp?
So just to be clear, that is also clockwise from the C as 1st position then G 2nd and so forth?
If you wan to be clear, first decide what problem you are solving. If you want to choose the right harmonica for a particular song, start with the key of the song, mark that as # 1 on your circle of fifths, and go COUNTER clockwise - 2, 3, 4, etc as shown in the video.
When you count clockwise from a particular key on the COF, you are solving a different problem - answering the question "what are the keys / positions I can play on this particular harmonica?" If you are playing with a band or friends, it is highly unlikely that they will be interested in exploring this question with you. They will, however, be choosing songs and keys for the tunes, and you will be looking for the best harp for each of these tunes.
If you flip from counting counter clockwise to clockwise without being clear about the problem you are solving you will just scramble your brain and end up confused. I tried for years to teach people how to use this tool and I know that if I explain both the counter clockwise system and the clockwise system in the same session, I'll see eyes glazing over into the thousand yard stare and hear the quiet sobbing of people who are telling themselves "I'll never understand this EVER because there is something wrong with me"...
Here's my advice: practice what I show in this video first and get good at doing this process for finding the best harp for a particular song. You will learn the most valuable skill first - THEN if you need to answer the question "what keys can I play my (fill in the blank) harp in? you will be able to logically use your default process in reverse to give you the answer you want. Always start with the question / problem you want to solve and then you will be able to extract the info you want from the COF. Thanks for the question! It made me think this through more carefully...
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