Monthly Archives: August 2018

Minor Key Chord Tones in Third Position

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Playing in minor keys may not be the first thing you try on the harmonica. Even some fairly advanced players stay away from it. If you are strictly a second position player minor keys may be problematic for you. A pretty easy way of fixing this is to learn to play in third position. Don’t get me wrong here, playing in third position doesn’t mean that you automatically play in minor or that you can only play minor. Third position just makes minor keys easier. If you have not played over a minor 12 bar blues before then learning to find the minor key chord tones is a good way to get started. If you know where the chord tones are you can play both accompaniment and even solo.

The benefit of third position

The benefit of third position for minor keys is that the minor third can be played without advanced bending skills. This is especially true if you play hole 4 and upwards. The lower octave require more practice though. also the minor key chord tones are quite easy to find.

minor key chord tones needed for minor blues

12 bar blues in D minor

The minor 12 bar blues can be formed by replacing the every major chord with its minor counterpart. In Dm for example the 12 bar blues then consist of Dm, Gm and Am.

Minor key chord tones

If you play a C harmonica in third position you will be playing in D or Dm. The chord tones for the chord in Dm are:

  • Dm – D F A C (root, minor third, fifth, minor seventh)
  • Gm – G Bb D F
  • Am – A C E G

The chord tones for Dm in tab:

  • D     1, 4, 8
  • F     2”, 5, 9
  • A     3”, 6, 10
  • C     1+, 4+, 7+, 10+

The chord tones for Gm:

  • G     2, 3+, 6+, 9+
  • Bb   3′, 10+”
  • D     1, 4, 8
  • F     2”, 5, 9

The chord tones for Am:

  • A     3”, 6, 10
  • C     1+, 4+, 7+, 10+
  • E     2+, 5+, 8+
  • G     2, 3+, 6+, 9+

The Bb (minor third of Gm) is the one chord tone that is the trickiest. Playing the 3 unbent can sound horrible so make sure you play it in pitch. The 10+” is quite tricky as well. The whole step bend on hole 3 takes some practice too but there are easy options for playing the A elsewhere on the harmonica.

Get comfortable with it!

The best way to get comfortable with minor blues is to put on a jam track and practice playing the chord tones over it. With a little bit of practice you will be able to move around quite freely.

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Is Reusing Riffs Creative?

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Being able to play dazzling solos is a dream for many beginning harmonica players. The nice thing about the diatonic harmonica is that is so easy to start playing and be reasonably in tune with a 12 bar blues. Taking the next step and really more effort though. Creating a riff bank by learning riffs is a good way to get going. Learning songs that the mold mastered played is another great way. However some players seem to be hesitant about reusing riffs they learn in songs. It can feel a bit like stealing and not very creative at all. In this article I give my view on this topic.

Pros and cons of reusing riffs

First of all I have to say that I am all for reusing riffs. The riffs played by Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Big Walter Horton and others are memorable for a reason. They are damn good. If you don’t reuse those riffs you are seriously limiting yourself. The idea is to make good music and there is no shame in standing on the shoulders of giants. It may make you feel better to know that the old masters definately were resuing their own riffs (and probably other players riffs as well). For example bars 5-7 of the first solos in Born Blind by Sonny Boy Willimanson II is very similar to bars 5-7 of the second solo of Help Me. That phrase is very recognizable as SBWII and nobody would say it is a bad reuse.

reusing riffs

Part of what SBW resued himself.

On the flip side resuing too heavily can be a problem. You don’t want the audience to think you are playing a specific famous song when you are in fact jamming or soloing on your own original. Don’t rip a whole solo for example. Pull out the the riffs you like and put your own spin on them instead. With time they will become your own.

But what about creativity?

We may all have different opinions on what is creative and what is not but I don’t see using your riff bank as less creative than on the spot composing. Even if you are using patterns or riffs you already know the creative part is applying them in an appropriate situation. David Barrett calls improvisation revisiting what you already know and I think that is a good way of looking at it. One riff you pull out will lead you someplace on the harmonica, then you can pull out another riff using that place as a starting point. You can also get creative by resuing riffs and color them differently with techniques and other forms of improvisation.

Summary

So all in all I hope you see that resuing riffs you learn in song is not something to stay away from. Using them can make you sound a lot more professional and also push you to come up with your own variations. Use this gold mine the great players of yesterday have left behind!

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Harmonica Creativity through Limitations

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The harmonica in itself is an instruments with built in limitations. This is part of the power of it as well. If you play first position melodies or second position blues you are for the most part on safe ground. What I propose in this article is that you impose more limitations to set your harmonica creativity free.

The problem with artistic freedom

Being completely free when playing a solo for example can actually be a problem for a beginner. When we have too much to choose from we sometimes freeze. The reason for this is that our minds need boundaries to be truly creative. It is the act of working around the limitations that set your harmonica creativity free.

With experience and sufficient knowledge of structure we can handle more and more freedom. After learning how to use repetition a musician is better equipped to take advantage of playing “without rules”.

Self-imposed limitations

harmonica creativity

Self-imposed limitations can help you.

By using self-imposed limitations you challenge yourself into finding new patterns or rhythms while playing. A great way of doing this is to limit which holes you allow yourself to play. Try this as an exercise:

  1. For the first chorus of a backing track play a solo using just hole 1. This will force you to think about your phrasing and rhythmic approach.
  2. For the second chorus play a solo using holes 1 and 2.
  3. For the third chorus play a solo using holes 1-3.
  4. Continue with this patterna for as many choruses you like.

Don’t forget to record what you come up with! When you listen back to what you have played you will notice that playing just hole 1 does not sound as boring as you would think. During the exercise you will also notice how much you appreciate getting another hole to play. All in all this will make you think about the building blocks of your music in a new way.

Go do it!

Now it is time for you to try this exercise. I would also encourge you to think about other limitations to use. Maybe just play eigth notes, then only quarter notes, then only half notes and in the end everything together. With each exercise you will increase your harmonica creativity a little bit and in the end it all adds up to something great.

Let me know how it works out for you and which limitations you set. Don’t forget to sign up below to get the Welcome package and exclusive articles!

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Reed Gapping Overview

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When a diatonic harmonica leaves the factory it has a form of generic setup. This generic setup is meant to work for most people. This also means that it will probably not be optimal for you. Depending on your playing style you may need to do reed gapping to get a perfect harmonica for your style. In this article I give an overview of setting the reed gap and the effects it will have.

What is reed gapping?

The reed gap is the distance between the tip of the reed and the reed plate when the reed is at rest. This distance will decide how the reed respond to different air pressures when you start playing a note. If the reed gap is set very low, the reed must be started with very low air pressure. After the vibrations starts the volume can increase. The reed will not even vibrate if the air pressure is to high. If the reed gap is set very high, the reed will need high air pressure and lots of air to start vibrating. If there is too little air or too low air pressure the air will just move past the reed and no sound is made.

correct reed gapping

Not too high and not too low.

The reed gap also determines how the harmonica responds to bends, overblows and overdraws. For draw bends the corresponding blow reed need to be set sufficiently low for it to be engaged when the draw happens. The same thing is true for the corresponding draw reed and overblows.

Getting the right balance

Getting the right reed gap is dependent on your playing style. If you play very softly you need the gap to be low. High gap is needed if you normally play forecfully. The right balance for you is when you can play both softly and forcefully on the same harmonica.

If you have sprecific needs you may need different sets of harmonicas for different styles. I remember going to a worskhop a few years ago with Marc Breitfelder who said he has three different sets of harmonicas. A “normal” set, a set for extreme overbends and a set for country harmonica vamping style.

Tools

You don’t need any complicated tools to do reed gapping. You can use a reed lifter tool, your nails or paper clip to gently push the reed upwards or downwards. Very little force is need so be very careful. You are aiming dor very small adjustements so don’t go too much by your eyes. If the action feels right when you play, it is right.

reed gapping tools

Possible tools to use for reed gapping.

Summary

Reed gapping is the modification I think is almost mandatory for all harmonica players. It is not a very complicated modification but you do have to be careful not to bend any reeds. Do it first on old harmonicas until you feel comfortable with it. I think adjusting the reed gap is something that you should consider doing before getting a custom comb even. With the right reed gap you will get a much more playable harmonica suited to your style.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me and don’t forget to sign up below to get the Welcome package and exclusive articles!

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Custom Harmonica Comb Upgrade Preparations

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Most harmonicas nowadays are pretty good out-of-the-box. At least if you choose to pay a little bit over the bare minimum. Still, as people get more and more sophisticated in their playing some choose to get a custom or semi-custom built harmonica. This is a harmonica modified or built by a skilled craftsman. I have harmonicas built by Günther Bayer (semi-custom), Dick Sjöberg (custom) and Joel Andersson (custom). I am very pleased with those harmonicas. In this article I will touch upon a modification you can do yourself with very little work. That is, changing to a custom harmonica comb.

I first came in contact with custom combs when when my first harmonica mentor Dick Sjöberg was developing the Sjoeberg Comb some years ago. It was part of my first custom harmonica that Dick built for me. Nowadays the Sjoeberg Combs are manufactured by Joel Andersson of J.A. Harmonicas. If you make a Google search you can find other suppliers of combs.

custom harmonica comb options

Sjoeberg Combs in different colors.

Simple optimization

Changing the comb on your harmonica to a custom harmonica comb is a good way of optimizing an existing harmonica and put it closer to the performance of a custom harmonica. What you will normally get is less leackage and more focused air stream towards the reeds. This will result in a harmonica that require less effort to play and bends will become easier.

The first thing you need to consider is if the custom harmonica comb will fit yout harmonica. Normally the manufaucturer will be very clear about this but it doesn’t hurt to be extra sure. I once got a comb I thought would fit a Marine Band deLux that was actually for a Marine Band Classic. Fortunately I could return it.

Properties of a custom harmonica comb

A custom harmonica comb is very often made out of hardwood and is fully sealed. This means that it will not absorb moisture and will keep its shape much longer. The surfaces that meets the reed plates are extremely flat to ensure a tight fit. The slots in the comb may also have a different design than you are used to. This is to control the air flow going to the reed. Some custom combs also include details like brass tube resonators to add to the overtone properties of the harmonica.

Preparing the harmonica

To benefit from the flat surface of the comb the surface of the reed plate needs to be as flat as possible. The reed plate for the blow notes has the reeds attached towrds the comb so unless you plan to remove all reeds first there is not much you can do about that plate.

What you should do is to make sure that the surface of the draw reed plate that faces the comb is as flat as possible. If you run your finger over an untreated reed plate you will feel that the pins that are used to attached the reeds stick out just a little bit. If they are left like that you will get some distance between the comb and the reed plate. This is especially true if the comb is made of hardwood. Tightening the screws will not help, the reed plate will most likely become a bit deformed.

Getting a good result

To make the reed plate as flat as possible you sand it starting with sand paper around 240 and then changing to finer and finer grade. For the final stages I use lapping paper which has extremely fine grains. This will create an almost mirror like surface. I hold the reed plate down using three fingers and move it in a figure eigth pattern to minimize the risk of an uneven surface. Also make sure that there are no unsanded spots left when you are done.

Glass plate to prepare for custom harmonica comb

Glass plate used as surface for sanding.

You need to make sure that the surface you lay the san paper and lapping paper on is as flat as possible. A table top may suffice, just realize that it is not 100% flat. I have gotten a piece of hardened glass that is pretty damn close to flat. The professionals use a lapping plate which is extremely flat to get the best result possible.

sanpaper for custom harmonica comb

Sand paper ranging from 240 to 400 and lapping paper.

Putting it all back together

Once you are happy with the surface of your reed plate you can install your new custom harmonica comb. Reassmble as you normally would but don’t tighten the screws too much, there is no need for this. If you tighten too much you run the risk of deforming the reed plates.

If you don’t have a custom comb you can actually get some of the benfits by flattening the standard wooden comb the same way as the draw reed plate and reassmbling with some non-toxic mineral oil between the reed plates and the wooden comb. This will give tighter seal and prevent the standard comb from absorbing moisture.