Is there a reason JJ does not play the harp during "Dew Drops" in concert? I have heard them play that song 3 times and never with the harp. He plays it on the studio version and it sounds fantastic! I really miss the harmonica in that song. He plays it during Junior & Lochloosa. And just cuz I am an extreme novice when it comes to this, but does he play different harps for different songs? Just curious
---------- "Lord feel that vibe, Lord feel that vibe....."
I would assume just because it is such a small part of the song is why he doesn't play it on Dew Drops. With Fireflies, Junior, Lochloosa, and the likes, the harp plays such a big part of the song that he always plays it for those songs. One other reason might be that Dew Drops did not originally have the Harp on it, hence the early days when they played it, it did not have a harp in it yet oddly enough, She Don't Know did. That would be my guess. ---------- Delerious Tyme
Mofro for life in Arizona The Rhythm Room is exactly that when the boys are kicking it here. "Walking on Moonlight in the Day."
The real reason you would play different harps for different songs is what key the song is in. Diatonic Harps come in every key, and you can sound decent on one as long as you are in the right key.
Where is gets weird is when you play guitar, if the base (main) key or note is A, you play a D harp. If the main is G, you play a C harp.
Ever seen John Popper of Blues Traveler with his Chewbacca-like strap of harps? That's the reason.
I second that Swamp Cracka. With what you are talking about is when you play the Harmonica in the second position or 'Cross Harp'. This gives it more of a bluesy sound to it and blends with the key of the song in which you are playing. It is possible to play the harp in the first position or straight harp, but then you do not get that same tone out of it which really makes for the vibe in something such as the Lochloosa intro.
---------- Delerious Tyme
Mofro for life in Arizona The Rhythm Room is exactly that when the boys are kicking it here. "Walking on Moonlight in the Day."
As for determining the key to which you should play, there are many ways. The easiest obviously is to get a chart that tells you. One way is to use the circle of fifths. Anyone who knows music should know what that is. Finally, the other way is to go to the fourth inversion of whatever key the song is being played in. Hence, if you are playing in the key of C, in I-IV-V blues, you would be playing the keys of C - F - G. Hence, the fourth is the F, so you would play a harp in the key of F. Same goes for A as Swamp cracka said, the 4th for it is a D. And so on.
---------- Delerious Tyme
Mofro for life in Arizona The Rhythm Room is exactly that when the boys are kicking it here. "Walking on Moonlight in the Day."
Just so I got this right, Are you saying John Popper IS NOT Chewbacca? ...I guess I'll give my son his action figure back.
My dad started messing around with the harp, and I bought him a fancy-schmancy chromatic years ago. I'ts got a few dents in it, I always attributed them to it being much harder to play and getting thrown across his sound room.
As for JJ's selection of harp, I wonder if it's all that systematic. Clearly, he puts the time in to sharpening his skills, but on stage he seems to let the moment dictate some of the creative direction. My guess is, one night he went a certain way on a whim, it worked and became the 'go-to' for a while. If that is anywhere close to the case, this break from touring will probably bring some shifts in creative perspective.
And I agree with DT - that is a kickin' picture. Make a great T-shirt.
Thanks guys, but I must give credit where credit is due.......the day before the Peel show, my brother, Sunrise wanted to have a shirt made to wear to the concert that said "more harmonica" (from the SNL more cowbell skit). I emailed a pic of the cowbell design I found online to my better half and literally with in 6 minutes he had the design ready to go to the printer. I did the leg work running around town to find someone to press the transfers I had made and found a guy to press them for $1!! Both my brother and I wore them to the concert, got mine autographed too.
We may have them screen printed onto a black shirt for a bit of a different effect. And will last alot longer than a transfer. ---------- "Lord feel that vibe, Lord feel that vibe....."
The main problem I have playing harp is all the slobber and coughing it causes me - and I'm not a smoker. There must be some technique I'm not doing right. It sure is fun though - I barely know how to play the thing, but if I break it out and play a bluesy intro, people say "Dang, I didn't know you could play that", and I respond "Neither did I!"
Alot of the stuff that JJ plays during a concert is just on a whim. That's obvious when you listen to all of the different versions of How Junior Got His Head Put Out on the archive. There is some method to what he is playing, but as for the rest he is just making it up as he goes. That is one of the great things about the harp, you can really express yourself through it without having to follow a chart or music. If you have the right key in hand, you can sound great playing along with the music. Obviously there are some times when you shouldn't play or drown out the rest of the band, but with JJ's music, there are many opportunities to make music that gets you dancing.
I've been playing the harp for almost three years now, can play along side JJ for the most part both live and album versions. As always, when he is not playing I like to throw in my own two cents when messing around. Would be my dream to get up on stage to play with him some, but will have to wait to see if that gets to happen again until they make it back out to the southwest part of the country. I'm still crossing my fingers.
---------- Delerious Tyme
Mofro for life in Arizona The Rhythm Room is exactly that when the boys are kicking it here. "Walking on Moonlight in the Day."
DT, I wish for your dream to come true. That would be amazing and I believe that one should always have something to look forward to as well as dreams to reach for. ---------- "Lord feel that vibe, Lord feel that vibe....."
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