[Harp-L] Stevie Wonder Fragile Which Chromo?

[Buck Worley]

List,
I'm trying to learn more about playing chromatic and I love Stevie Wonder's style. Where can I find more info regarding his playing and particularly what harmonica's he uses.
Thus far the only time I use my chromatic is for blues in dorian mode, either playing in minor or minor over the major.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi5FC2Mf-Bo
This one (Fragile) seems to be in F# minor. What is he using and which key is the instrument in?
I have 2 chromatic harmonicas. Both are Hohners. A CBH 2016 in C and a Super Chromonica 270 in G
Thanks in advance,
Buck Worley

[Kent]

I'm pretty sure he's playing a Super 64 in that clip. I've seen him in concert playing both a Super 64 and a 280, and I think for many years he favored the 280's but I'm pretty sure it's a Super 64 in that clip, but it's hard for me to tell. And it definitely sounds like F# minor to me, he sings every note in the F# minor scale. I think he's playing it on a C chromatic though, given by the number of times he's hitting the slide.

kma

[Winslow Yerxa]

Stevie always records using a four-octave chromatic in C. Every now and then he will pitch-shift the tape up or down a semitone, as he did with Chakha Khan's "I Feel For You" (Tune is is in F# major, he downshifted the pitch to record it playing in F) or his own "Do I Do" (comes out in B major but played in Bb).

His solo on this clip is in F minor, not F#. And definitely on a C chromatic. Your CBH would work fine for this.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa
zzzzzzz
________________________________
From: Buck Worley <boog...@msn.com>
To: "har...@harp-l.org" <har...@harp-l.org>
Sent: Monday, November 17, 2014 3:32 PM

Subject: [Harp-L] Stevie Wonder Fragile Which Chromo?

[Buck Worley]

Thanks Winslow,
I stand corrected on the key F#. I realize now that I had a "brain bubble" on that. First fret (E string) on the guitar = F.
I read a thing or two regarding his pitch shift up or down. Thanks for confirming that.
Regards,Buck

> Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 00:51:06 +0000
> From: winslo...@yahoo.com
> To: har...@harp-l.org; boog...@msn.com
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Stevie Wonder Fragile Which Chromo?

[Buck Worley]

Thanks Ken. I realize now that I got the key wrong (brain bubble). I have read somewhere that SW's favorite chrom is the Super 64 key of C. Thanks for the confirmation on that.Regards,Buck

Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 20:06:46 -0500

Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Stevie Wonder Fragile Which Chromo?

From: airmo...@gmail.com
To: boog...@msn.com
CC: har...@harp-l.org

Buck... I don't know much about chromatic... for me its very hard to figure out what key chromatic someone is playing.

So I just try to figure out what key the song is in by using my diatonic major and minor harps.

My Ab harp sounded just right, playing it in 4th position, so the song is in F minor... and it sound right on my Lee Oskar Fnm harp too.

Stevie is probably playing a Super 64 Key of C.

Ken H in OH

[Buck Worley]

Oops. It's F not F#...my bad. Thanks for the input thoughBuck

> Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 00:14:13 +0000
> From: kman...@comcast.net
> To: har...@harp-l.org
> CC: boog...@msn.com
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Stevie Wonder Fragile Which Chromo?

[Winslow Yerxa]

While Stevie remains a Hohner endorser, he is often captured in photos and video playing a Suzuki Sirius S-64 chromatic. It's hard to tell for sure, but he appears to be playing one in this video.
Winslow zzzz

----- Original Message -----
From: Buck Worley <boog...@msn.com>

[Ken H in Ohio]

Buck... I don't know much about chromatic... for me its very hard to figure
out what key chromatic someone is playing.

So I just try to figure out what key the song is in by using my diatonic
major and minor harps.

My Ab harp sounded just right, playing it in 4th position, so the song is
in F minor... and it sound right on my Lee Oskar Fnm harp too.

Stevie is probably playing a Super 64 Key of C.

Ken H in OH

On Mon, Nov 17, 2014 at 6:32 PM, Buck Worley <boog...@msn.com> wrote:

[Richard Hunter]

Buck Worley wroteP

<I'm trying to learn more about playing chromatic and I love Stevie Wonder's style. Where can I find more info regarding his playing and particularly <what harmonica's he uses.

Stevie generally uses a 4-octave chromatic in C, such as a Super 64. I transcribed 3 of his solos in both standard and arrow notation (For Once In My Life, Creepin', and Please Don't Go) in my book "Jazz Harp", and it's worth a look if you want a note-by-note breakdown of his style.

http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Harp-Richard-Hunter/dp/0825602297/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1416319646&sr=8-3&keywords=jazz+harp

Thanks, Rihcard Hunter

[Buck Worley]

Richard,
Thank you. You are a gentleman and a scholar.
Regards,Buck

> Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 09:08:14 -0500
> From: turtl...@earthlink.net
> To: har...@harp-l.org

> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Stevie Wonder Fragile Which Chromo?
>

[Kent]

Winslow,

I'm confused here, when Stevie plays the melody line in that video he is playing the notes of:

F# G# A B C# D E F# - that's definitely what I hear

Isn't that A Major or F# Minor - how is that melody in F Minor?

What am I missing here?

Thanks,
Kent

[Winslow Yerxa]

At what point in the video does he play the notes you cite? I don't hear them.

Or maybe I should ask what you're using as a pitch reference to give you notes of F# minor? The tune is without question in F minor.

Are you listening to the same Youtube video as the one given in the link by Buck?

In the cited clip, Stevie's solo starts at 1:38 and he plays:

Bb, (then a little slide ornament), C repeated and sustained, C Eb Db C (C-Db-C) Bb, Ab, (G-Ab-G) F G, and so on.

Pretty much every note he plays in the entire solo is in the F natural minor scale:


F G Ab Bb C Db Eb

Winslow
zzzzz

________________________________
From: Kent <kman...@comcast.net>
To: Harp-L <har...@harp-l.org>
Cc: Buck Worley <boog...@msn.com>; Winslow Yerxa <winslo...@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2014 9:08 AM

[Kent]

Thanks Winslow,

I realize now what you mean and how I had the notes wrong, I had the pitch reference wrong, I wasn't hearing the F as F and the Eb and Bb threw me off, for some reason I hear the Ab and Db as dominant tones and that threw me off, but after listening to the solo repeatedly looking at it in a spectrum analyzer (I'm just kind of a nut about this kind of stuff), I definitely hear it as you say below.