How To Play Bob Dylan On Harmonica
Hildegard Lobach
The song 'All Along The Watchtower' by Bob Dylan is in the key of C#m. Which key Harmonica should I use to play the harmonica parts in it? I wish to play the harmonica along with rhythm guitar and vocals.
It's been a while since I played harmonica but a C won't work for sure. You'll need either a E harmonica to play first position (or Straight harp), or an A harmo to play second position (blues style). Second position (cross harp), is a fourth higher than your tonality (that's five semitones).
The first position playing sound major and is probably what you would want to do to sound like Bob Dylan. Cross harp involves mainly inhaling and a lot of bending and would sound a lot more bluesy (it's also a lot harder).
EDIT : I've given more thought to it and as Dave Wilson stated it I think I messed up the thinking.It's C#m so E(maj), so either an harmo in E to play first position or an harmo in A to play cross harp.
Hello hasan. Though Bob's music is no doubt great, his harmonica playing is not advanced enough for us to study (a beginner can pick it up by ear, so no coaching is needed). It no doubt adds to his music, and it can yours, but I'm sorry that I don't have any advice to share... he's not a player that we study, so I have no experience with his music. If you search for "bob dylan harmonica songbook" you'll find books on his playing for the harmonica. I'm sorry that I wasn't any help in this matter.
Robert Allen Zimmerman, known to all as 'Bob Dylan' is, perhaps, the most influential singer songwriter in the history of popular music. He is also inextricably connected with the ten hole diatonic harmonica, having used it on many of his most popular hits.
Born and raised in Minnessota, Dylan emerged as a leading folk artist in the early 1960s. Initially focusing on interpretations of traditional folk tunes, Dylan quickly transitioned to writing songs that were more lyrically complex, and which tackled the major issues of the time, whilst maintaining some of the stylistic elements of older folk and country music.
His influence on the direction of popular music cannot be overstated: it was Dylan's poetic lyricism that inspired countless bands, including The Beatles, to move towards writing more lyrically mature and complex songs, and his move to electrification of his music in the mid 1960s kick-started the folk rock movement.
Some serious harp players - particularly those with a bias towards the blues - dismiss Dylan's harmonica playing as simplistic. Whilst it is true that Dylan's technical prowess is not up there with, say Little Walter, his musicality still shines through; complexity and virtuosity are not always marks of greatness! Most importantly, Dylan's harp breaks, usually between verses, always add something to his songs; they are not there to say 'Look at me! Look at how great I am!' but instead they convey emotion, building the song into more than the sum of its parts.
Like many of his contemporaries, Dylan played a Hohner Marine Band on many of his early recordings. In later years he could sometimes be seen playing a Hohner Special 20, and more recently a Hohner Blues Harp. Any of these harmonicas will enable a good approximation of Dylan's sound. Just add acoustic guitar, paired with a harmonica holder and you're halfway there!
The Harmonica Play-Along Series will help you play your favorite songs quickly and easily. Just follow the notation, listen to the audio to hear how the harmonica should sound, and then play along using the separate backing tracks. The melody and lyrics are also included in the book in case you want to sing, or to simply help you follow along. The audio CD is playable on any CD player. For PC and MAC computer users, the CD is enhanced so you can adjust the recording to any tempo without changing pitch!
For books with online audio, the audio is accessed online using the unique code inside each book and can be streamed or downloaded. The audio files include PLAYBACK+, a multi-functional audio player that allows you to slow down audio without changing pitch, set loop points, change keys, and pan left or right.
I feel I was fortunate to have grown up around the corner from the Apollo Theater. Harlem has a rich musical tradition, swing, bop, blues and hip hop. All of these forms were not born there but they found a climate there to grow and evolve.
I messed around with the guitar but there was something about the harmonica that spoke to me, as if the breath were given a language all could hear and understand no matter what tongue they spoke. I love this instrument.
I used to keep them in a box that I would sit atop the amplifier and it was tedious and distracting to have to turn my back to the audience whenever I wanted to change keys. One day, I accidentally knocked the entire box off of the amp and they all tumbled backstage!!!
I tried violin in school but I was terrible; I loved saxophone but my mom could not bear the noise I was making!!! So, when my aunt bought me my first harmonica, I played it constantly until one day it miraculously disappeared!!
I played from one end of Manhattan to the other actually, but we made our best money on McDougal and in Washington Square Park. I remember playing with a great washboard player by the name of Washboard Doc; he was a fabulously rhythmic cat!
Congrats on posting up your first AVOYP, Ivan, an impressive debut recording. I especially liked the addition of the passing bass notes. Harmonica adds so much to these songs. You are doing well in pursuit of the aspirations you shared in your introductory post. Keep on keeping on.
Terrific debut performance Ivan. The harmonica is such an iconic part of this and other early Dylan songs. You combined a great vocal with some really tasty guitar work too. The picked bass notes worked really well.
Well done, I look forward to more from you in the future.
Ivan , I am very happy I saw your post, great cover and a reminder to me to consider using this medium myself. I find singing and playing so difficult but here you have added a third element and brilliantly, well done indeed
"Greek music and Zydeco and Blues have something in common in my mind and that is that these types of music tell a story. They tell a history. They tell about pain and suffering and about joy and love."
After college, Ellen traveled to Europe with back pack, guitar and harmonicas and toured all over playing and singing along the way. Upon coming back to the U.S. Ellen decided that pursuing music professionally would be too much of a hardship and a possible disappointment to her parents since she was the eldest of 4 and the first one in the family to graduate college. So she pursued work in the industry she loved, music and ended up selling radio advertising for the top Rock station in Chicago, WXRT-FM where she remained working for nearly 24 years. While she was there, she heard lots of great music and met lots of famous musicians, but she realized that her love for playing music was not being realized. Since people responded so positively when she played harmonica, she got serious about studying Blues so that she could play in the Chicago Blues scene. Ellen studied with Matthew Skollar, Howard Levy and Billy Branch (who has since become a close personal friend). She shared the stage with Buckwheat Zydeco and Irma Thomas. Ellen has played on the main stage of the Chicago Blues Festival. She is a regular on the Chicago Blues scene sitting in with everyone that plays and is also a regular passenger on the Legendary Blues Cruise in the Caribbean every January.
I played more in the style of Bob Dylan and Neil Young when I started playing harmonica, but while in College at Southern Illinois University, I met several guys playing Blues harmonica and they all were willing to show me a few things. When I moved back home to Chicago after school, I got more into Blues as a couple of Blues Bars opened near my home. I always felt the Blues and it came easily to me at first.
Buckwheat Zydeco brought me up on stage at the Chicago Blues Fest in 2002 as a special guest. It was the last night of the fest, and it was the last song of the night and he brought me up in my own hometown.
Afterwards backstage several Blues guys asked me where I was from and I laughed and told them, right down the street! You never get the appreciation in your own hometown, but luckily Buckwheat met me on a Caribbean Blues cruise and to him, I was somebody!
"I think the harp is the most soulful and expressive instruments in Blues Music. The sound is unique to the individual that is playing it. There is no real music written for harmonica like most instruments so what you hear played is what ever you make it!" (Ellen & Buckwheat Zydeco / Photo by Ben Burns)
"What I miss is what I missed. I wish I was around and old enough to have seen the greats on a regular basis. I did see Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon and many others, but like so many of us, I took it for granted at the time." (Ellen & Anne Harris / Photo by Roman Sobus)
I think the harp is the most soulful and expressive instruments in Blues Music. The sound is unique to the individual that is playing it. There is no real music written for harmonica like most instruments so what you hear played is what ever you make it!
He played acoustically, not directly on the microphone as more modern blues players did (and still do), but with enough air between his harmonica and the mic so that you can hear the wah-wah effect of his hands as he cupped and opened them around his harmonica. I enjoy playing this way, because it is the same way as playing without a mic to a small audience without amplification. I also picked up the chugging tongue-clucking chords he used for rhythm.
My harp style is more like Brian Jones than like any other rock musician, because it combines some of that country and folk feel with the blues. I enjoy playing acoustically to a vocal mic, as Jones did, rather than honk raucously into a bullet mic like most blues harmonica players do.
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