Fills and accompanying guitars

[Rich35]

  Hi All
 Question I am mostly a Chromatic player ,and I was asked to join up with
 a couple guitars players, so I was thinking of breaking out the diatonic s a joining them .
 Problem is I always play melodies and  do not know what I should do in fills and accompanying.
 Besides the key of song any pointers on runs and etc,with no Bends if possible.
  Thanks for any info on subject .
  Rich

[lflisboa]

Why not the chrom?
If the guitar players are blues oriented, then it'll be a hard task to play a diatonic with no bends.
You can play using the key signature of the harp (ex. song in C, harmonica in C, etc), but you'll be a little bit limited.
You can get a Hohner Koch (very leaky), and you'll have most of the bends notes pressing the button, or a solo tuning diatonic, but if you do not intend to use bends, you'd consider use the chromatic.

[John Broecker]

Hello, Rich35.

I'm not an employee of any sheet music
publisher or sheet music distributor.

Here are 2 excellent instruction methods
for standard 10-hole diatonic harmonicas.
The ideas presented will also work for a
Richter slide chromatic (Richter system
reed placement, not solo system).

The Seydel company makes a Chromatic
Deluxe Richter model in a 12-hole slide
chromatic; or any standard 10-hole slide
chromatic would work. The 10-hole slide
chromatics are usually factory-set in the
Richter system reed placement.

Both of these books are published by Mel
Bay. Buy the books through Mel Bay or an
internet book seller or music instrument
retail store; or a sheet music seller.

Find a harp teacher to help you, or someone
who plays harmonica.

Contact Mel Bay at:

www.melbay.com  OR:
email@melbay.com

Mel Bay products index #MB20848BCD:

Get Chugging, by Ben Hewlett & Paul Lennon.
This 52-page manual and audio CD will get you
started. Highly recommended. "Chugging" is a slang
term for playing harmonica chord accompaniment.

Mel Bay products index #MB20719BCD:

Blues Harp Licks Chart, by David Barrett.

This 3-page chart and audio CD includes 24
two-measure licks (short solos or "fill-ins");
and some easy music theory of music forms
(blues progressions).

Best Regards, Stay Healthy

John Broecker,
Sussex, Wisconsin, USA

[Rich35]

Hello Iflisboa and John
 Thanks for the info , like I said totally new for me playing fills and
 Riffs .Will have one of my Chro,s with me but all the keys I don,t know by
Heart ,so I figured my diatonic s in various keys would be beneficial .
 Thanks

[Laina]

If you're more comfortable on the chromatic it might be worth trying a few nifty riffs using pentatonic or blues scales and it would sound good. Various refs on YT.

[Gnarly He Man]

What are some of the songs?

[Rich35]

Hi Gary
 I do not know of the songs it's a few folks in a jam type setting , so diatonic s in different keys
was my thought ,what ever key I would have a octave in any key to play around ,
  I just thought of a couple of riffs or runs of a scale which would work in any key with the right key harp ,as I have zip experience thought I would see how it goes and they are aware of that fact .
 

[Gnarly He Man]

Good luck and have fun.
Don’t be afraid to leave space.

[beads]

Print out the circle of 5ths and put it in your harp case. Play in 2nd position per that chart. C harp for songs in G, G harp for songs in D, D harp for A, etc.
Play mostly draw notes and hold them longer than blow notes. Blow notes are connectors. Exception to that is when guitar is on the IV chord (roman numeral 4, in the key of G that would be a C chord). Then you can use more blow notes and hold longer. Use holes 1 to 6. When a note sounds good stay on it a bit. The reason this works is because on a C harp the blow notes are a C chord and the low end draw notes are a G chord. Song in G, your draw notes are the I chord (Roman numeral one). Your blow notes are the IV chord. In a I IV V (1, 4, 5) chord progression you spend a lot of time on I and IV. The chances of hitting out of key notes is greatly reduced. Pros do much more, but this can get you started. Practice at home playing along with YouTube and try to get a list of songs they do and what keys. And Gary is right, leave space. In this setting harmonica is more a spice, not the main course. Dump too much spice in and it ruins the meal. A little spice can really be nice.

[Gnarly He Man]

Gary is right, leave space. In this setting harmonica is more a spice, not the main course. Dump too much spice in and it ruins the meal. A little spice can really be nice.

We paint the silence!

[Rich35]

Beads
 Thanks for info exactly what I was looking for !
 Thanks