Lesson on 12th postion - Piedmont Style Blues

[6ganey9]

what a beautiful tone this guy has!

[bakedsushi]

WOW simply fantastical I have no idea how this style made it to Hazard county KY but as a kid my parents took me to visit my great grand dad and he played this stuff very often. mostly when his caretaker ( a native american lady) who knew my great grand mom would give him scotch. He was forbidden to drink but when she slipped him some he would play this stuff and sing like a bird. Then a few hours later we were reminded he was senile.

[BrendanPowerMusic]

Hey Chris, tasty as always! 12th is great in the upper octaves, but in another of your vids you mention that the bottom octave is harder in 12th, so you don't use it a lot.

Here's a suggestion to open up the bottom octave for 12th and other positions: Try Paddy Richter tuning.

It's only one note change: tune 3 blow up a tone. It will give you a LOT more flexibility in the bottom end for 12th (and 11th position - good for 1st, 3rd, 2nd, 4th also). Try it my friend, you'll like it :-) Brendan

[mottag8830]

so on a C harp, the 3 blow should be tuned to an A flat?

[BrendanPowerMusic]

No, that's just a semitone up. It shoudl be a tone, which is two semitones. Therefore the note would be A on a C harp. BP

[BrendanPowerMusic]

No, Ab is only a semitone up. A tone is two semitones - so the note would be A on a C harp. That is an important note in 12th position (the third of the scale); it's now easy to get really fast, so it makes extending your 12th position runs down into the bottom octave much easier. BP

[twoflattires]

I really like the Paddy richter tuning, but aside from losing the blow chord, you also lose the note you normally get from the one and a half step bend on the 3 hole draw. That can be an important note in some positions/scales, it's one of the blue notes in 3rd position. Although I suppose if you really wanted to you could get that note by overblowing the 2 hole. If it weren't for that I think I'd tune more of my harps to paddy richter, but for now I just have a few that I use for certain songs

[twoflattires]

Would be it be possible to record just Mr. Farnworth playing the guitar part so I could practice playing over it? I know that's kind of unlikely and would be a hassle but I thought I'd ask just in case. BTW, I love this type music and it's definately inspired me to put some more practice into 12th position.

[chrismichalek]

I can't. He lives in Seattle and came to study with me in Phoenix for the week. Since he was living in my house during that time, I put him to work with my other local students. I will ask him if he can record himself and then I'll post it.

[twoflattires]

Thanks for responding, if it would be too much of a hassle then definately don't worry about. These videos of your lessons are awesome, I don't think anyone else has posted anything like this. Thanks again.

[leftofcentre11]

Chris this sounds just amazing-such a different sound to 2nd.I would love to learn 12th position-if i could just get my head around it!

[bobblunn]

Chris,

Pretty cool vid - It was kind of hard for me to wrap my head around the keys though -I think with the capo at fret 4 the guitar player was playing E, A, & B7(?). So, it's a I, IV, V, but not a typical 12 bar pattern.

The 12th position harp playing certainly does fit the style and you pull it off very well - The tone, phrasing, and melody were all outstanding in this vid.

Thanks for the inspiration to try and learn something new, and...

Kudos!

-BB

[diabluz]

wow!!! thanks man!

[chrismichalek]

in 12th position the tonic, root or "home" note is draw five. On a C harp 12th position would be F

[chrismichalek]

the song in the video is in the key of E and I'm using a B harmonica

[sjziro]

So I wish I would've just added this to the last comment, and I also thought I'd never ask this question about a YouTube video! But...what key is this song in and which key harp are you using?

[sjziro]

So, I think I heard you say your Home note would be the draw 5. Is that the tonic then, for 12th position always, draw 5? How do you know which harp to grab for 12 position? Like 2nd pos, is 4 steps up, what's 12th?

[chrismichalek]

My only album is an acoustic album... you can find it on CDbaby

[ZackPomerleau]

Beautiful tone and much better than 2nd position definitely. Chris I applaud this, when are you recording an acoustic album???

[djm3801]

Thanks for sharing. Interesting to see folks who share a forum live near enough to get education. And have some fun.

[nomoboy]

Awesome lesson, Chris! If you ever make it to Japan, please let me know.....  m O m (worshipping on my knees)

DutchBones

[choppajoe]

You have really nice tone Chris

[isaacullah]

Chris Thanks again for this! Sorry I barfed all over your bathroom afterwards though! I'm still sick as dog... probably won't be up for come over again tonight... I'll let you know If I feel better enough by tomorrow, but at the momnet I'm still not sure....

[chrismichalek]

I told you... TRUST NO ONE and NEVER leave your glass unattended. Frankly I don't need the competition. Good luck with your journey to the other side.

[Clarky3009]

Hell yeah, great playing. Some of that sounds like a player called Fraser Speirs. Issac, lovin it dude. Keep it up guys!

-- Al

[abuligi]

there is nothing whatsoever

chris tone is the not easily reachable and in not sure this fraser is anywhere close

[Clarky3009]

there is a difference my friend when you hear someone like fraser live, 35 years of playing will create the tone... and i am confident it is fucking amazing.

Again great playing chris + i.

--Al

[jrexxier]

i wish i could have lessons like these :)

[Harpfriends]

Oh,ya! Issac- I hear a great improvement in your tone. Nice!

[Tsutsomu]

Thank you very much guys !

Friendly :

Steph.

[harmonicazhin]

Beautiful. I learned a lot from this one!

It's also very cool to see friends that I know separately all in the same room!

Isaac and Ray are good learners! It's wonderful to see Isaac fearlessly go beyond his limits and make such progress in that time. :)

[johnnieharp]

Chris, are you using an A harp?

Thanks.

[samuraifliphop]

It's a B harp.

[lirabenja]

Thats awesome Chris

Thanks for your wonderful videos