EASY REEDINGSUMMER 2014

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT MICKEY RAPHAEL

IN THE STUDIO WITH JIM HOKE

TECH NOTES THE RESPONSIVE HARMONICA

HARMONICA WORLD REVIEWS THE ROCKET

THE HOHNERTRAVELLINGROADSHOWFEATURING RONNIE SHELLIST

HOHNER’S MAGAZINE FOR THE HARMONICA ENTHUSIAST

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2 | EASY REEDING

HOHNER News

Hohner Harmonicas has given you the gift of education... Now every HOHNER har-monica includes an insert card with a cou-pon code for a 30 Day Free membership to Bluesharmonica.com.

At Bluesharmonica.com you’ll have access to over 3,000 video, PDF and MP3 lessons

The Hohner Harmonica Travelling Roadshow is headed to a town near you! Come one, come all to this free event for all ages. The Roadshow features harmonica demonstra-tions and free lessons by nationally known Hohner Artist Ronnie Shellist as well as free harmonica repairs and tons of free HOHNER swag! Check the schedule on page 6 for dates in your area.

Recently the Hohner Service Center was approached by a representative of Irish rock band U2 to make a gold harmonica to pres-ent as a birthday gift to their singer, Bono. Designed with gold plated Meisterklasse cov-ers, gold plated MS reed plates in the key of B, and a wooden comb. “Thank you for totally nailing it and coming through for me.....Bono is blown away,” said the U2 representative.

Original Blues Chromatic Instru-mental Songwriting Contest by BluesHarmonica.com and Hohner.

Enter your original instrumental recording for a chance to be crowned as the BuesHarmonica.com’s Blues Chromatic King, as well as given the opportunity to perform your winning song in the grand finale at Mark Hummel’s Blues Harmonica Blowout in January. All entries will be listened to and commented on by our all-star lineup of judges... blues chromatic wizards Rick Estrin, Mark Hummel and Dennis Gruenling!

for diatonic and chromatic harmonica for all skill level players.

If you have purchased a qualifying Hohner harmonica and did not receive an insert card with a coupon code, you can still sign up for free lessons at www.hohnerusa.com.

Prizes1st Prize: Hohner 270 Super Chromonica Harmonica, Hohner Shirt and Hat

2nd Prize: Hohner Discovery 48 Chromatic Harmonica, Hohner Shirt and Hat

3rd Place: Hohner Tin “Vintage” Signage, Hohner Shirt and Hat

TimelineSubmit your entry before 11/1/14 for a chance to be crowned as the Chromatic King! For more details please visit:

bluesharmonica.com/chromatic-king

NEWSAll HOHNER Harmonicas Now Come With Free Lessons

The HOHNER Harmonica Travelling Roadshow

HOHNER Builds Bono a Custom Birthday Harmonica

Chromatic King - Original Blues Songwriting Contest

ContentsHOHNER News 2Artist Spotlight 3 Mickey Raphael

Tech Notes 4The Responsive Harmonica

Our CD Pick 4Kirk Jellyroll Johnson

In The Studio 4with Jim Hoke

The HOHNER Rocket 5Reviewed by Pat Missin

Hohner Roadshow Dates 6Ronnie Shellist 7Meet The HOHNER Travelling Roadshow Ringmaster

HOHNER Gives Back 8Stories From Around The World

pinterest.com/HohnerMusic

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P rofessional harmonica player Michael Siegfried “Mickey” Raphael has been

touring with country legend, Willie Nel-son, since 1973.

A Texas-native, Raphael is no stranger to life on the road. He’s also an accomplished studio musician who credits blues great Paul Butterfield and rhythm and blues

saxophone genius King Curtis as two of his biggest influences. Compass caught up with Raphael as he was in Los Angeles vis-iting friends.

The Nashville-based “pocket piano” player gave some insight into growing up with Gershwin, his extensive harmonica collec-tion and what it’s like when Willie Nelson is your boss. Here’s some of that conversation.

Mickey Raphael

Did you grow up listening to a lot of differ-ent kinds of music?

Mickey Raphael: Well, my mother was very musical. We had a piano in the house and she loved George Gershwin, so she’d play “Rhapsody in Blue” all the time. I guess I just have a real fond memory of that song and all of its different variations. I grew up listening to my mom play music. I didn’t listen to records very much.

How old were you when you got your first harmonica?

M.R.: I was probably 15. A friend of my dad’s gave me a harmonica and said that if I learned to play “The Old Gray Mare” or

“Oh! Susanna” or one of those old songs, he’d give me the harmonica. That’s kind of how I started out – just sounding out songs. I grew up in Dallas and was want-ing to be a guitar player, but I just wasn’t very good. The harmonica was just some-thing that I walked into.

How many harmonicas do you own now?

M.R.: Well, you need a minimum set of 12 with each one in a specific key, so I have variations of tunings and doubles of ev-erything – several hundred I’m sure just because they go out of tune and I don’t mess with tuning them myself. I have a couple sets that I use in the studio and a couple of sets to use on the road. You just have to be prepared.

You’ve recorded with everyone from Em-mylou Harris to Elton John to U2. Is there a dream artist or band that you’d love to work with?

M.R.: Ya. I was thinking about that the other day. I would love to record with Paul Simon. I’ve played with him live before, so

continued on page 9

By Kara Pound - karapound.com

We’re just winging it. We’re creating. It’s different every day.

“

In The Studiowith Jelly Roll Johnson

Tech Notes

4 | EASY REEDING

The Responsive Harmonica.

A A harmonica player named Walter approached a Hohner technician

at a recent road show. He had a Blues Harp in new condition but the draw reeds made no sound. The technician tried the harmonica and the reeds played smooth, clear and effortless throughout. Puzzled, the tech handed the harmonica back to Walter and asked for a demonstration. Walter wailed away, attacking the reeds with very hard pressure and restricted throat muscles. Under such aggressive technique the reeds could not initiate -- they were being choked.

The tech mentioned to Walter that an easier blowing technique would result in a more consistent sound. “I don’t know

about technique and stuff,” Walter said, “I just know my harmonica shouldn’t be like this. It should respond to me.”

For the player, response is a term used to describe how quickly and effortlessly a reed sounds when air (breath) has been introduced. If the note sounds clearly and immediately it is considered “good” response. If the reed makes no sound or a weak sound, it is considered “bad” response.

Often all that is needed on an otherwise well set up harmonica is for the player to adjust their breath pressure to find the optimum response point for a harmonica. However many players prefer not to adjust their well-practiced and personal tech-nique.

When changing technique is not an op-tion, adjustments to personalize response can be made to the harmonica itself.

“For my third instrumental album, I decid-ed to do a harmonica tribute to the mu-

sic of New Orleans. I have had some of these songs on a list to possibly record for quite some time. My original thought was to honor the music of my home state of Louisiana. (Ca-jun, Zydeco, Swamp Pop, Traditional Jazz). I decided to just focus on the sounds of New Orleans.

Growing up in Lake Charles, LA., we would visit family in New Orleans very often. Many years later, we had a small condo on Burgundy Street in the French Quarter. I would go to Preservation Hall every night to soak up the sounds of traditional jazz.

I decided to keep the band fairly small for this recording, with Pat Bergeson on guitar, John Jarvis on piano, Charlie Chadwick on bass, and Chris Brown on drums. The harmonica serves as the only ‘horn’.

A couple of traditional tunes kick things off on

Marine Band - ‘Basin Street Blues’ and ‘Didn’t He Ramble’, followed by ‘Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans’, which I en-joyed playing on a C 270 chromatic. ‘St. James Infirmary’ is played on a G Marine Band in D minor. A harmonica party breaks

out on the Mardi Gras In-dian chant ‘L’ll Liza Jane’, with Pat Bergeson taking the second harp solo, and both of us playing a Bass Harmonica breakdown. I am also doing some rhythm chugs and doubling on a Low C Thunderbird, cus-tomized by Joe Filisko. We

give a shout out to the great Professor Long-hair on ‘Tipitina’, and close with Randy New-man’s emotional ‘Louisiana 1927’.

I hope that this album pays homage to the spirit and soul of New Orleans.”

– Kirk Jellyroll Johnson

CDs available at www.cdbaby.com and www.jellyrolljohnson.com.

Our CD Pick

continued on page 11

continued on page 10

with Jim Hoke

Some years ago, before the music business got all strange from people

downloading songs for free and CD sales tanked, publishers used to have budgets for their writers to cut pretty spiffy demos of their songs. As a harmonica player (and multi-instrumentalist) I used to enjoy the high-energy, spontaneous, intense-but-fun marathon sessions where a room full of good musicians would barrel thru six

songs in a 3-hr. chunk of time. The playful jibes would really fly: “Man, NOBODY’s doing what you’re doing.” “I dig what you’re trying to do.” “That’s something short of BRILLIANT!” You get the idea....

It was fun because there was no pres-sure - it wasn’t the record, just a demo.

Now they’re really in a bind. Utterly desperate and out of options, they do something really screwball - they call the guy who played the part in the first place - ME!

“

“New Orleans – The Land of Dreams” (Basin Street Blues)

5

By Pat Missin

T here has been quite a lot of buzz on the vari-ous harmonica forums about Hohner’s new-est ten hole diatonic since its debut at NAMM earlier this year, with it being frequently de-scribed as a sort of souped up Special 20. However, although the Rocket certainly has

some features in common with the S20, there are also quite a few significant differences.

The first thing you will notice upon taking it out of its semi-hard-shell zippered case is how extremely comfortable it is to handle. Both the comb and the covers are very ergonomically designed, with absolutely no sharp edges or corners anywhere. The cov-

ers are stainless steel and, in contrast to the closed in covers of the Special 20, they are wide open at the rear of the instrument and have large vents at the ends of each cover, like the Marine Band. The comb is grey ABS and the reed chambers are slightly wider than those on the S20, tapering to even wider holes in the mouthpiece, with narrower dividers between them. The reed plates appear to be identical with those used in the Special 20 and are attached with eight Phillips head screws. The sample I have for review is in the key of Bb and is tuned in a light compromise tem-

perament at about A=443Hz, similar to that used on the current crop of Marine Bands.All the octaves sound nice and clean and the chords sound pleas-

antly smooth. The reed adjustment is quite consistent over the full range of the harp, with the reeds being gapped a little wider than the other recently produced Hohner harps that I’ve played. I’m not sure if it is just the specimen I have for review, or if this is a general spec for the Rocket. This makes it better suited for the more ag-gressive player, but of course, if you have some basic reed adjust-ment skills, it would be no problem to set it up for a lighter touch.

The construction of the Rocket gives it a very bright, lively sound, in noticeable contrast with the darker tone of the Special 20. I’m not sure that it is actually louder than the S20, but it does seem

to be a bit more powerful and would be ideal for raucous acoustic sessions where you need a harmonica with some cutting power.The Rocket is available in all twelve major keys and has a MSRP in the US of about $100, although it is generally retailing at about 2/3 of that and selling for comparable prices in Europe and the UK. Certainly not a cheap harp, by any means, but not outrageous for what you get.

If you like the tone of the Marine Band Crossover, but would pre-fer a plastic comb with recessed reedplates, or if you love the Special 20, but wish it had a more aggressive tone, then I would definitely recommend checking out the Hohner Rocket. I’ve said it more than once recently, but I think it bears repeating - I believe Hohner is currently making some of the best harmonicas they’ve ever made and I think the Rocket might just be my favourite of all their recently introduced diatonics.

Originally published in the June/July 2014 issue of Harmonica World.

The HoHner Rocket As Reviewed In Harmonica World Magazine

I believe Hohner is currently making some of the best harmonicas they’ve ever made and I think the Rocket might just be my favourite of all their recently introduced diatonics.

“

6 | EASY REEDING

Featuring:

A M A Z I N Gharmonica performancesFREE HaRmonica REpaiRsWild & Exotic Harmonicasfrom the past & present

and

FREE LESSONS!

Aug 11 Lexington, KYAug 12 Louisville, KYAug 13 Florence, KYAug 19 Lombard, ILAug 20 Buffalo Grove, ILAug 21 Lansing, MISep 8 Silver Spring, MDSep 9 Philadelphia, PASep 10 Cherry Hill, NJSep 17 Atlanta, GASep 22 Cincinnati, OH

Sep 23 Columbus, OHSep 24 Lyndhurst, OHOct 7 Orlando, FLOct 8 Orlando, FLOct 13 Margate, FLOct 14 Miami, FLOct 15 Miami Lakes, FLOct 20 Westminster, CAOct 21 Cerritos, CAOct 22 Canoga Park, CANov 3 City of Industry, CA

Nov 4 Ontario, CANov 5 Las Vegas, NVNov 10 Moline, ILNov 11 Cedar Falls, IANov 12 Cedar Falls, IANov 13 Ottumwa, IANov 17 Richmond, VANov 18 Raleigh, NCNov 19 Charlotte, NC

and more to come...

QComing to a city near you!R

Visit HohnerUSA.com for more information

7

The event is part of a grand mission with a noble cause. "Hohner has embarked on a nationwide campaign to engage people to play the harmonica," explains Clay Edwards,

President and CEO of the Hohner company. “Our goals are to spread the joy of making music, teach people to play this wonderful instrument and to strengthen and grow the

Pucker up like you are about to kiss your grandma,” says the man to a crowd of about 50 people,

each one chuckling and pushing their lips out like affectionate grandchildren. "Now bring the harmonica to your lips and try to make a single note," he instructs. Unanimously the crowd responds by blowing into the # 4 hole. The sound wafts out across the room and the man smiles and nods his approval.

The man is harmonica player extraordinaire and music educator Ronnie Shellist and the crowd filling this local music store was curious to check out just what exactly this Hohner Harmonica Travelling Roadshow was all about.

“The Roadshow is an event unlike any oth-er,” commented Drew Lewis, product man-ager for Hohner Harmonicas. “Attendees will experience amazing harmonica music per-formances, participate in a group harmonica lesson, receive harmonica repairs and servic-ing, participate in games of chance to win free prizes and, they will have the oppor-tunity to touch and play unique and exotic harmonicas.

harmonica community.” JP Fuller, store man-ager at the Roadshow’s first event in Jack-sonville, FL observed that the event was a total success. ”It was a great night, custom-ers were very excited. We had never done anything like this before. It brought in a lot of our regulars but there were also definitely a lot of new faces in the store that night which was great to see.”

Community is the centerpiece of the Road-show. Attendees can expect to learn about new playing techniques, get updated on the latest harmonica innovations and get the op-portunity to jam and discuss their opinions and experiences with other harmonica fans.

Ronnie Shellist is the ringmaster of the Hohner Traveling Roadshow and his affable approach to harmonica playing and teaching is informed by nearly two decades of experi-ence, beginning as a young adult.

“My father purchased a starter harmonica for himself when I was about 20 years old. I remember picking it up after he had a short go with it. I learned Oh Susanna which

“This is a great opportunity for folks to ask their

own questions on playing the harmonica. Everybody who attends receives a free harmonica, and some really

cool free giveaways.”

Continued on page 9

8 | EASY REEDING

who witnessed you today are now life-long fans of the blues. This is how the music is passed from generation to generation. Thanks again for doing your part in keep-ing the blues alive.” said Andrew Dewey, a teacher at CVHS.

Burmese Refugee Children in TexasA Hohner-sponsored Harmonikids session brought joy to dozens of Burmese refugee children in Houston Texas. Many of the chil-dren did not speak English - and none of them had ever seen or heard a harmonica. Nevertheless, all of the children giggled with excitement as HOHNER endorsee Gary Allegretto put on a harmonica concert for them followed by a lesson on their Hohner-donated harmonicas.Thrilled and eager to learn, they intently fol-lowed along and swiftly learned to play the songs. It was a successful and joyous event that the children will never forget.

Phoenix Children’s HospitalA Hohner-sponsored Harmonikids session at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital brought healing joy to over a dozen children and their families. It was a fun and raucous session starting with a concert in which HOHNER Artist Gary Allegretto played and the children sang along.

Afterwards all attendees were amazed at the speed and accuracy in which they learned to play four songs on their new Hohner-donated instruments.

HoHner Gives BackT he story of HOHNER is written by the people who play our instruments. Throughout it’s history, the HOHNER company has strived to

make music accessible to everyone, especially those in need. Each and every one of us at HOHNER is proud to take part in this legacy of giving back and saying thank you. This year we are happy to continue that tradition by sharing the joy of making music with many more people around the world. Here are a few of their stories...

Music is the Universal LanguageMargie Goldsmith visited a remote tribal village in the Virunga Mountains of Ugan-da, bearing gifts from HOHNER.

“With the support of HOHNER and gifts for the Batwa children, I began to play har-monica to communicate in tongues I didn’t speak. Music is the universal language. I played a boogie-woogie and by the third bar, they’re clapping loud, swaying, and tapping their feet on the ground. When I finish, they broke out into huge smiles and applauded.”

Kansas school for the blindHOHNER endorsee, author and educator Phil Duncan provided a harmonica session for students at the Kansas State School for the Blind.

“This is an ear instrument…” said Phil, helping students figure out how to hold the harmonica correctly. “I can’t see it any more than you can, because when it’s in

my mouth, guess what I can’t see? My har-monica.”“Just seeing the spark ignite in each stu-dent…. It’s really nice seeing them find that niche interest, and they just go with it,” Accessible Arts Executive Director Diana Bryant said.

Hohner Donates To Fort Hood KidsHohner recently donated Hohner Kids™ Musical Toys in support of the Play Com-forts program serving military families. Toy Industry Foundation Manager Marisa Me-dina had this to say:

“Thank you for helping us deliver the magic of play to children in need, including those in military families. We couldn’t do this wonderful work without you, and hope you know how much we appreciate your sup-port. The families we serve certainly appre-ciate it, too.”

Blues Harmonica In The SchoolsWith a grant from HOHNER, Inc., endorsee Gary Allegretto took his Blues Harmonica in the Schools program to Carnegie Vanguard High School. The students were riveted for over an hour as he engaged their interest through live performance and insights into Blues history - followed by teaching them to effectively play four Blues songs.“I am confident that several of the students

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interaction was also key to my musical de-velopment.”

Ronnie’s role in the Roadshow is multifacet-ed. In addition to performing at each event, he leads attendees in a group harmonica lesson, discusses playing techniques, gives pointers on how to produce different kinds

of tonality on different models and discuss-es which harmonicas are best for specific styles of playing. “While each Roadshow is unique, there are some things that re-main consistent at each show. When they first get to the event, attendees can browse the display models and test them out right there. One of the goals is to educate folks on the differences between the most popu-

I think recording with Paul would be fun and challenging. Anybody. ... I just love being in the studio.

Do you prefer the studio to playing live?

M.R.: I kind of do. I mean, I like a little bit of both, but the studio is everlasting. Once you play it, it’s there forever. A show, once you play, it it’s gone immediately except in the minds of fans. In the studio, you make an imprint and you have to get it right and

be creative because you’re sort of under the gun because you’re under somewhat of a time constraint.You’ve been playing with Willie Nelson since 1973. That’s more than 40 years. Do you get tired of being on the road?

M.R.: I do, but it’s pretty civil. We’re doing two weeks on and two weeks off. So life is

good on the road. We just finished a West Coast tour and that was wonderful. Now I’ll go home for a few days then Willie’s doing another Austin City Limits taping, so I’ll go to Austin for a few days and then we’ll start the next tour.So what’s it like working with Willie Nel-son?

M.R.: He’s a great guy and a wonderful boss. He’s kind of a benevolent dicta-tor. He doesn’t really tell anybody what to do, but he gives you enough rope to hang yourself. And that’s a lot of rope. His idea is just to have people he’s comfort-able with around him and to make music. We’re just winging it. We’re creating. It’s different every day. He doesn’t play the songs the same every night.

www.mickeyraphael.com

Willie Nelson and Mickey Raphael on tour

lar Hohner harmonica models so that they can begin to decide which one suits them best based on their playing style and pref-erences. We discuss the differences in ma-terials, construction, playability, and tuning. I also want folks to have an opportunity to hear the various harmonicas back to back

so they can detect the tonal differ-ences from model to model.”

“Attendees will also have an op-portunity to bring a few of their own harmonicas that need a tune up or repair work. There is always a Hohner free reed technician at each show to offer up repair work at no cost. I spend about an hour and half in front of the group dis-cussing differences between various Hohner harmonica models, perform-ing, demonstrating the models, and teaching some basics to get started playing. This is a great opportunity

for folks to ask their own questions, or perhaps a technical question on playing the harmonica. Everybody who attends re-ceives a free 10-hole diatonic harmonica, and some really cool free giveaways such as t-shirts, hats, harmonica belt packs etc. I try to do my best to cater to the average of the group that is present. Adults and kids of

was the song that was included on the tiny piece of paper that came with the harmoni-ca. I spent a couple of weeks master-ing the melody. I had a very positive and enjoyable first experience with the instrument.

At that time, I was going to school in Austin and I was getting a heavy dose of blues which eventually pushed me to want to learn how to play blues harmonica. I spent many days press-ing my ear to the speaker as I listened over and over to classic blues har-monica until it began to click. I was also fortunate early on to live with other musicians. That allowed me to practice and jam with real live people, not just jam tracks or solo playing and this

MEET THE

RING MASTERContinued from page 7

Continued from page 3

Continued on page 11

10 | EASY REEDING

the reed and reed plate and gently lift the tip of the reed using short strokes (see photo below).

Do not to overdo it. Make very small changes. Repeat the process as many times as necessary to form a good curve and desired gap. Make very small bends to the reed each time. Pluck the reed occasionally to allow it to settle into its natural shape. More adjustment may be necessary after plucking if the proper curve or gap is not evident when the reed comes to rest.

While you are shaping the reed into the proper curve, be con-scious of the size of your gap. Adjustments on both gap and curve should happen simultaneously. At this stage you want your gap staying within the general rules of gapping outlined above.

When you have the gap and curve set, test the response. Place the reed plates on the comb, holding them tightly together – as airtight as you can manage. Blow or draw into the harmonica with the same breath pressure you would use in a real life situa-tion. Consistency is key. A consistently gapped harmonica plays better and is more durable.

If the reed sounds weak or airy the gap is too large. Decrease it by using your finger or a pick to press the area of the reed from the rivet end to the halfway point down toward the reed slot. Make small changes. Do not to apply too much pressure all at once.

If the reed doesn’t sound at all the gap might be too small. In-crease the gap and the curvature of the reed by sliding your file between the reed and the reed slot and lifting the reed slightly.

During either adjustment pluck the reed occasionally to deter-mine where the reed will come to rest. Be careful of going too far in either direction. The objective is to find the gap that is just right for you.

In the end, the Hohner technician increased the gaps on Wal-ter’s reeds and Walter was more than satisfied. “I could never play this harmonica and now I can. Thank you HOHNER!”

In terms of harmonica function, response can be determined by how well a reed travels through a reed slot when a given amount of air pressure is applied. For good response the entirety of the reed should enter the slot all at once or at least rivet side slightly before the tip. If the tip of the reed is the first to enter the slot, the response will be poor.

Optimizing reed travel to match a player’s personal technique involves adjusting a reed’s gap and curve.

A gap, also called an offset, is the distance between the tip of a reed and the reed slot when the reed is at rest. Every reed needs some gap. If the reed is flush or almost flush with the reed slot, chances are it will not sound at all.

On any particular harmonica, the gap varies from reed to reed. As a general rule, the thickness of any particular reed at the tip determines the proper offset between that reed and the reed plate. Therefore, the lower pitched, thicker reeds need more off-set. Gradually, as reeds get thinner and the pitches get higher, the gap diminishes.

For optimum reed response at softer breath pressure you want smaller gaps. Harder pressure means larger gaps.

Before you begin to make your gap adjustments, make sure your reed has a proper curve (see below). Ideally, the rivet end of the reed should be flat and almost flush with the reed plate. From a third of the way from the rivet end and continuing to the tip, the reed should curve slightly upwards and away from the reed slot. This shape is called reed curvature or reed profile. The space between the tip of the reed and the reed slot is the gap.

To adjust the reed gap and curve you need a short, stiff file and your finger or thumb. If you do not have the right type of file, HOHNER offers it as part of a service kit containing tools for gapping and other common repairs. You can order it from the Hohner Parts & Service Center.

First disassemble your harmonica. Remove the reed plates from the comb. Set your gaps by adjusting the curvature of the reed. Look at the reed from the side. If there is very little or no curve, you need to make one. Place your finger over the rivet third of the reed and press down lightly. Slip the stiff file between

Continued from page 4

Therefore, sometimes the writers would en-courage experimentation and weirdness. It was in this spirit of looseness that I ended up playing chromatic harmonica on a song called “There Is No Arizona”. I did my low-rent Stevie impersonation.

About a year later I get a call: “Are you the guy who played the harmonica on the demo of “There Is No Arizona”? “Uh, yeah, I kinda remember that”. They wanted me to come to the studio to play it again for the “real” version by Jamie O’Neil. Like right now. They’d got-ten down to the last minute before mixing time. Why the rush? Typical Nashville:

When they decided to have Jamie cut the song (on the basis of the demo) music biz wisdom told them it wouldn’t do to use the second-or-third rate demo musicians - they needed nothing less than the exalted first-call cats. Must preserve the pecking order, right? The boys in charge went one step further - that’s a chromatic harmonica, right? Let’s get Stevie Wonder to play it! (I found all this out after the fact.)

Well Stevie never returned their calls. Hmm, what to do? They called the Most Important Studio Harp Guy (who shall remain name-less, ‘cause I’m a nice guy). He went in and fell on his face. Then they called Mr. Number

2 Important Harp Guy (who also will remain nameless, ‘cause HE’s a nice guy.) He played some chromatic but couldn’t cut it either.

Now they’re really in a bind. Utterly desper-ate and out of options, they do something really screwball - they call the guy who played the part in the first place - ME! So I went in and had to listen to it and tran-scribe what I’d played a year ago, as I’d to-tally forgotten it.

The song came out and became the first (and only) number one country song to feature chromatic harp. In the wake of this songs’ success, I got lots of calls to play chromatic for a few years after. Then even-tually they forgot about it and went back to the Joan Jett-with-a-steel-stuck-on ar-rangement formula.

I used a CX12 chro-matic in the key of B, which I chose for the availability of half-step grace notes into certain notes of the melody.

I carry chromatics in the keys of C and B. It’s all I need to cover funky keys. i.e. in the key of E there aren’t many adjacent scale tones that can be played without changing wind direction (it’s a lot of in-out-in-out. Not as smooth as in-in-in from note to note.) So for a song in E I might grab the B harp, which puts me in F position - much mo’ better. For a song in A I might use the B harp to be in Bb position. That said, “Isn’t She Lovely” is in E and if you were to play it on an F harp, you’d lose most of the half-step grace notes that are a big part of Stevie’s style.

– Jim Hoke

http://www.jimhokemusic.com/

Continued from page 4

11

with Jim Hoke

The song came out and became the first (and only) number one country song to feature chromatic harp.

“

all ages are welcome to attend. Another goal is to help folks get started making music right away on the harmonica, and I give them tips to develop good habits early on. Lastly, we want folks to have a

great time and simply get excited about the instrument.

The broad appeal of the harmonica to people of all types is likely due to the portability, affordability, and the fact that all you have to do is blow and suck to get it going. Experimenting with sounds, rhythm or searching out melodies by ear

MEET THE

RING MASTERContinued from page 9

is a common approach to teaching one-self and the harmonica makes it fairly easy for anyone to do this. Most people have a harmonica somewhere in their home which eventually leads to the cu-riosity of how to play it. So, I think that's another reason folks are coming out. It's not until you hear somebody play the in-strument live to its full potential, that you really start getting excited about learn-ing to play it. These Roadshows provide the perfect balance of learning, listening

pleasure, and education on the various Hohner models now offered. Since it's a group experience, it makes for a safe place to have your first experience playing a simple scale or rhythm without the fear of being judged.”

Everyone is welcome to attend so grab your harp, grab a friend, and come on down! The Hohner Harmonica Travelling Roadshow is traveling across the country to a town near you. Don’t miss it!

Explosive Power & Incredible Comfort

Wide Open Cover Plate Designfor Maximum Loudness!

Plastic ergonomic design for Maximum Comfort!

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www.hohnerusa . com