Don't play the harp myself, but what brands does Mick use? Which keys? I have to ask this, simply because I'm curious.

There was a thread with the same question before, a couple of months ago. Can't seem to find it now, but if you'll search, you'll definetely find it.

I believe Mick plays on the famous brand called Hohner. Mick is a good player. He seems to think that harmonica shouldn't be prominent. A little solo and a couple of riffs that is all. I like his stuff on Midnight rambler, Silver train, The Moon is up. Brian was a really good blues harmonica player but very conventional . Mick is more creative.
Rock and roll,
Mops

Use it more often...

How about his CYHMK solo on the 1st night of the 02? Thank you Plexi for capturing that one...pure magic!

edit- oops - i didn't mean MR as originally typed!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-01-27 07:56 by little queenie.

Listen to Love you live and Midnight Rambler. His soul is in that harp.

Mick is fantastic. He played wonderfully on MR in Paris 2006

he uses Lee Oskars as well as Hohners, right?

i'm still hoping someone will say something about the key he's in for CYHMK (for example at the o2 on august 26th) -
someone on a recent thread said it's not the typical cross-harp relationship to the key of the song,
but never clarified what key it's in and whether there's some kind of tradition behind that.

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with sssoul
he uses Lee Oskars as well as Hohners, right?

i'm still hoping someone will say something about the key he's in for CYHMK (for example at the o2 on august 26th) -
someone on a recent thread said it's not the typical cross-harp relationship to the key of the song,
but never clarified what key it's in and whether there's some kind of tradition behind that.

I am not sure, but the solo part is in D minor, so I guess the harp is also in Dminor. I don't think he plays cross harp.

Mathijs

but Mick is not mentioned as artist on the Hohner page.
[www.hohner.eu]

Keith has said that Mick is at his best with a Harmonica. As a live performer anyway

Mick plays Lee Oskar, and he has done for years. No Hohner. I myself play Hohner`s and I love them, I must say, but then again I`ve never had a Lee Oskar.

Can`t You Hear Me Knocking is a G harp without doubt. Impossible to do the bending (from A down to A flat) he does if you`re not playing crossharp, unless it were a B harp maybe but that would be really strange. At least the video from Werchter, I haven`t seen the O2 version.

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King Snake
Mick plays Lee Oskar, and he has done for years. No Hohner. I myself play Hohner`s and I love them, I must say, but then again I`ve never had a Lee Oskar.

Can`t You Hear Me Knocking is a G harp without doubt. Impossible to do the bending (from A down to A flat) he does if you`re not playing crossharp, unless it were a B harp maybe but that would be really strange. At least the video from Werchter, I haven`t seen the O2 version.

Yes, I totally agree, he uses Lee Oskars and I can tell why. They sound much better to my ears, maybe brighter, but nice. He has a box with his harps in, and he has all the keys. I seem to remember there's a video on Youtube of him talking about his harps.

As for CYHMK he's playing his harp over one chord (D, I think) so he can easily match a harp to it. He could play a D harp over that or cross it with a 'G' harp I think. If I needed to play harp over CYHMK I'd just try a few from my collection until I found one that sounded 'right'. It's a great harp solo btw, and he's thought a lot about what to play here, and he's choosing his notes carefully to fit. It's the old 'less is more' technique that great lead guitarists use aswell.

Rolling Stones Tribute

Play Rolling Stones

thanks Mathijs & King Snake - here's where DandelionPowderman gave his opinion about the harp on CYHMK: [www.iorr.org]
Promoman's clip of the o2 rendition being discussed there is on page 1 of that thread: [www.iorr.org]

so if the number is in D minor at that point, if he's using a G harp ... [scratching head] ... i'm confused!
isn't five tones difference the "usual" when playing cross-harp?
(i know nothing - nothing! - about this - so i'm not arguing, just hoping to learn)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2008-01-26 18:18 by with sssoul.

Mick is a master harp player. He should whip it out more often.

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with sssoul
so if the number is in D minor at that point, if he\'s using a G harp ... [scratching head] ... i\'m confused!
isn\'t five tones difference the \"usual\" when playing cross-harp?
(i know nothing - nothing! - about this - so i\'m not arguing, just hoping to learn)

Yes, you`re right, crossharp is played on a diatonic harp in the key of the perfect 5th of the original key, so let`s count from D onwards: Eb, E, F, F#... G. Voila!

Now that I think of it, I`m very sure it`s a G harp. Ofcourse it is.. it sounds very low and muddy and the G harp is as low and muddy as you can get.

ah i see - thank you for the education King Snake!
i was neglecting to count half steps, so it was coming out to three, not five.
so that makes three different opinions of the key Mick's in on CYHMK:
straight harp (Mathijs), normal cross harp (King Snake) and an unspecified "something else" (DandelionPowderman).
i'm fascinated. have some popcorn, everybody

Well as I said it is impossible to bend from A to A flat on a straight harp, yet Mick does it so that Werchter video on YouTube so that can be excluded. Now, as far as something else goes, Mick isn`t really a very technical player and it would take great ability to play what he plays on a chromatic harp. Technically, it`s possible to have a differently tuned harp, for example a minor harp. But why would he? Everything he plays can be perfectly played on the G crossharp.

>> remember there's a video on Youtube of him talking about his harps <<

that clip is on the so-called fanclub dvd (i think it was 2005 that we finally got it)
and thanks for the further details. i was hoping it's something other than normal cross harp
on the CYHMK clip from the o2 - if it's something we aren't used to that would start to explain why it sounds so "off".

I'm confused. I don't play harp, but if the point of playing a cross harp is to play something that fits when you don't want your solo based on a major scale (like where you want blue notes or you're playing in a minor key) the harp that is a 4th above the tonic would seem to create better possibilities than the 5th. In the example given, if the jam is in Dm , the G harp as a cross harp would not have the F that is what makes the Dm scale minor.
What am I missing?

As for the most recent stuff, I really enjoy what he does with the harp on Alfie's "New York Hustle" and on Keith's "Infamy".
I'd love to hear more of his great harp playing on any time on a new recording.

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little queenie
How about his Midnight Rambler solo on the 1st night of the 02? Thank you Plexi for capturing that one...pure magic!

MR was the second night. The solo on CYHMK on the first night was very good, I thought.

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texas fan
I\\\'m confused. I don\\\'t play harp, but if the point of playing a cross harp is to play something that fits when you don\\\'t want your solo based on a major scale (like where you want blue notes or you\\\'re playing in a minor key) the harp that is a 4th above the tonic would seem to create better possibilities than the 5th. In the example given, if the jam is in Dm , the G harp as a cross harp would not have the F that is what makes the Dm scale minor.
What am I missing?

There`s 1st position and 2nd position. In 1st position, you play the major scale of the key of the harp. In the 2nd, you play in the key of the perfect fifth as I said before.

This diagram shows which notes can be played and how on a harmonica in C:



Now consider playing a blues in G with this. As you said, the Bb is not present. But you asked what you were missing. You`re missing the fact that a harmonica allows the player to bend the tones down, in theory giving him access to a whole chromatic octave. The bending is the key to the whole story. A player can bend a tone down, by drawing and changing the shape of his mouth (bending while blowing or bending up is also possible but is never really done). Now, this gives us access to not only the Bb, but also the Db, our greatest friend, the passing tone, for playing our blues in G.

Playing these bended notes consistently, individually and in key requires a lot of skill, a skill most blues players, including Mick, do not have (or use, who knows). Either way, it`s just not in its place in a harmonica blues. To give you an idea of how these tones are in fact used, imagine this typical piano lick in G: sliding down from the Db to the D (is a very physically natural bend on the harmonica because it`s kind of like saying wah), then playing a C, then sliding down from a Bb to a B, and then playing a G.

This must be a mess to read, but I hope it helps to explain how this stuff works.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-01-27 00:59 by King Snake.

Thanks, Kingsnake. I'll try to digest this.

A far more simplistic explanation of Folk and blues harmonica playing would be for folk you blow more than you suck and for blues you suck more than you blow

However, I believe some Lee Oskar models have notes that are not available on your traditional blues/folk harp players harmonica, so that might explain the weirdness of the CYHMK playing!?

All I know is how excited I get at a concert when I see Mick pick one up. I hope it is for Midnight Rambler, but whatever the song it usually is a highlight.

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rebelrebel

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little queenie
How about his Midnight Rambler solo on the 1st night of the 02? Thank you Plexi for capturing that one...pure magic!

MR was the second night. The solo on CYHMK on the first night was very good, I thought.

yes, yes, thanks...i corrected myself. duh!

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His Majesty
However, I believe some Lee Oskar models have notes that are not available on your traditional blues/folk harp players harmonica, so that might explain the weirdness of the CYHMK playing!?

Yes - see here for Natural Minor / Harmonic Minor harps :

[www.leeoskar.com]

It would be a bit weird to play a G harmonica over a Dm chord. I believe Lee Oskar also has harmonica's in the key of D natural-minor etc., I wouldn't be surprised if Jagger used one of those.

Mathijs

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Mathijs
It would be a bit weird to play a G harmonica over a Dm chord. I believe Lee Oskar also has harmonica\'s in the key of D natural-minor etc., I wouldn\'t be surprised if Jagger used one of those.

Mathijs

Why would it be weird? All the greats of blues have been doing it for a hundred years now. The D natural-minor harp is never used by blues musicians and it is a lot more difficult to play, and since all the notes he plays are on a regular G harp, why the heck would he get one?