Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi, everyone:

Lately, I've been trying to play "Love Me Do"-- along with a harmonica. But, when I try to play along with the Beatles' recording, the harmonica just doesn't sound right. It seems to be a little "off." I looked at various web sites for help, but nothing seems to be right. I play a diatonic "C."

So... have any of you Beatles' fans had luck in playing the song??? If so, what is the tab for the intro?

Thanks,

Karl

Is the whole harmonica out of tune with the recording, or is it just one or two notes? There could be one or a number of things going on here. Some ideas that come to mind are:
1. Your harmonica has flatted out, and the reeds need to be cleaned,
2. The recording speed does not render the instruments to A=440Hz.
3. John may have been playing cross-harp, while you are playing straight harp. Cross harp is what bluesmen do to get that funky down home sound. Simply, they take a C harp for example, and play the blues in G. This takes advantage of the F natural of the C harp, and by overblowing, or oversucking (yuck! couldn't think of a better term...) thus bend the notes to get the blue note.

For straight harp playing, think of cowboy harmonica...Home On The Range, that sort of stuff; the tune is in C, you play the harmonica in C.

Being as it's a harmonica, I wouldn't worry too much about being out of tune with the recording. If the situation persists and you're playing in a band, well that's another matter.
Hope this helps.
JimK

Karl: The complete harmonica part on Love Me Do is played on a chromatic and not a diatonic harmonica.

The BBC recording features a diatonic.

We used to play it and our guy used a chromatic- I tried it with a 'C' harmonica and there's a note that I couldn't find with it, though I am NOT a harmonica player.

From this link,

http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q29.html

In his article Little Child: The Harmonica in Beatle Music, Greg Panfile suggests that Lennon used a chromatic in the key of G on 'Love Me Do'. Well, it is possible to play both riffs he used on a G chromatic - of course, it is possible to play these notes on a chromatic in any key. However, Lennon definitely did not use a G chromatic. At a few points during the opening riff, he stumbles a little and plays snatches of notes next to the note he was intending to play. In particular, when going for the first note of the opening riff (an F natural) he hits the next note above it. Slowing the piece down on a computer, it is possible to identify that note as an A. The next highest note to the F on a G chromatic would be a G, so that rules out a G chrom for this piece. A chromatic in the key of C would seem to be the most likely option and this is confirmed by a couple of slight slips when Lennon is playing the G note and accidentally hits a C along with it. Final evidence is the fact the F# is the only note in this tune that would require the button of a C chromatic to be pushed in - when he plays the second "Someone to love..." riff in the middle of the song without the vocals, you can hear a slight bump at the start of the F# note, sounding very much like a fractionally late button push. It might also be significant that the F# is the only note which lacks that characteristic warbling hand vibrato that all the other notes have if they are held for any length of time. I suspect that Lennon's hand was otherwise occupied by pushing the button!

admin wrote:Karl: The complete harmonica part on Love Me Do is played on a chromatic and not a diatonic harmonica.

+1. JL talks about it on the Live At The BBC album, as an intro to one of the songs (the track "Love These Goon Shows," I think).

Stan: The C Chromatic allows for the F#. It is the one with the button to be sure. thanks for the Little Child article.

Thanks, everyone, for your help. I knew that I wasn't going crazy--yet!!!

Karl

The know-how and technical expertise of Forum members never ceases to amaze me! Even though I don't play harmonica, this was a fascinating read.

Here, John's playing it on a diatonic



Mark Lewishon says that the 1962 recording was dubbed over, and that they did play it live.

They're just miming, Jake. It's gotta be a chromatic.

I'm not going to fight it, John. It cannot be done on a diatonic. I can't even play harp that well to know!