This page shows the documentation of the practice sessions which emanated from lick 3. The illustration to the right shows what I call a lick tree. In the center, we have Charlie McCoy's original lick 3, which is a Bebop dominant scale. What make this lick / scale so interesting on the diatonic harmonica is that you have to bend notes to play the third, the fifth and the major seventh. This means that you can play portamento between the third and the fourth, the fifth and the sixth, and the major seventh and the root. This is sometimes referred to as sweet spots (see thesis for further explanation of sweet spots). McCoy lick 3 is the starting point for two practice sessions, both approximately 15 minutes long. Most of the practice sessions I performed lasted between 15 and 20 minutes, after that amount of time the inspiration slowly vanished and the licks dried up. My method in these lick sessions was to play the lick over and over until I came up with a variation.
The colors in the illustration represent which chord the lick is played over.
Blue = V chord
Ginger = I chord
Purple = IV chord
Green = II chord
Orange = VI chord
Turquoise = VI-II-V-I and II-V-I chord change
The shapes represent which chord note the lick starts on.
Circle = The root
Triangle = The third
Upside-down triangle = The fifth
Hexagon = The flat seventh
In the following text, I will give a brief explanation to the contents of each video.
3A A variation where I play the scale starting on the flat seventh.
3A.1 Once again starting on the flat seventh, this time playing up to the fifth of the scale and then descending back down.
3B Based on one of McCoy's many variations to lick 3: lick 3.7, see notation below. In 3B I play the scale in the middle octave.
3C Ascending / descending.
3C.1 Derivative of 3C.
3D Starting on the third.
3D.1 Starting with a pickup.
3E Starting on the fifth, ascending to the flat seventh before descending.
3E.1 Derivative of 3E.
3E.2 Starting on the fifth, ascending to the root before descending.
3E.2a Derivative of 3E.2. Descends all the way down to the lowest flat seventh.
3E.3 Ascending, descending and ascending again.
3F & 3F.1 Starting on a pickup leading to the third, searching for a two bar version. Ascending to the root, descending one octave. This video depicts both 3F and 3F.1.
3F.2 Ascending to the fifth, then descending down to the flat seventh.
3F.3 Ascending to the flat seventh, descending to the third, ascending once again to the flat seventh.
3G Ascending and descending from root to root.
3G.1 Derivative of 3G, descending then ascending. 3G and 3G.1 are both based on McCoy's variation 3Y, see notation below.
3H & 3H.1 Starting on the flat seventh, ascending to the ninth, then descending to root on in the lower octave. This video contains both 3H and 3H.1.
3I Playing the Bebop scale over the tonic chord. This changes the sweet spots, i.e., where the bends take place on the harmonica, resulting in different places where portamento is afforded. When played over the tonic chord, portamento can be played between the major second and the third, and between the minor and major seventh. This results in that the sweet spots are fewer (two as opposed to three) compared with playing over the dominant chord, and, that they are afforded in other places in the scale.
3I.1 Same scale but ascending.
3J & 3J.1 Playing the bebop major scale over the dominant chord. Once again, this alters the sweet spots. This is the last lick of the first session. What follows is the licks from the second session based on lick 3, which I call 3-2.
3-2A & 3-2A.1 Bebop dominant scale over the tonic chord in the higher octave, both ascending starting on hole six blow and descending starting on hole nine blow. This video contains both 3-2A and 3-2A.1.
3-2A.2 & 3-2A.3 Combination of the Bebop dominant and Bebop major scale, adding one more bend.
3-2B & 3-2B.1 The Bebop major scale played over the four chord, affording portamento between the forth and the fifth, as well as between the flat sixth-the sixth and the major seventh, i.e., three bends in one hole.
3-2B.2 & 3-2B.3 The same scale played in the higher octave. Less bends available.
3-2C & 3-2C.1 Bebop dominant scale played over the major supertonic chord, resulting in three bends.
3-2C.2 & 3-2C.3 Bebop major scale played over the major supertonic, resulting in four bends and only one draw note. Very nice to play.
3-2C.4 & 3-2C.5 The two previous scales, Bebop dominant and major played both ascending and descending as one lick respectively.
3-2D Bebop dominant scale played over the VI chord. Requires an overblow.
3-2E Combining different scales over a VI-II-V-I chord progression.
3-2E 1 A II-V-I version of 3-2E.
