How to Play Cold Shot on Guitar and Harmonica
Texas Blues Shuffle with a Blues Harp and Guitar
Difficulty: Um…this might take some practice but it sure is a lot of fun when you’ve got it.
Lesson Length: 21:28
Instructor: George Goodman
Cold Shot is recorded in the key of Ab and would require a Db harmonica. I recorded this in the key of G so you can use a C harmonica for this. Plus it lowers the key and makes it easier to sing.
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Stevie Ray Vaughan's Cold Shot has this classic Texas Blues Shuffle going on. You can play it in any key once you've got it down.
The key of the recording is Ab because Stevie would play the song in the key of A but he would tune his guitar down a semi-tone so that the song was actually in Ab.
This would require a Db harmonica and chances are that you don't own one.
So I've lowered the key another semi-tone to G. Now we can use a C harmonica.
Right? For Blues in G, we need a C harmonica. The C harmonica will produce a G7 chord when drawing on holes -2-3-4-5.
Texas Shuffle
This shuffle requires swinging the eighth notes where the second half of the eighth note pair only gets about a third of the beat.
Because it gets short changed, sometimes we give it a kick in the ass. That's called accenting the off beat.
The melody notes land on the beat and the offbeat is sounded by raking the strings on the up stroke.
Harmonica
I like to start the song out with a little harmonica riff.
When we are on the I chord, a -4-5 chord sounds great.
I like to get solo ideas from the melody, riffs, rhythms or other solos of the song.
The melody to Cold Shot consists of notes in the Blues Scale.
If you've got your Blues Scale down, then you can take your harp to town
Once the rhythm is comfortable and you've got some ideas to try out on harmonica, ah man, it doesn't get any better.
If you need a Hohner Special 20 or any online musical purchase, I encourage you to shop at Musician's Friend using the links provided on this site. It helps keep costs down.
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You can find a downloadable version of the harmonica tabs under the Help Files tab above.
Have fun. Let me know how you make out. Leave a comment.
Peace. Stay in tune.
George
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5 Pack Case of Hohner Special 20s
The Hohner Special Case consists of 5 Special 20 harmonicas in the most popular keys: G, A, C, D, and E.
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Hohner Harmonica Holder
The Hohner Harmonica Neck Holder fits harmonicas up to 7-1/2" long. Nickel plated finish. Fits any neck shape
Hi there George, you have a Fantastic Blend of Songs and l will Endevour to learn most of them
through 2020, l Love your arrangements and Your Style is right down my alley, Thankyou So Much,
I am Exteemly Inspired. Charlus S Bennett
Thanks Charlus. I hope you have a musically rewarding 2020. Peace. Stay in tune. George