Hello, today we are going to look at the Paul Butterfield version of The Thrill is Gone. You will need a harmonica in the key of D and the song is in A minor.
Click here to download the backing track
Keep that 3 draw flat
Bear in mind that every time we play a 3 draw it needs to be bent down a semitone. This is called a minor third. If you don’t bend it down you are playing a major third. Because the song is in A minor key it will sound terrible if you play a major third.
As a rule of thumb you can play minor over a major song but you can’t play a major over a minor song. We will explore this idea further in the future.
1/16th notes
A lot of these phrases use 16th notes. These are notes that last a quarter of a beat.
Repetition
Paul Butterfield uses a lot of repetition in this tune which is very effective. You should definitely try and replicate his ideas. Especially how he ties in the “hook” phrase with the underlying chord. For example when he plays the 4 blow over the IV chord.
