Harmonica Guide to King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: Keys and Beginner Info
Check out my harmonica guide for The Murlocs as well
##Anglesea + Extras
It's damn hard to tell if there is harmonica on this album so its mostly guesses
| Song | Harmonica Key | Song Key |
|---|---|---|
| Good To Me | C | G |
| Tomb/Beach** | B | F# |
##Willoughby's Beach
| Song | Harmonica Key | Song Key |
|---|---|---|
| Danger $$$ | E | B |
| Let It Bleed | C | G |
| Dead-Beat | D | A |
| Stoned Mullet | C | G |
##12 Bar Bruise
| Song | Harmonica Key | Song Key |
|---|---|---|
| Garage Liddiard | E | B |
| Sam Cherry's Last Shot* | A | E |
| High Hopes Low | C | G |
| Cut Throat Boogie | D | A |
| Uh Oh, I Called Mum | D | A |
| Sea Of Trees | C | G |
| Footy Footy* | D | A |
##Eyes Like The Sky
| Song | Harmonica Key | Song Key |
|---|---|---|
| Year Of Our Lord | ||
| Drum Run | ||
| Evil Man |
Eventually coming
##Float Along-Fill Your Lungs
| Song | Harmonica Key | Song Key |
|---|---|---|
| I Am Not A Man Unless I Have A Woman | G | D |
| God Is Calling Me Back Home | A | E |
##Oddments
| Song | Harmonica Key | Song Key |
|---|---|---|
| It's Got Old | D | A |
| Hot Wax* | Db | Ab |
| Oddments* | E | B |
##I'm In Your Mind Fuzz
| Song | Harmonica Key | Song Key |
|---|---|---|
| I'm In Your Mind | E | B |
| I'm Not In Your Mind | E | B |
| Cellophane | E | B |
| I'm In Your Mind Fuzz | E | B |
| Hot Water* | A | E |
| Am I In Heaven?* | B | F# |
| Satan Speeds Up** | G# | D# |
| Her And I (Slow Jam 2) | D | A |
##Quarters
| Song | Harmonica Key | Song Key |
|---|---|---|
| The River | E | B |
| Infinte Rise*** | F# | C# |
| God Is In The Rhythm | F# | F# |
| Lonely Steel Sheet Flyer** | D | A |
##Paper Mache Dream Balloon
Some songs on this album could use more than one harmonica due to the jazzy nature.
| Song | Harmonica Key | Song Key |
|---|---|---|
| Dirt** | E | E |
| Paper Mache Dream Balloon** | E | E |
| Trapdoor** | Bb | C |
| Cold Cadaver | C | G |
| The Bitter Boogie | C | G |
| N.G.R.I. (Bloodstain) | F | C |
| Time = $$$** | F# | C# |
##Nonagon Infinity
| Song | Harmonica Key | Song Key |
|---|---|---|
| Robot Stop | A | E |
| Big Fig Wasp* | A | E |
| Gamma Knife | G | D |
| Wah Wah* | E | B |
| Road Train** | E | B |
##Flying Microtonal Banana
Due to the microtonal nature of this album its highly likely modified tuning harmonicas were used
| Song | Harmonica Key | Song Key |
|---|---|---|
| Rattle Snake | F# | |
| Sleep Drifter | F# |
Eventually coming
*=Slightly unsure of key
**=Unsure of key
***=no clue what key this is but I'll guess
"Song Key" refers to the key the harmonica is being played in and not necessarily the key of the entire song (so don't use this for other instruments)
I tried to include any song that I can identify a harmonica in. Sometimes its deep in the mix so I can't tell the key very well or sometimes I couldn't tell if it was another instrument or not. Please feel free to suggest corrections.
###Info for beginners:
If you are new to harmonica the reason there is "harmonica key" and "song key" is that often harmonica is played in what is called second position. Put simply this means playing a harp in a different key than is labelled on the harp.
Here's an example: A harmonica labeled "C major" or "C" in second position would be playing in the key of G. Second position is what is used in blues and Ambrose using it for most songs.
To play a lot of the licks bending will be required. Bending is a technique on harmonica that initially can be tricky but with practice becomes very rewarding. Its the kind of thing that once you figure it out it seems so easy. Lots of videos online to help you there.
Another common request is for tabs. While tabs help I find that harmonica is actually super easy to figure out by ear with some practice and I highly recommend it. There are so many go-to licks on harp that can make it easier to figure out by ear. Because the harp is often so deep in the mix tabs would be super hard to determine. I'll give you a tab for the blues scale which is what majority of the harmonica parts uses (not exclusively though):
-2 -3' +4 -4' -4 -5 +6
Where negative signs mean inhale, positive sign means exhale and apostrophes mean draw bend half a step down.
Mind fuzz riff is based around this lick:
-2 -2 -2" -1
Don't even have a harmonica but want to get one? I'll make some recommendations for beginner harmonicas. Don't buy the cheapest you can find as they will often make your playing suffer and potentially make you give up trying at all:
- Hohner Special 20 (Ambrose uses these a lot)
- Hohner Bluesharp
- Suzuki Bluesmaster
- Suzuki Promaster
- Suzuki Manji
- Seydel Session
- Lee Oskar
If buying a harmonica you will probably be wondering which key to get. I highly recommend the key of C because many online tutorials use this key and 7 songs listed here use that harp. For reference: 5 songs use an A harmonica, 7 songs use a D and 12 songs use an E.
Check out the great little community r/harmonica for more!
Posted Feb 27, 2017, 7:28 PM UTC · edited