Somewhere Only We Know

Bear & HareI walked across an empty land

Here’s a great song to play on the harmonica, written  by a Sussex band called Keane. It was once used as the music in a trailer for the Winnie The Pooh movie, but has recently been popularised in a Christmas TV advertisement featuring a hibernating Bear and his friend the Hare. In the TV advert, the lyrics are sung by Lily Allen. Here’s how it sounds:


Listen, Sing, Act, Play
When we learn new songs at Harp Academy, we like to follow a simple routine. First we listen to the song. Then we sing it. Next we add actions to the words or move to the rhythm. And finally we play along on our harmonica. Listen to the song a few times and see if you can hum or sing along. Can you think of some actions to go with the words? Can you move to the rhythm? Great! Let’s learn to play it on our harmonica.

I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
To start learning any song, we need to work out its structure. This means we need to identify the building blocks of the song. Here’s a list of what to look for:

  • The key of the song, its tempo and its time signature
  • BadgerHow the song starts and ends – the intro and outro
  • The number of verses and choruses in the song
  • If there are any bridges or instrument solos

Squirrel iI felt the earth beneath my feet
We will be playing the song on a Key of C harmonica. Our backing track is quite steady at around 87 beats per minute (bpm). Our time signature is 4/4, which means four beats in each bar and they’re crotchet beats. The song could be played by one harp player, or using separate harp players for each section. As musicians, we can label different sections of a song using letters of the alphabet. This keeps things simple when we map out the songs structure and share it with others. Here is the structure for our song using this system:

Intro    A A B    A A B C    Bridge   B B C   Outro

Now we can see very clearly how the songs is built; we’ve also colour coded the letters to help. A copy of this structure can be printed off as part of the tab at the bottom of the page. Now let’s run through the structure. The intro is how the song starts. A is a verse, B is a chorus and C is another section that is different to A and B. It’s often called the bridge. It refreshes our ears by changing the flow or mood of the song for a short section, and it prepares us to repeat earlier sections with renewed impact. Our song ends with a simple slow down, or rallentando, and a fade out. This is our outro.

FawnSat by the river and it made me complete
In part 1 we’ll just look at the intro and section A. You can click the Orange icon for the Arrow Tab. The numbers in purple below are for the 4 hole harmonica and the numbers tab in orange are for the 10 hole harmonica. We’re playing on a C Major harmonica. Each number tells you which hole to play. D is draw (breathe in) and B is blow (breathe out). A practise track is at the foot of this page.

Intro
The intro requires good use of slide notes. On the blow reeds, you will need to take a very deep breath and deliver two sequences of eight notes. On the draw notes, you’ll need to empty your lungs and breathe in across another eight note stretch. You’ll also need to keep time and accent the first of each note pair; 1-2, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2. We close with one long blow and one long draw note. Lots to think about for such a short section! Here’s what we’re aiming at in this section:


And now let’s break that down into smaller pieces:


2B..3B   2B..3B   2B..3B   2B..3B      2B..3B   2B..3B   2B..3B   2B..3B 
5B..6B   5B..6B   5B..6B   5B..6B      5B..6B   5B..6B   5B..6B   5B..6B


2D..3D   2D..3D   2D..3D   2D..3D      4B      4D
5D..6D   5D..6D   5D..6D   5D..6D      7B      7D

Section A
BadgerSection A can also be referred to as the verse In this section you will need good use of repeat notes. Decide now how you want to play them. This may sound strange at first, but will you use your tongue, your throat or your diaphragm? In other words, should you articulate them with your tongue as you do in everyday speech, should you use use glottal stops – the point in your throat where a cough comes from, or should you use use a legato pulse from your tummy? You can decide this with your Harp Academy teacher.

Deer iYou’ll also notice there is a green note in the tab below. In keeping with our song, this note can be changed the second time you play it. On the 4 hole harmonica it will become 3B. On the 10 hole harmonica it will become 6B. Which means you can finish the line the second time using slide technique. You’ll find this marked in our arrow tab as a smaller arrow beside the main note. The arrow tab can be printed off below. Here’s what we’re aiming at this time:


And now let’s break that down into smaller pieces:


Hedgehog1B     3B       3B    2B       1D     2B    1D    2B
4B     6B       6B    5B       4D     5B    4D    5B
I     walked  a – cross      an     emp-ty    land


2D    2D      2D      2D    2D      2D    2D      2D    2B    1D    2D    2B
5D    5D      5D      5D    5D      5D    5D      5D    5B    4D    5D    5B
I       knew  the     pathway     like   the   back    of    my    ha – nd

Oh simple thing where have you gone?
We’ve made a really great start.  Fermata 1You can print off the arrow tab and move to Parts 2 and 3 using the links below. In the arrow tab you will also notice a new symbol at end of some sections. It looks like an eye with an eyebrow. This is called a fermata. It means we slow down, or even stop at this point. It adds expression, grace or tension to a song.

Key Skills

  • Song structure
  • Beats per minute
  • Intro
  • Verse
  • Slide notes
  • Repeat notes
  • Fermata
  • Rallentando

Practice track


Go to part 2
Go to part 3

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