harmonicanick
2149 posts
Mar 28, 2014
7:52 AM
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Then ignore the curled upper lip when you ask if you can play with the harmonica, and then whack their ego with loadsa tongue blocked chords and split octaves...they can't do it f*****g marvellous
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Kingley
3550 posts
Mar 28, 2014
9:27 AM
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They however don't need to change instruments to play in any key, generally have a far better sense of general musical knowledge, timing, phrasing and chord structures than most harmonica players do and most will play a harp player into the ground from a musical standpoint. Plus they always get the chicks. Women just seem to love saxophone. See Nick it's all swings and roundabouts my man. All swings and roundabouts :)
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Kaining
30 posts
Mar 28, 2014
9:38 AM
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That's only because most harp player aren't as serious as sax player with the music as they should be.
And you don't really need more than 1 harp to play in any key (you loose some polyphonic possibility by going with just one harp though).
Actually, how many octave does a sax have ?
We have 3 octave and 1 steps with a harp from blow 1 to 10 double overdraw (which is hard but doable if you know the trick to it and yes, there is a trick) and i thinks that's still more than a sax.
Yup, i checked and a sax is 2 octave and 3 steps (minor fifth).
The harp army could overthrow the sax empire if we put some effort into it.
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harmonicanick
2150 posts
Mar 28, 2014
10:43 AM
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No K, harp v sax for chicks, its harp (in the right hands) every time, trust me lol
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STME58
705 posts
Mar 28, 2014
11:12 AM
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I was just looking into the history of the sax and found this about its inventor:
"He had numerous other mishaps that consisted of several poisonings, a serious fall down stairs, a close call with a gunpowder explosion, which badly burned him, a hot frying pan falling on him along with a roof stone hitting him in the head leaving a scar that remained long into adulthood. This sort of bad luck can almost be seen as an omen of the sort of life that lay ahead for young Adolphe."
http://www.harmoniousmusic.com/blog/?p=106
Hope the string does not carry over to the players of his instrument!
Last Edited by STME58 on Mar 28, 2014 11:12 AM
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blueswannabe
455 posts
Mar 28, 2014
11:48 AM
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A sax player attended one of our gigs for a full show. He was great. We traded licks and solos. It's an interesting juxtaposition. I think the crowd got a kick out of the comparison.
but my bass player said that we have a harp and don't need a sax - that it was too much. I would have to agree on some songs. I don' t mind stepping back and sharing the horn section.
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clyde
360 posts
Mar 28, 2014
1:13 PM
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kaining,
"Yup, i checked and a sax is 2 octave and 3 steps (minor fifth)."
do some more research. sax players have tricks also.
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Kingley
3553 posts
Mar 28, 2014
1:25 PM
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I love working with horn players. It makes me work a hell of a lot harder and my intonation has to be right on the money or else it sounds like crap. Just love doing the brass riff thing with a horn player behind a vocalist.
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Greg Heumann
2662 posts
Mar 28, 2014
2:34 PM
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First and foremost - playing together is not a competition. It is a collaboration. As both a harp and sax player I can say I love playing with someone who is playing what I AM play sing, AND with someone who is playing what I am NOT. Each simply opens up fun musical possibilities and the harp is a perfectly valid member of a horn section.
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***************************************************
/Greg
BlowsMeAway Productions
See my Customer Mics album on Facebook
BlueState - my band
Bluestate on iTunes
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harmonicanick
2152 posts
Mar 28, 2014
3:58 PM
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You are right, it's me who has the issues!!
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SuperBee
1839 posts
Mar 28, 2014
3:59 PM
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Greg , (I think) I've seen you mention somewhere about playing harp, that had it not been for the practice opportunities ( in the car) you probably wouldn't have become a player. I'm wondering about how you managed the sax...did you take it up after the harp, or were you a sax player before the harp? How much practice time did you make for sax? I'm assuming you didn't do it in the car; (would've had to catch a bus at least, right ?)...
Serious question...I'm interested in sax but my harp routine has often been opportunistic too, and I don't see that working on the sax...
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MP
3133 posts
Mar 28, 2014
4:46 PM
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Blow bends on the A harp match very well w/ the altissimo register of the Tenor sax in the key of E.
They are almost indistinguishable.
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Greg Heumann
2663 posts
Mar 28, 2014
4:52 PM
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@SuperBee - when I was MUCH younger I played oboe - from 2nd grade up through 1st year of college. That's where I learned to read music - and the fingerings are about the same. That experience did NOT teach me anything about transposition, and I find myself playing in keys that aren't familiar sometimes on the sax (when a guy calls a the in E, you're effectively playing the sax in F#) - so that took some work, but the truth is, I didn't (and don't) practice that much - which means I'm not a great sax player or anything close to it. But I have fun, and I have a good fat tone - so I get by. I tend to only practice if there's some new tune I have to learn that I've never played before in order to sit in with some other band.
There. My dirty little secret is out.....
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***************************************************
/Greg
BlowsMeAway Productions
See my Customer Mics album on Facebook
BlueState - my band
Bluestate on iTunes
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slackwater
38 posts
Mar 28, 2014
5:21 PM
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I played a fiftieth birthday a little while back with a band which was just pulled together for the night and included the guest of honour, a guitarist. There were a few other musicians in attendance too so yeah, it inevitably turned into a big jam. At one point I was standing alongside two sax's, a tenor and an alto. We had an absolute ball! I was up then they joined, one at a time, so I laid back and everybody had their say, we got into a horn section bit where we all played the same stabs and we ended up trading licks like a funny head cutting thing.
A photo of us three in a line ended up being put on the guy's facebook page and attracted all sorts of comments, mine was: "Three sax's, tenor, alto and Mississippi."
Incidentally one of those guys, the tenor, I had played with before, and since, and he doesn't mind at all, in fact he thinks it's great.
As they say though, it takes all kinds to make a world.
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FMWoodeye
830 posts
Mar 28, 2014
10:46 PM
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@Greg......Oboe?
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Frank
4079 posts
Mar 29, 2014
6:48 AM
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The harp can sound amazing and do astonishing things...BUT - the harp is a toy when compared to an ACE SAX PLAYER gettin jiggy wit it - Go out and see some Touring PRO Sax led Bands, you'll see the bright light :)
Last Edited by Frank on Mar 29, 2014 6:51 AM
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Kingley
3556 posts
Mar 29, 2014
6:53 AM
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I played alongside an Alto sax player at a jam last night. We had a ball playing horn lines behind the vocals, interweaving fills, mirroring solos and quoting other songs.
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harmonicanick
2153 posts
Mar 29, 2014
8:00 AM
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The Brecker Brothers did it for me back in the day and weather report
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Joe_L
2451 posts
Mar 29, 2014
9:06 AM
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I view playing music as a collaborative experience, not an individual competition on a shared stage where it is me vs the other guy.
Greg - I've always enjoyed your sax playing and your harp playing. Whenever, we've been on stage together, it's been an enjoyable experience for me
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The Blues Photo Gallery
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Kingley
3557 posts
Mar 29, 2014
9:40 AM
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"I view playing music as a collaborative experience, not an individual competition on a shared stage where it is me vs the other guy."
I totally agree Joe and I couldn't have put it better.
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Frank
4086 posts
Mar 29, 2014
9:44 AM
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What - you mean you should'nt try to play louder then the guitar player :)
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BC
29 posts
Mar 29, 2014
11:04 AM
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I started off playing the sax when I was a kid and played for many years. Then back in my early thirties I decided to learn harmonica. I wouldn't mind getting the sax back out in the jam sessions. I know what you mean as the poor harp player doesn't always garner the attention unless your leading or fronting.
BTW Greg, my Ultimate SM57 mic is still working great.
BC
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