Darren Watson
14 posts
Oct 26, 2014
5:32 PM
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Thought I'd share my latest thoughts and playing along with Little Walter, Lockwood-styles....
Last Edited by Darren Watson on Oct 26, 2014 5:33 PM
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walterharp
1546 posts
Oct 26, 2014
6:26 PM
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nice Darren..great backing stuff. do you think there is anything different about playing rhythm guitar for harmonica vs other lead instruments? how do you contrast this style against Jimmy Rogers lumpity lump approach behind most of Little Walters stuff?
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Darren Watson
15 posts
Oct 26, 2014
7:52 PM
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I LOVE what Jimmy and Muddy did with him too. I use those things too of course. It's all valid. It's just that if you want it to really swing like Walter's stuff later in the 50s you need to adopt this jazzier, jumpier approach imho.
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Darren Watson
16 posts
Oct 26, 2014
8:03 PM
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I just wish more guitarists would take the time to THINK about what they play when someone else is soloing and SUPPORT it. Sometimes that means laying out and sometimes it means replying or being complimentary. But I see far too many who just go into autopilot mode. YMMV.
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Martic
107 posts
Oct 26, 2014
8:31 PM
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Damn, this is perfect!! I was looking for a video lesson to show my guitarist there's a lot of ways to back the harmonica, more than the "too-doom too-bam" shuffle. Thanks for sharing!!
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Rhartt1234
150 posts
Oct 27, 2014
4:52 AM
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I read a thing in Guitar Player magazine that has stuck with me for nearly 30 years: Guitar players spend 90% of their time practicing solos, but on a gig they spend 90% of their time playing rhythm.
There is SO MUCH stuff a rhythm guitar player can play, but few take the time to learn it. A great rhythm guitar player gets to solo all night long.
60 years later people are still talking about "Shake Dancer" not for its great harp, but for its great rhythm guitar.
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The Iceman
2231 posts
Oct 27, 2014
5:25 AM
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Great video.
I always enjoyed Alex Schultz. He doesn't often play full bar chords, but usually two or three notes that outline the chord, along with simple lines sprinkled in, leaving a lot of space.
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The Iceman
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Rhartt1234
151 posts
Oct 27, 2014
5:36 AM
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When I see a Blues guitar player play a full 1st position Dominant 7th chord for the I chord I want kick him in the throat. There are very few reasons to do that, other than laziness.
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Dog Face
280 posts
Oct 27, 2014
6:22 AM
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Thanks Darren! Pretty cool.
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Brad
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barbequebob
2738 posts
Oct 27, 2014
11:26 AM
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For me, I consider ANY guitar player who can't/won't play rhythm nothing more than a totally useless jam hack and over the years, I've found that better than 80% of the time, guitar players who can't play rhythm usually also tend to have HORRIBLE time.
Shake Dancer is a tune that's a virtual textbook for learning how to back up a harp player. The thing Lockwood plays over the 5-4 change comes from what guitarist Bill Butler did on his guitar solo from the Bill Doggett instrumental classic Honky Tonk.
Too often guitar players think you can't be creative when playing rhythm but guitar players who are great rhythm players, whenever they take a solo, everything they do grooves and those who don't/won't, their solos NEVER groove.
I also play a bit of guitar myself and know those Lockwood lines that were played behind both LW as well as SBWII like the back of my hand and what he did does exactly what Junior Watson said in an interview in Guitar Player magazine in 1990, where he said the guitar accentuates the harmonica but NEVER steps all over it.
I had the pleasure of gigging with Jimmy Rogers and learned quite a lot of guitar from all the times I watched him like a hawk, and I can't tell you how many times I've actually had to teach a guitar player how to PROPERLY play the bass line Muddy Waters used to play, which many guitar players tend to laugh off as being simple, but they often NEVER get the groove and feel right at all.
Funny thing about Lockwood. Back in the 70's, when I got to talk with him, he told me that he hated playing behind harp players except for SBWII, which at the time, made me scratch my head because, as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to backing harp, Lockwood was THE MAN, and in no uncertain terms, he told me the reason, "their time sucks!!!" Unfortunately, for MANY harp players, too often that is so sad but true!!!
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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Darren Watson
17 posts
Oct 27, 2014
2:15 PM
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Hell yeah Bob! I teach ALL my students that if they can't sit in the pocket and play rhythm guitar then they can forget about soloing well. It's the same thing. Time and a deep rhythmic pocket is required to play MUSIC properly. Not enough attention is focused on that by most teachers imho. And WAY too much on scales. So we end up with noodly, out of time scale wanderers with no idea.
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jbone
1793 posts
Oct 28, 2014
4:20 AM
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I am truly blessed to have a wife/guitarist partner who plays 99% rhythm. It's vital in a duo format for the guitar to hang in there and do the foundation. She has developed in her own way and is everything I could want in a guitar partner.
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http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000386839482
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbTwvU-EN1Q
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Komuso
434 posts
Oct 28, 2014
7:19 AM
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Nice tone and riddems Darren.
What's that Ax you're playing?
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Paul Cohen aka Komuso Tokugawa
HarpNinja - Your harmonica Mojo Dojo
Bringing the Boogie to the Bitstream
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Goldbrick
744 posts
Oct 28, 2014
10:46 AM
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very nice and helpful
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bluemoose
1020 posts
Oct 28, 2014
10:59 AM
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@Komuso: from the Youtube page - Reverend Club King 290.
(and he appears to know how to use it! :) )
MBH Webbrain - a GUI guide to Adam's Youtube vids
FerretCat Webbrain - Jason Ricci's vids (by hair colour!)
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Darren Watson
18 posts
Oct 29, 2014
1:38 PM
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@ Komuso, Thanks mate. bluemoose is correct it's a lovely Reverend Club King 290.
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http://www.darrenwatson.com
http://www.facebook.com/darrenwatsonband
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Martin
713 posts
Oct 30, 2014
5:09 AM
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Many thanks, Darren W. Should be mandatory viewing, not only for those attemtping to back a harp player, and I´ve spread the word to some parties that I´m involved with.
Those turnarounds are great, and it annoys me like a MoFu that I can´t figure them out. (Stupid fingers.)
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