Very fine again Bill; in fact exceptionally fine. Loving these solo acoustic interpretations...Pete
Last Edited by Stokes Bay Slim on Nov 02, 2016 7:11 AM
Super job! I like your whooping too. Could you share with us who now envy you, how you go about studying and learning this and other country blues styles you've demonstrated recently? ----------
Last Edited by mr_so&so on Nov 02, 2016 10:20 AM
Nie going, Bill. Get your hands more involved in shaping the sound and learn to get the tongue to beat off the pallet, and you'll be even better at that style.
Some years ago, there was a book written by Kent Cooper and Fred Palmer called the Harp Styles of Sonny Terry that had an attached record with it (and I still have a copy of it to this day) that gives a pretty good analysis and lessons about his playing style.
I believe you should be able to get a copy thru Amazon.com ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Last Edited by barbequebob on Nov 03, 2016 1:38 PM
@BBQBob: I'm going to look that book up! Thanks :)
@Mr. So-and-So: You asked a few questions, so here goes. I had always enjoyed listening to Sonny Terry, but I got started really enjoying "studying" this style after I saw a YouTube video of Adam Sikora playing "Callin' My Mama". He's so good at playing Sonny's style, it's amazing. But he got me thinking, if he can do it, maybe I can too!
Then I came across some recordings by Gary Onofrio (who makes the Sonny Jr. amps); he was also really amazing. I love Paul Lamb's country blues playing, too. And Tom Ball is a super player who is influenced strongly by Sonny Terry, but he doesn't just do a straight-up copy, he has found his own style. Later on I discovered that Joe Filisko can do all of the early blues harmonica styles really well, and his medleys on the "History of the Harmonica" concert were really eye-opening... holy cow, Joe can do anything on a harmonica!
I definitely find it easier to learn from the more modern guys, simply because their recordings have better sound quality. The early DeFord Bailey and Kyle Wooten recordings, I find it hard to tell exactly what they're doing and I have to listen to it over and over.
When I figure out a short part (a few seconds), I just repeat it ten million times until I can do it without thinking about it or struggling. I work on the road, so many times a day I am getting in and out of my car and walking through parking lots, etc., and I am always playing a harmonica while walking. So I get many, many, one-minute 'practice sessions' in every day.
The chugging rhythms and whoop breath patterns too me a while to figure out. There is a guy on YouTube who gives a lesson on it, I'll look it up and post it here.
Last Edited by cliffy on Nov 03, 2016 6:46 PM
Hey Cliffy i love what you are doing on these old country blues style harp.I made a remark after your first post about how Deford never used his hands to shape his sound at all."not like Sonny Terry" Now you are doing some ST i think two things 1) use your cup more ,shape those bends and Wahs they are integral to his sound 2)Slow down just a bit you are playing a shade too fast and loosing the groove/feel of the original. Constructive criticism i hope and of course just imho. Meanwhile play on great stuff.
@ indigo: thanks so much! I'm glad you are enjoying my playing. Yeah, using my hands to get a good 'wah' is something I'm not particularly good at, so I haven't incorporated it into my playing as much as I would like. I think it's because I mostly hold the harmonica in one hand as I practice (usually walking, towing my tool case with the other hand, or in the car). I do better when I hold the harp with both hands and both thumbs up. And I agree about the tempo. There's such a big difference between physically being able to do certain things on the harp and being able to do them with that relaxed natural-ness. But that's my eventual goal, to sound like I grew up living and breathing the harmonica (whereas now, I sound like a guy who tried to learn it). Anyway, thanks for the constructive points... I will never take anything the wrong way. :). It's why I posted these pieces in the first place, to get pointers from people who can be objective!
@Cliffy -- That's the one bad thing about getting into amplified harp too quickly is that too many players never learn how to use their hands properly to shape their sounds and wah-wah is just one of the things that suffers and to get a good wah-wah *and there are many DIFFERENT wah-wahs), you HAVRE to have a good, air tight cup first and wah=wah is just done with the entire hand and from watching Big Walter Horton play plenty of acoustic harp many times over the years, it can be accomplished with just a single finger alone, but with a tight cup and which finger he used gave the harp an entirely different tonal color. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Thanks BBQBob! Good acoustic cup and "wah" techniques are things I would like to work on. Most of my playing/practice time is done while walking and carrying stuff for work, so 99% of my playing is one-handed. Got to carve out some time for playing that isn't multitasking.
