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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Are you a Blues freak?
Are you a Blues freak?
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Greyowlphotoart
175 posts
Nov 07, 2010
1:33 AM
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I remember starting to play harp at school after I heard this guy do a really cool 3 draw bend and thought I must learn to do that! So I started to learn and loved to play basic blues then moved on to Rock and Pop.
I guess folk come to this forum for a variety of reasons and may have just a passing acquaintance with the blues or perhaps are diehard blues fans.
I like the blues and I have a feeling for the blues when I play but it features in only a small part of my music these days.
My question is how big a fan of the blues are you on a scale of 1 to 5? - Be honest!!
Is blues blood coursing through your veins? Are you likely to have blues songs playing on your mp3 player most times?
Do you practice and play only the Blues? Are you thirsting for more and more knowledge of old (and new) masters. Do you go to Harp workshops,Gigs etc., When you gig do you mainly stick with the blues?
Apologies if this thread has been done to death before.
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Arnoud73
8 posts
Nov 07, 2010
2:27 AM
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In a scale from 1 - 5, I guess am a 3...
I like to play blues, but prefer other styles like: (Irish) folk, reggae, sing&songwriter, hiphop, funk.
I also prefer semi-acoustic music...
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http://www.myspace.com/arnoudbluesharp
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Jagrowler
6 posts
Nov 07, 2010
2:55 AM
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I've thought about this for a few minutes and realise that 50% of the music I like has a definite blues/jazz influence (eg JJ Cale, Chris Rea, some pop music). The other 50% is clearly belonging to a particular genre, including straight blues, not-too-obscure jazz, folk, light-classical.
The main difference with the blues is it always makes me feel good. The challenge is to listen to Hound Dog Taylor and not smile - I believe it to be impossible.
Other styles can be enjoyable, interesting, even emotional; however the blues a step apart. Even when played by an average musician (say for example, erm ...myself!) it FEELS good.
On a scale of 1 to 5, I rate myself 3.5
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harmonicanick
987 posts
Nov 07, 2010
3:07 AM
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I like to play and listen to all styles, blues, folk, jazz and rock but at heart I am a 4.5er
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Leonid
76 posts
Nov 07, 2010
3:17 AM
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I am 6 for sure. Even after all of the overblowing, jazz training etc. I love playing some nasty dirty blues. It's like coming home.
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Littoral
174 posts
Nov 07, 2010
3:19 AM
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4+ in terms of appreciating and listening to music. Ive studied and collected blues since I was 15 (50 now). Ironic that I just woke up, still the bed, and clicked on an internet blues station before I checked messages & MBH. Lurrrie Bell.is on now, "I Ain't Nothing But A Bluesman". Ain't saying I am, other people can do that.
The number is 3 in terms of playing harp because I cover a lot of other territory.
Last Edited by on Nov 07, 2010 4:40 AM
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Stickman
526 posts
Nov 07, 2010
4:03 AM
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My I-pod lists that in the genre of blues I have 442 songs. Rock has 108 (many of them blues based rock)
maybe I'm a 1 or 2. Ya think?
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diletto
19 posts
Nov 07, 2010
4:36 AM
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although I´m dabbling around with all kinds of instruments since 45 years - percussion, flutes, sax, guitars, voice, sitar ...(at present I drum in this band : http://www.myspace.com/flying-cow ...just for fun)- harp-blues was always my favourite, and since some time I listen with interested attention to harpers only...for the sake of learning, because on this devilish little thing I want to be more than a dabbler. ;-)
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Music is moonlight in the gloomy night of life.
(Jean Paul)
Last Edited by on Nov 07, 2010 4:36 AM
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Xpun3414
61 posts
Nov 07, 2010
8:45 AM
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I am totally a 6 (Ok,I konw you said 1 to 5 butI am what I am) I listen to blues MORE then any other type of music.Im a die hard old time blues listener that ranges from the 20' to the 60's mostly. I feel that by the end of the 60's the blues seemed to make a change,all though not a bad change it just didnt seem the same to me. As for whats on my music player/my phone that is/ if I have 100 songs,then the blues account for 80 of them. The town I live in is in the beginning of what seems to be a music revival with Blues being most prevalent. Open mic nights..bands being hired.. & so on. So I must say.. Im very happy about that.
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nacoran
3185 posts
Nov 07, 2010
11:58 AM
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It all depends on what is in my playlist. I like Classic Rock, Grunge, Blues, Classical, Metal, even some weird crossover stuff. I play mostly blues and folk.
4
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Nate
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Joe_L
806 posts
Nov 07, 2010
2:59 PM
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I don't know, if I am a freak. There are people I know that are into it much deeper than me.
Q. Is blues blood coursing through your veins?
A. I don't know about that. I don't live the life. I have a day job and only fool around with music as a hobby. As Eddy Clearwater wrote, "it's a hard way to make an easy living." I know too many guys that struggle trying to make it and it looks like harder work than what I do.
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Q. Are you likely to have blues songs playing on your mp3 player most times?
A. I've got 13033 songs on my iPod. All but 25 or 30 of them are Blues. A few weeks ago, someone wrote on the forum that only listening to Blues is absurd. Personally, I can't think of a good reason to listen to anything else.
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Q. Do you practice and play only the Blues?
A. Yes. I don't practice much harmonica playing these days. I spend most of my time trying to learn the words to tunes and practicing vocals. I do try to work harp playing around lyrics.
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Q. Are you thirsting for more and more knowledge of old (and new) masters.
A. Sure. I buy lots of recordings. I am always listening to new stuff. I'm not listening only to harmonica masters. I listen to a lot of the guys that are/were active on the scene. I listen to Blues going back to the 30's and I listen to newer stuff that I like.
While I have recordings by dozens and dozens of harp players, there are probably two dozen harp players that I listen to regularly. I keep coming back to those guys.
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Q. Do you go to Harp workshops,Gigs etc.,
A. I never ever would go to a harp workshop. I can't think of a more boring way to spend my time. I don't like to sit around and talk harp with people. I guess it's part of where I came from. When I started learning, you didn't ask questions. You tried to absorb stuff by listening and attempting to recreate what you heard. I'd rather talk about music.
I see a lot of live music. I frequent a local jam weekly because my friends hang out there. There are a few other jams that I hit periodically. I am usually out one night on the weekend. I have a lot of musician friends and there is almost always one or more shows worth going to see. If someone really good is in town, I may go out five nights in a row. It all depends on my mood and if I feel the need to get out.
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Q. When you gig do you mainly stick with the blues?
A. Although, my friends hassle me about it, I don't play many gigs. I really don't want the hassle of booking stuff and hiring people. I like my friends being my friends. Hiring people changes stuff.
If I was booking gigs, they would be nothing but Blues. If it became illegal to play blues on a harmonica, I would take up guitar or bass. At some point, if I ever get serious about playing bass or guitar, I'll only play Blues.
For me, Blues is where it's at. I see no reason to playing something you don't enjoy playing. I see no reason to play anything other than Blues. It's a music about human emotion. When you deliver that emotion and it connects with a person, there are few things that feel better in life. That's why I play Blues.
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The Blues Photo Gallery
Last Edited by on Nov 07, 2010 3:03 PM
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harpdude61
457 posts
Nov 07, 2010
3:17 PM
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5!.....97% listening and playing...nothing else makes me feel like the blues does...
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stones
5 posts
Nov 08, 2010
8:02 AM
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I'd say that of all of the music I listen to, blues is the most prevalent. I have about 300 blues songs on my i-pod... but lately I've listing to more jazz and big band stuff. just trying to find a different feel to my playing? I like country, jazz, rock, rockabilly,classical latin, and of course blues. I'd say I'm a 4
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Andrew
1225 posts
Nov 08, 2010
8:40 AM
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I've got 25,000 songs on my iPod. I don't know how many are blues, but they're certainly in the minority, and Greek and Latin lyric poetry courses through my veins, so I'd say 1 or less!
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Andrew,
gentleman of leisure,
noodler extraordinaire.
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Barry C.
31 posts
Nov 08, 2010
9:16 AM
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Let's put it this way - I can only count up to three numbers; 1, 4 & 5!
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~Banned in Boston!
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Blueharper
150 posts
Nov 08, 2010
11:59 AM
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Andrew, what size is your Ipod?
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Andrew
1227 posts
Nov 08, 2010
12:21 PM
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120GB.
In fact I misguessed, it's only 19,811 songs, but there are 3.1GB of free space. I've got about 30,000 songs on my hard drives, but the 180GB iPod became obsolete the week I decided I wanted one! And now it's back. I hate Apple! (and my iPod keeps stopping mid-song, which is another reason I hate Apple)
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Andrew,
gentleman of leisure,
noodler extraordinaire.
Last Edited by on Nov 08, 2010 12:24 PM
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Gig74
14 posts
Nov 09, 2010
2:00 AM
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I certainly never used to be, my biggest blues experience used to be watching the Blues Brothers or Crossroads, but when I picked up my first Harmonica just over six months ago I bought a little book that sugested I listen to some fellow called Little Walter, which I did...a lot :o)
Since then I've probably been listening to about 90% blues from a variety of artists, mostly classic blues like Sonny Terry(not sure if he's classed as blues but I'm liking him all the same), SBW 2, Elmore James,Howlin'Wolf Muddy Waters and some slightly more up to date stuff like Musswhite and Butterfield, as well as some less famous but in my opinion excellent stuff from UK bands Dirty Aces and Poorboy.
Currently I would say then I'm a five but last year I'd have said less that 1.
Funny how things change.
Last Edited by on Nov 09, 2010 2:02 AM
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Stickman
530 posts
Nov 09, 2010
2:22 AM
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30,000 songs! you could listen to music 24 hrs a day for more than a month, maybe 2 months before you listen to them all. Too much for me. I don't think I could find more than a couple thousand songs that I like enough to take up space on my I-pod. BTW I love Apple. and all the I-pods I have ever owned have worked fine for years. I currently use 2 one for running and one for my truck and am thinking of a I-pad for the house.
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Andrew
1228 posts
Nov 09, 2010
3:08 AM
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Yeah, I don't listen to them much - it's too much trouble; when I commute, I prefer to read; when I'm walking down the street, disconnection from the world disorientates me. I've got a huge amount of crap on there - for example I love gritty, enthusiastic rough and ready salsa music, so one night I downloaded about 5GB of salsa compilations! I'll never listen to them all, and the kind of salsa music I like is pretty rare and I haven't heard it on any of the stuff I have listened to (if it's got a synthesiser, it ain't salsa!). I like Perez Prado (mambo, I know), but plenty of performers of his ilk are just a little too slick for my liking. If a performer is welcome in Las Vegas, he ain't welcome in my house, is a (very) rough way to describe my tastes (there are exceptions - like Louis Prima, for example). I used to know a Venezuelan woman with a couple of sons who had great taste in salsa and mambo, but they all left the country, so I've got no-one to ask what to listen to.
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Andrew,
gentleman of leisure,
noodler extraordinaire.
Last Edited by on Nov 09, 2010 3:15 AM
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boris_plotnikov
305 posts
Nov 09, 2010
3:28 AM
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I'm 2. I'm happy to listen or to play one blues track. I'm OK to listen or to play 2-3 blues tracks. I get bored when listening or plaing 4-5 blue track. I dislike more than 6 blues tracks usually. It depends on band's quality of course, but anyway, please no more than one blues CD or one short blue set.
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Excuse my bad English. Click on my photo or my username for my music.
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Honkin On Bobo
487 posts
Nov 09, 2010
7:46 AM
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GreyOwl,
I'd say I'm about a 3.5.
I've loved hard rock and Rock and Roll all my life, but never gave any thought to where that music came from until relatively recently. I started to investigate a little bit and realized that all of my rock heroes: The Stones, Beatles, Led Zep, Clapton, Aerosmith etc. were citing blues guys as their influence. Muddy, Howlin Wolf, Robert Johnson et al. I started listening to those guys and voila...LOVED IT!!!
Can't explain it, but maybe for me, as I've aged there seem to be many more reasons to feel blue..so somehow that music just really seems to resonate with me. If you looked at my Ipod its fairly close to a 50-50% split between Classic Rock and Blues. And yes, that means I love basic rockin' "biker bar harp", however easy to play, along with more difficult nuanced true blues harp stuff. If it fits the music it's kick ass to me.
There's virtually no Jazz, Classical, Pop or Rap on my ipod, though as Kudzu pointed out, if you listen to Blues greats who are heavily influenced by Jazz guys..then you're de facto listening to Jazz. Which could be a topic of a whole other thread, that is: the crossover between different genres, and how precisely can a genre actually be defined. It also poses a problem in trying to be a musician as a recurring bit of advice from many of the great players on here is to listen to other varieties of music to get better.
But, as Popeye said, " I am's what I am", which is to say an old f___ . Trying to force myself to listen to stuff I don't like just ain't gonna happen.
So I'd say a solid 3.5..or if you want to get all engineery about it....3.54982.
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Greyowlphotoart
185 posts
Nov 09, 2010
9:11 AM
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That's good feedback guys and interesting. Maybe it's what you would expect, a pretty even split. I agree with Boris' opinion and would put myself down as a 2.
For me it's a case of I'm loving this, I'm loving this, I'm loving this, o and now I'm bored!! - So love it in small doses.
@ Honkin I admire your precision, but are you sure about that last decimal point, I had you down as a surefire 3.54983
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DeakHarp
249 posts
Nov 11, 2010
7:31 AM
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I listen to blues 100 % of the time on everything that im running RV , Shop , I listen to mainly old school blues in all contex .. I absorb it that way ..
I realy never practiced persay .. I mainly played along with a tune i was listening to and added my taste to it ... Playing Live is my school .. Its there that i try somthing new , Sometimes i drop like a hot tomato .. and sometimes its magic ...Im A Blues Freak ...100 % ..
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Have Harp Will Travel
www.deakharp.com
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Xpun3414
78 posts
Nov 11, 2010
7:59 AM
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@ Andrew & I thought I was bad w/ 22,000+ songs on my pc ! :)( & it ranges all over the place from classical to blues,metal to country, international to home bread, And any thing in between ) I truly love music.I really dont know anyone else like me in this respect.
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groyster1
553 posts
Nov 11, 2010
12:44 PM
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@Greyowl
since you posted the tab for albatross I have played it for many people and they say"I remember that" we both agreed that we were early fleetwood mac loves with greenie,jeremy and danny kirwan along with john and mick backing this legendary band they played some of the best caucasian blues I have ever heard peter with his beautiful tone and a great blues voice
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The7thDave
199 posts
Nov 18, 2010
8:39 AM
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I'm actually a relatively new convert to the Blues. I started listening to it actively a little over a year and a half ago when I committed myself to learning harmonica, and it was a real epiphany for me. Like any recent convert, I'm a bit of a zealot; and, practically, I have quite a bit of catching up to do. So, despite the very eclectic nature of my life-long music collection, most of what I listen to intentionally these days doesn't lie very far from the Blues tree. I'd say I'm somewhere around 4.5 currently, but I foresee this changing in the future as I get more comfortable with the instrument and my knowledge and understanding of the genre.
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--Dave
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