here is my attempt at copying a walter horton 1st position solo.
the 1st chorus here is just messing about while i settle down. then i have two goes at playing the horton solo.
i'm in G because that was the jam track i had.
this solo is from the first break he takes in the recording of Hard Hearted Woman, on the live 'deep blues harmonica of Walter Horton'CD. the song on the record is in Bb
the real challenge here (apart from tone and accurate bends, which is just always the case, especially with Horton) is that jump to the 9 blow and bend, followed by the run in slow triplets from 4 blow, 3', 2, 2',+2,+1,+2, 2", 2', 2
anyway, its got a way to go but fwiw.
the second solo makes more use of the high end. thats a project for another day. i want a slow blues solo and this seems ok to me, with that surprising 9 blow/bend.
i like the words to this song too. 'she must have been mistreated, to have the same thing on her mind'. to me shows an insight into human behaviour which is not always present in the lyrics
Interesting (to me) that I have another, older (studio) recording of the song where Horton plays the same solo. So he clearly treated the solo as a set-piece associated with the song to some degree. He has recorded a song withvthecsame name which is quite different, completely different feel and he plays 2nd on it. But I believe this one is often cited as a good example of his 1st position work. I'm not studied up on the discography, I've just begun. I just put the disc on to play night before last while I mended some harps and was grabbed by the fact it was a slow 1st position solo which seemed approachable. And the 'surprise' 9 blow is just what I was looking for, so I began to count my way through the solo to see just how it was used, then I thought why not try to learn the song. This jam track is 'slow blues in G' from Shoblues Harptrack volume Four. It's a bit slower than horton's song, but not much. And great to have a slow track in G if 1st is interesting because G is a good harp to learn the blow bends on. And a slow blues in G is always good for 2nd too. Shoblues jam tracks have some 'song specific' tracks which are really great if you are trying to learn the classics
I'm struck by how lacking in energy this sounds. I guess that's partly the track but probably mainly because I'm still remembering and being careful to play all the notes. That jump to the 9 blow still catches me as does the leap back to the 4. I'll keep practicing and try to play along with Walter. Maybe that will help. I think maybe he is 30% faster than this
Thats nice Bee. I dig it. I like that Lick you tabbed out. Ill have to give that a Go.
I think it was a bit lacking in energy, but the Tempo of the song you can tdo too much with it. What I would attempt to do If I were goin to try and liven it up would be to Add more percussive TB Slaps with a bit of attack and chords in between to sort of fatten it up possibly. And also Some heavy Vibrato can also really Add depth here i think.
But I'm just speaking super critical. I liked it alot.
Speaking of the lyrics getting real, I Really Love the Song "Tin Pan Alley".
" She Gets Up In The Mornin, Shes Tin Pan Alley Bound. But Heey Heeeey ... Yeah Yeah. What Kind of Place Must This Alley Be? Every Woman I Get .... The Tin Pan Alley Takes Away From Me."
Thats Some Heavy Shit. ----------
Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Sep 02, 2016 9:51 AM
I'm trying to work out if it's worth progressing the video idea. I can be a bit more organised about it, but I'm aware I'm not really very qualified to teach, just showing my own development as a self-directed learner I suppose. And giving my dog an outlet for her vocals. Check this one, which also features Genna, though she doesn't sing in this one. Don't blink or you'll miss the big harp break
https://youtu.be/KbN91VgWna0
Last Edited by SuperBee on Sep 03, 2016 3:44 PM
