Just starting to get (listening to) the hang of chord changes in the 12 bar and now trying to get specific with sets of riffs/patterns to play with the specific chord changes.
Not sure why this aspect of the learning curve is so challenging.. but it is!
I almost wish at this point, I hadn't muscle-memory'd so much noodling!
Edit: I forgot to mention that I am familiar with the blues scale, up and down, with bends, but have not really become familiar with breaking it apart for specific iv & v chords ---------- Go ahead and play the blues if it'll make you happy. -Dan Castellaneta
Last Edited by on Mar 30, 2011 9:32 AM
Buy some Jimmy Reed recordings and listen to them over and over and over again. Listen to them until you can feel them. Play what Jimmy Reed plays. His playing is simple enough to learn.
jon gindick (as well as adam of course!) does a great job with this on several utube videos. because he also plays guitar it's easy to hear his chord changes on harp & guitar.
one suggestion; put down the harp, listen to a 1-4-5 song and just try to hold-up the correct finger(s) that matches the chord. jimmy reed's a great idea but almost any bluesman should do - 'cept john lee hooker - he'll get you all messed up! ---------- ~Banned in Boston!
@ Loe-L I started getting some Jimmy Reed stuff. Great suggestion.
@ Barry_C Another great suggestion!! I was kind of already doing that in my head, but holding up fingers is perfect.
But overall I think I am getting the idea of the concept, it's just actually -playing- the proper sequence/notes on the harp that I need to get. Gindick stuff is right on target.. so I guess I need to keep it simple until I get the draw/blow/draw stuff in the correct place in the chord changes.
---------- Go ahead and play the blues if it'll make you happy. -Dan Castellaneta
The reason why I suggest Jimmy Reed is that the changes are super obvious to hear with two guitars and drums. You can hear the three pieces and there isn't a ton of other stuff happening. It's as simple as can be. The groove is simple. The guitar playing is simple. The drum playing is simple. The harp playing is simple.
Since, there isn't a tremendous amount of stuff going on, you can easily pick the recordings apart. You can listen to the drummer and learn what is commonly played just before the chords change. Eddie Taylor and Earl Phillips were like human metronomes. You can almost set a watch by them. Their time was that good!
Miles - when Jimmy Reed is workinng the high register of the harp, he is playing in first position usually in the key of A. Pickup a D harp and start playing in second position.
