HI Guys, i was at a local harp players birthday bash/jam session last night and wanted to get up but i did'nt know any of the songs being played ( actually to be more accurate ) i recognised them but hav'nt learned em so i could'nt get up and join in the fun so my question is, What would be six great songs to learn that most blues bands would be likely to know?
Blues covers a lot of ground. Six great songs that I know may not crack the list of six great songs by anyone else. I know some good musicians that have never heard a Muddy Waters tune. I know other good musicians who have never heard of Robert Lockwood Jr.
Here is my recommendation:
1. When dealing with unknown (and some known) musicians, I am a huge fan of keeping things simple. If you have to spend time explaining it, I can almost guarantee that something will be lost in the translation. That will create the opportunity for things to get fucked up.
2. Keeping it simple means limited or no breaks. No weird changes. Pick some simple shuffles. Straight 12 bar blues. 1-4-5. If you have to spend time explaining it, it's going to get messed up.
3. If you don't sing, you're at the mercy of the leader. If you don't sing, start singing and start learning how to lead a band.
4. Songs have a beginning, a middle and an end. Learn a couple of beginnings to tunes. Learn an intro to a couple of slow tunes, a couple of mid-tempo tunes and a couple of fast tunes. Learn a few endings. You don't need to learn a lot. (John Lee Williamson ended lots of tunes the same way. Worry about mixing things up when you've got a half dozen tunes down.) Improvise during the middle of the song.
5. When playing Blues, less is more. Try to get away with as little playing as possible. When you play a lot, it will make more of a statement. Keep your solos short and to the point. Learn a couple of them. Know them stone cold.
6. Play to the lowest common denominator. If you aren't playing with a drummer that can play shuffles. don't play shuffles. If you are playing with a guitar player that plays Stevie Ray Vaughan style, play something that fits. Don't try to fit something where it doesn't belong. It'll sound out of place and everyone will look bad. If you don't know what to play, don't play anything. This is where singing and leading a band really comes in handy. You get to call the shots.
If you don't like my advice, watch this video from a guy who travels the world working with pick up bands of varying talent.
Learn scales. if you can play the blues scale, minor pentatonic scale and major pentatonic scale in second position you will be able to get around on a wide variety of material well enough to jam if you know when to use which scale (even if the tune itself is unfamiliar).
Geordie...you don't need to learn songs note for note to be able to play along with them at a jam. I would say I know about 20% of the songs that I play along with at jams and I NEVER play them like the original. Just get up and improvise. That's how I learnt at jams and is how I still play now. Not to say that you shouldn't learn songs but if that's what you exclusively do then you are going to be VERY disappointed when you go to a jam because the other players will never play the song exactly like the original and all that practise you did will be for nothing. Just get up and play what you feel...that's the beauty of the Diatonic harp...most of the notes will fit in when you play along in the same key. Try it at home and you'll see what I mean.
YES! I don't even play note for note the songs I know well enough to play note for note.
EXCEPTION: Certain tunes have an identifiable head or hook that must be played note for note or you're not playing that tune. BUT, if you don't know that part of the tune, just lay out and improv over the rest of it.
Hi guys i just wanted to say thanks for all of advice above with special honors going to joe l, i had a problem posting for a few days due to no anti spam code so i appologise for the delay.
Last Edited by on Jul 12, 2011 1:15 PM
7. When playing blues, you can get away with a lot. Even when playing a well known tune, there are times when you don't have to be close to playing it note for note.
The only time that Little Walter played the released version of Juke was the day it was recorded. Little Walter recorded several versions of that tune. Calling them the same tune is a stretch.
Since then, a lot of people have recorded songs called Juke. I have recorded versions of that song by a variety of artists. There is very little in common between all of the versions other than they are a swing shuffle. The tempo is different. The signature opening phrase is repeated anywhere from two to eight times.
Here's another example, the Willie Dixon classic, I'm Ready. When Muddy Waters recorded the hit version of it, it became probably the most well know example of a stop time blues. Magic Slim does a killer version of it. When he plays it's a driving shuffle that lumps so hard, it'll hit you like a freight train. It keeps on going and rarely stops until the end of the tune.
You've got a lot of opportunity for error or experimentation.
8. Develop your ability to listen and improvise.
Ignore the lists of tunes that you "need to know". It's helpful to have heard those tunes. I've heard all of the recordings on that list. I own darn near all of them. Almost all of them are great tunes.
The problem is that some of them are so well recorded that unless you know which version will be played by the other musician, you'll be screwed. Stormy Monday is an excellent example. It has been recorded a million times. There are several well known versions of the tune. They have somewhat different arrangements. They are different enough that if all of the musicians don't play the same version, they might be playing different tunes. It will sound all messed up. That's not good.
Plus, I've been to Blues clubs all over the U.S. in the past 30 years. I've never (or rarely) heard some of those "well known standard blues tunes" ever performed in a live setting. While knowing them wouldn't exactly hurt, I can almost guarantee that you can go a lifetime without ever hearing some of those tunes performed in a live setting.
Listening and improvising on the fly is a good skill to have and develop.
9. Be willing to adapt to anything. Changes in groove.
Periodically, I sit in with a guitar player that has performed with damn near every legendary Blues performer of the past thirty years. He is a fabulous artist.
He has a tune which he will sing to all sorts of different grooves. Sometimes, it is a simple Chicago-style box shuffle. Sometimes, it isn't a shuffle at all. Sometimes, it will have a surreal 1960's Canned Heat feel to it. Sometimes, the tempo changes. Knowing the title of the tune is meaningless because it's obviously different every time. Quite frequently, you won't even know it is that song until he starts singing.
This sort of thing can give you a headache if you don't learn to adapt. As an accompanist, you never know what to expect. Each song is going to be a thrill ride. You just have to strap in and try to hang on. The only way that you can be prepared for this is sort of thing is to listen to a lot of music and experiment.
The easiest way to avoid this is to learn to sing and lead the band.
10. Be willing to adapt to anything. Changes in the key of the song.
Unless you are playing along to records, song keys of the original recordings are darn near meaningless. Unless it's an instrumental, you'll need to play the tune in whatever key the singer is singing in. That may screw with pre-prepared solos.
11. Accept the inevitable.
There are going to be times when it doesn't come together and you wish you hadn't played. Get as much experience as you can. When you make a mistake, just keep going and don't call attention to it.
