what are your turn offs with harmonica players mine are 1)wrong key 2)no soul 3)too too too long with no stop and go 4)const. one note for the whole song 5)can keep up there all over the place
For me; too much loud is a deal breaker. As a listener and a player.
It's hard for me, I have trouble playing softly for some reason.
Oh and the other thing is "tune-up". At my level, most of the guys I play with don't understand that peoples got to tune up together.
Last Edited by on Aug 15, 2011 11:08 AM
More or less the same thing that shanester said: too many harp players just don't seem to realise that you don't have to make noise all of the time. They don't seem to realise that when they're not soloing their job is to just add a little to the mix. Sometimes, that's a lot more effective if you just stay quite. Think about a symphony orchestra: they don't all play at the same time all of the time.
Also, I'm with Buzadero over the hats and dark glasses thing. ---------- YouTube SlimHarpMick
...and also, don't let one of them use a swiss silver polish rag to re luster your old GM. Taste's awful, ruined. Us novice harp tinkerers, we don't know what they are doing.
Last Edited by on Aug 15, 2011 12:36 PM
@Buzadero- Aww damn, here I was just thinking about going out and buying fedora or something because I thought you had to have one to play blues harmonica (at least around my parts). ---------- Brad
"Aww damn, here I was just thinking about going out and buying fedora or something because I thought you had to have one to play blues harmonica (at least around my parts)."
Don't let me stop you. In fact, I recommend garnishing it with a full length peacock feather.
---------- ~Buzadero Underwater Janitor, Patriot
Last Edited by on Aug 15, 2011 1:38 PM
Haha. I have been wondering if I could pull off a hat but now that you mention it I'm certain that if I wore one with a peacock feather I'd definitely be pullin' all the ladies. ---------- Brad
Harmonica players who smile and grin and act like friends and then come around later and tell the man at the gig how "they will do it for less money". And how they have a "mailing list of 2976 fans in the local area". ---------- Democracy==> 2 wolves and a sheep voting on what is for dinner. Liberty==> A well armed sheep contesting the outcome of that vote.
i have to agree with the shitty tone remarks. The worst part about it is that it pierces. I might be in a bar with the radio playing, and I can barely make out any of it, but as soon as a harp player with shitty tone comes on, it pierces through everything, and I'm stuck with it for the next three minutes at least. Like nails on a chalkboard.
Last Edited by on Aug 15, 2011 3:47 PM
Some random guy (clothing shop owner) gave me a new necktie and straw hat ("100% Napural Spraw" according to the label) when I was busking yesterday. Luckily there was no feather. He also gave me a tip so i had to wear the stuff, at least till he was out of sight... I plan to regift it to my daughter's boyfriend.
what about the blues brothers look ?, y'know , black suit black tie , trilby and shades ! thre 's one local should i say harp player i know , always goes to other peoples gigs in the hope of getting up and squawking a solo out with absolutely no idea of where the song is ,going , just attacking the thing like he's trying to kill a mouse with his bare teeth ! we had one guy get up and play at a gig , no idea who he was ? we were half way through playing howling for my darlin' , my other guitarist had started his solo , and this guy just tramples all over it , i step back with a look of wtf! then when i go to sing he then tries to re-invade on my vocal mic , i'm pointing to it and saying i've got to bloody sing now ! and after all he wasn't even that good , and just played the few techniques he knew over and over again . ah shitty tone ? yes ,most of the early british blues bands that have already been noted , and as far as kieth Relf , well having a chronic asthmatic try and play the harp is like asking a bulldog to race with greyhounds !
Last Edited by on Aug 15, 2011 6:06 PM
hey - check out the mic Billy Branch is playing in atty1chgo's video above....
My favorite peeves?
1) Gussing 2) Walking up to the vocal mic, hand holding it and making everyone's ears bleed 3) Gussing 4) Not knowing where they are in a simple I-IV-V 5) Gussing 6) Playing the wrong harp and not knowing it until about 2 bars before the end of the tune 7) Gussing 8) Use my mic and amp without asking first 9) Gussing 10) soloing over other peoples' solos instead of comping or laying out ---------- /Greg
I sure hope you're jiving when talking about that Christelle lady. In my opinion, that woman can play hell out of that 10 hole piece of junk. She is marvelous!
"gussing" is when a band or musician is playing a gig, and a guy in the audience takes out a harp and starts playing along. Why it's called "gussing" beats me. Maybe it's the catch all name the cool musos figured the guy must be named to act like such a dork (with apologies to all actual Gusses).
I once had a guy "guss" me at a band rehearsal. Damnedest thing.....I had to set him straight of course.
Last Edited by on Aug 16, 2011 7:29 AM
The story and the moniker originated with Barry Bean. There was the initial post about the experience and then about 2 months later the formal proposal for a coinage. By then it had already been used as a verb. It is an extremely entrenched term. It has the advantage of being organic. fjm
From: "Barry B. Bean" Date: Mon, 18 Mar 96 09:16:19 EST Subject: Gig notes
I broke a cardinal rule this weekend. I let a harp player I'd never heard walk up in mid-set and gave him a mic.
Now you'd assume that someone walking up and asking to sit in wants to play the same sort of music the band is already playing, right? You'd assume that you could just launch into the next song on the set list and simply hand the solos over to the guy sitting in, right?
Whoah, nellie!
My man Gus (a mountain of a man, complete with with crewcut and gravelly voice) walks onto the stage, whips out some sort of a chord harp and says "Oh Suzanna, boys!" After 3 or 4 verses of oh Suzanna, we thank him profusely and start to vamp on the next song (Further on up the road). Before we can get into it, Gus announces that his next number will be You are My Sunshine. Again, we thank him and try to start our next song, but Gus isn't leaving. He says "one more boys!" and launches into Blue Eyes Cryin' In the Rain. Finally he leaves the stage and we gat back on with the show.
So its back to the old "audition during break" rule for us. Sheesh.
BBB - B.B. Bean - Have horn. Will travel.
From: "Barry B. Bean" Date: Thu, 16 May 96 18:29:32 -0500
I think maybe we should coin an expression here. Gus, like Bogart could serve as both a noun and a verb:
Gus: (gus) N. 1) An amateur harmonica player who forces professional musicians to accompany him in inappropriate situations. 2) A visiting musician (see: sit-in) who does not leave the bandstand at the appropriate time. 3) A musician whose skills are substantially below those of the other musicians onstage with him. Ex.: Don't look now, but there's a Gus at 3 o'clock. V. 1) To force one's way into a musical performance against the wishes of the scehduled performers. 2) To remain onstage for longer than appropriate when asked to accompany previously scheduled musicians. Ex.: Primich was great last night but some old codger Gussed his way onstage and played Oh Suzannah. - B.B. Bean - Have horn. Will travel.
It's called "Gussing," is it? Hmmmm. I've always heard it called "Heuming." Occasionally it's called "Todding." Once I even heard it called "Making like a Ninja."
I have a few standard rules. Rule 1. I know that a real player is NOT going to ask to sit in, I will ask him. Therefore, anyone asking gets referred to rule 2. Rule 2. You may sit in, AFTER you put $25 into the tip jar. This buys you 2 songs and 2 only. If you want to do "Stormy Monday" the ante just went up to $50 into the tip jar. Rule 3. Refer back to Rule 1.
harp players who show how little they know with the non stop notes they blow and suck. and blues players who think chicago blues is the only harp style and they have a shitty tone...
60 year old men, who assume that, just because theyre 60, that they are an old pro at the harmonica... all the while they just do the same three licks over and over and over again.... someone posted a vid of Jason Ricci somewhere of him all but booting a guy in the face for playing harp in the crowd... ---------- Kyzer's Travels Kyzer's Artwork "Music in the soul can be heard by the universe." - Lao Tzu
Kyser Sosa said : "60 year old men, who assume that, just because theyre 60, that they are an old pro at the harmonica... all the while they just do the same three licks over and over and over again.... someone posted a vid of Jason Ricci somewhere of him all but booting a guy in the face for playing harp in the crowd."
I couldn't say better than you did....You're the man
---------- Never try to be as good as someone else, succeed to be the best player you can be!
oH man, I went to see James Cotton way back in the mid 90's ....in NYC a new blues club on the lower west side. Cotton was killing it...unbelievable showman sound band just great. Some asshole gussed himself up on the stage...i couldn't believe it!
What is with that? He was playing along in the audience as well
ah a Gus , i suppose that's what i had at that gig then ? din't knw there was a name for it ? if i go to see agig , ven if its a friens band , i NEVER take any harps ,guitars with me , unless they specifically ask me to join them , otherwise i would rather just enjoy the show and have a beers or few and lend my support .
JoeLeeBush said, "I sure hope you're jiving when talking about that Christelle lady. In my opinion, that woman can play hell out of that 10 hole piece of junk. She is marvelous!"
Joe: Cristal Lecter IS Cristelle Berthon!! :D (I don't know if you knew this or if you were kidding her back.)
Last Edited by on Aug 16, 2011 5:56 PM
Fedora and Sunglasses. Total turn-off..would never do in front of a live audience.
Shirt unbuttoned half way down trying to look sexy.....oh .... earrings and jewelry, they belong in the box at home with the hat and sunglasses...and please...tattoos are fine as long as you keep them covered up.
and those fancy painted polished custom mics...what are you trying to say?
gyrating, moving, and trying to feel the music...be very still...you play better if you use ONLY the muscles required to play.
Long hair...you guys don't want to look like a girl do you?
Hawaiian shirts...please only in Hawaii.
Wait a minute?? What doea this crap have to do with the music I hear or play? Oh right, some folks think image and appearance are everything. The music is secondary. Gotcha!
I hate musicians who look like they just got through cutting grass and hopping on stage. If you are on stage, you are the entertainment, period. You are the show. Dress the part, more important, dress the way people expect you to look. I hate gussing. Its happened too many times to me. I have become a pro at bouncing too.
