Don't think the title gave the full website so this is it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzfi1LazqaU I think I maybe at best INTERMEDIATE what do you guys think, I don't use any bend notes I don't think in the video just drew and blow, I can bend notes apart but I can't play over blows, tongue blocking, or the things like Hakan Ehn on YouTube can do. on that note please give your views. my other video on YouTube is not as good I don't think as this one but will let you decide, the guitar who is a friend of mine I just played along with his video on my TV http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyr7gLTJHq4
Last Edited by on Sep 08, 2011 7:31 AM
There are no paying members, under the video you'll see a box that says "share", click that. Once you do that you'll see a box that says "embed", click that. Then copy and paste all the jiberish into this forum......
Yeah works thank you, so views please thanks what can I do to improve which is a lot I know I could improve on. Lately been working on new ways to use to make different sounds with my throat, getting there :)
Thanks ReedSqueal it's funny you say that them things I can't do like the warbles and vibrato even single notes I end up playing two at the same time I have so much to learn :(
It takes guts to record yourself playing and then especially to post it on a Forum containing Pro and Semi-pro Harping Superstars.
The positives were you had a nice little vibe going there and kept time pretty well throughout and did the best with your current skills.
You know the stuff you've got to start adding to create increased interest. Well done. ---------- Grey Owl YouTube Grey Owl Abstract Photos
Last Edited by on Sep 08, 2011 8:42 AM
The first vid. had a great honkytonk feel to it which fit in fairly well. The good things here are that you do understand the 1-4-5 progression and you kept decent time for the most part. That will serve you well.
The second vid, you have no rooms to play, so you are just playing behind the guitar solo. Not something you really want to do (no guitarist will want to play with you). It can be done, but I would consider it a more advanced and nuanced playing. If you are just working on the chord progressions, etc. to a groove you like, go for it. Otherwise, If you try to do it on a bandstand, defending yourself against a swinging guitar ain't easy with a little harmonica... Try to find some harp friendly backing tracks... there are plenty out there.
Of course adding anything to your repertoire will help. Clean single notes, warbles, and increased blues harp vocabulary (learning whole songs or parts of them anyway) will get you much further ahead.
Keep at it. Anyone can pick up a harp and play, not so many can be good at it... You are on the right track.
---------- Danny
Last Edited by on Sep 08, 2011 9:43 AM
Thanks for your feedback folks I read every message so thanks, on the 2ed video as much as I like the guitar player as stated on my YouTube video I should of used a different track or video, and the bend 2,3,4 I have not looked at that yet so will give that a go. I teach myself how to play only had 1 lesson which helped and may have another soon. Any more ideas will be grate. Some days I can play in a gig and think where did them sounds come from as I have never done them before. The band I am in don't play for money just fun and charity. Mostly due to that fact we only play 4hs every 2 weeks or 4hs a week if there is a gig coming up.
Go easy on the effects, remember they are available for 'enhancing' a performance, rather than the feature. Echo was a bit wild & makes it difficult to appraise...as well as the wet, echo effects tend to re-EQ the source a little.
Keep playing, keep posting & I'm sure you'll get there.
Check out Adams lessons in the "The Store" section of this web page. They're very affordable, generally $7 for both the video and tab sheet, That will get you a few licks to work with. Also, Adam has videos for sale that will help you to learn to bend. Check out youtube also.
Woogieman, posting a video from YouTube is a snap. Just click on the share button under the video. That will open up a box that has some code and some buttons. Ignore the code. You want the Embed button. Press that and some more code will show up. Cut and paste THAT code into your message, and viola!
If you need to post pictures or audio it's actually a little more complicated, but not much. Click on the forum how to page. It's on the main forum page under the creed before the posts start.
Theoretically, you could post a embeded link using the url that you provided, but people would still have to click on it and go to YouTube to see it. Anyway, welcome aboard. I'll give your video a closer listen later. I've got to get set to go out to dinner.
Start practising without a backing track, I can understand a backing track for a solo performance wher you have no band, or for a recording...but it's a good idea to learn to provide your own "bottom", thinking about playing the solo but also thinking about supporting the rhythm, not necessarily with constant vamping but maybe with little phrases to mark time.
Record yourself solo, play it back, can you tap your foot along with it? Do you wander time-wise?
Think about phrasing, as if you are having a conversation, think about a theme, or identity to what you are doing...don't worry too much about repeating yourself, you can always stop when you run out of ideas/motivation & play another tune.
Relying on backing tracks, without thinking about a rythm/theme/identity will ultimately limit your usefulness on stage, you'll need to slot in with the singer's vocal phrasing, not be stepping all over the guitars/other instruments...fitting thinks around a rythmic theme can help in this respect.
Hey Sonny! I thought you sounded OK. I bet you sound more relaxed when the video is not running and you're not under pressure. I saw your May2011 video too and got the impression you have improved quite a bit since then. How long you been playing? Have you had a go at Adams Front Porch Blues video yet?
Good luck to you. It takes courage to put your stuff out like that. Well done. ----------
Sonny, you posted a vid, I thought, in an attempt to get constructive criticism...that's all I intended to give. Take it or leave it. The thing I'm trying to get accross is that playing harmonica may be great fun, but great music (or even just "good" music, there's no shame in being "good"...few ever achieve greatness) often requires the instruments, whatever they may be, to provide a context in that music...rather than the music simply being a vehicle for playing an instrument.
You don't "suck", not at all...it's just after about a minute the video seemed to lack direction, becoming "generic", you played what you played in a solid manner however. It's also difficult to judge your timekeeping with the safety blanket of a backing track.
You asked for critique...I have learned over the years only to offer it when requested (trust me, I used to be a real bastard & revelled in telling everyone what they were "doing wrong" barely before they finished their set...until one time I realised I hurt someone's feelings for no other reason than my own sport), no offence was intended in your case. I only learned by better players telling me where I was going wrong & they rarely waited to be asked for their opinion! Some of them can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best in the world, so apologies if you didn't knock my socks off...it takes a lot to that these days ;-)
Keep at it, no one is born fully formed, we all need a bit of nurturing (one of my most prized 'compliments' was from a player who rarely gives them...he said, "Nice, in 20yrs you might actually have something!" - I decided to take the positive aspect from that, though I'm not sure to this day whether any positivity was actually intended!)...you won't get far if you're too sensitive to my really rather ambivalent critique.
Last Edited by on Sep 09, 2011 3:45 PM
You guys both sound good. I wouldn't know what to suggest other then to practice your blues scales many times a day. Also try to practice headshakes(warbles), hand vibrato, throat vibrato, different effects while jamming so when you record yourself or go to an open mic they can pop out and not be forgotten.
----------
~Ryan
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window." - Steven Wright
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
woogieman.. I don't know how in the world you decided that song was "harmonica blues in A" (thats what it reads) but you are dead on in the key of E, using an A harp in second position. I know, I know, there's always got to be one in the crowd like me. Regards. ---------- www.reverbnation.com/thejoeleebushbluesgroup www.joeleebushshow.com "If you think you can or if you think you can't...you are right"
Last Edited by on Sep 09, 2011 4:24 PM
On the second one (the one in key of F)...run that damn organ player out of town on a rail. I HATE those things cramping up the sound...all you need is a PIANO working with only one hand. Mister Guitar man needs to be tamed also. (by the way he isn't all that good..no matter what HE thinks). They all drown you out..what a shame too. You sound like you have some nice tone. Get rid of those bums and do it all over again..I'd really like to hear you play, man. Regards ---------- www.reverbnation.com/thejoeleebushbluesgroup www.joeleebushshow.com "If you think you can or if you think you can't...you are right"
thanks ill only been playing for 4 years and i can play alone with magic dicks whammer jammer but i can only get the beging of when it not on aslo i can do james cotton rocket 88 pretty good thanks and ill work on my timeing
Nice first post. It's not easy to do. You can tell you are very conscious of the camera. There are some folks here that refuse to post any vids because they freeze or just can't relax - even when they play is successful bands. It Is nerve wracking, but if it doesn't kill you...
You played well enough. Just keep it up, we're all trying to get there. I would like to hear that Whammer Jammer. Can't get enough of that one. ---------- Danny
Come on guys! Bite the bullet and join in BYBO3. If you don't "come out" you may end up playing harp all on your own. For ever. What good is that? You know you want to. Don't you? ----------
Woogieman007 I thought your jam with the backing track sounded pretty good! Glad you shared it, you've got some good tips and I've learned something from those too. I've been working on breathing music for a little over four years now and have posted four vids on youtube myself.
I don't do well with backing tracks, no problem following the chord changes, just can't come up with the riffs just yet. I've went for doing specific songs, figure I'll gradually build some phrases of my own from what I learn from those tunes. Keep post,n and harp'n sounds good!
@woogieman: In that video you're somewhere between Beginner and Advanced Beginner. You're definitely not at the Intermediate level, at least judging--as you've asked us to judge you--from that video. It's not clear to me that your embouchure is solid enough to allow you to make clear, consistent single notes. You say as much yourself: "even single notes I end up playing two at the same time."
You've taken the first step or two. You've got a long way to go. Nothing wrong with that. Every single member of this forum, including me, sounded exactly like you at one point.
@SonnyD: You're somewhat more advanced than woogieman: you've got clear, consistent single notes and you're bending the 4 draw nicely. Good idiotmatic bluesy tone. Your phrasing isn't bad; you've got a decent sense of how to anticipate the downbeat. But 5H is right: if we took away the backing track, could you create a groove of your own and improvise within it? If you could indeed do that, could you play a 12 bar blues so that you played 48 beats--no more, no less--and made us hear the changes? If woogie is somewhere between Beginner and Advanced Beginner, then you are somewhere between Advanced Beginner and Intermediate. I'd have a better sense of where to place you if you turned off the backing track, played by yourself, and demo'd some 2 and 3 draw bends as well as the 4 draw.
Last Edited by on Sep 10, 2011 10:30 AM
Some fair comments so far, yes I should change the videos name to harmonica blues using an A harp or something, Other thing I don't get seen behind the cam due to a silly crush I had on a internet friend and did not wanna show my fatty face, also I see myself as a backing harp player who don't take on solos, some new things I am trying at the moment is making different sounds with my throat, My big problem is I don't play at home if at best only play twice every 2 weeks sometimes. So kind of my own fault with that. I Will start playing more now I joined this site so I can work on things. If I can teach myself things like a boogie rift then I can play about with solos. My main instrument was piano and still is but most peeps talked to me about my harmonica playing in a good way after gigs so I am in two minds.
well i try but im still learn about all the 48 beat and stuff lol also i do try just to go with the beat and don't think its good enough but ill get there i like james cottons style not to technical just good but thanks to all
Last Edited by on Sep 11, 2011 5:28 AM
