I know this has been mentioned before but developing your own style cannot be emphasized enough-though there were better harp players than howlin` wolf and he could have hired rice miller to play harp like he had hubert sumlin as his lead guitarist but the wolf did not play a lot of notes but he made them all count and he is the one I most like to imitate
Last Edited by on Oct 02, 2011 8:33 AM
I get your drift-did not mean I wanted to play like wolf because that bar is too high what I meant is to not play a lot of notes but make them all count-I could never be a flash thats just not me
wolf definitely didn't need a lot of bells and whistles. he was very much his own man and knew exactly what he wanted to do musically. as far as it goes he could have learned much more from sbII but i'd say he learned all he needed and wanted.
i've never had the skill-admittedly because i never have been a good student- to go note for note on any of my heroes. rather i have been inspired, and managed to stumble into some of what those icons were doing, and find my way to incorporate some of that into my own playing.
there have been times when someone has said, little walter, sbII, carey bell, show in my playing. a much bigger compliment to me is, you sound really great but i couldn't identify your influences all the way. that to me means i'm finding new ways to apply what i know.
t the end of the day i would much prefer to be remembered as having my own style rather than "he sounded just like _________ ______! ---------- http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
oldwailer It's not completely true. I know bunches of very good musicians who finished jazz conservatories, they can play any tempo any chord progressions, sight read music, imitate great player's styles. But they don't have their own style and sound despite they practiced all possible styles. While I there's some great players, who don't have a great technique, can't sight read, follow chord progression, but they have so prominent style. With all respects to both JJ Milteau has much prominent style than Sandy Weltman, IMO, while Sandy has triple better technique and tone, but JJ is more interesting for me, just the matter of taste. ---------- Excuse my bad English. Click on my photo or my username for my music.
if you look at it as a language,learn licks as words and build up your vocabulary and start to speak the language then start singing it or even become a poet.jazz,blues its all the same speak,some come from the street,others out of a book and others schooled. assimilation is part of the prossess,you know all the great players spent woodshed time learning licks off their favorite and boing! they developed their own style...do it to it...
I always thought the heading on my tombstone would read much better as "Here lies The Iceman. He had a unique sound" rather than "Here lies The Iceman. He really sounded a lot like Little Walter" ---------- The Iceman
I think not listening to other harmonica players is a good way to develop your own sound. If you don't have a point of reference in said instrument, it is hard to to play like someone else, lol.
That doesn't mean learning from others, including harp players is bad at all...but if you want to have a sound that is totally your own, that is the most logical approach. That isn't to say it is a good idea or not.
Personally, I'd wager the best way to sound "unique" is to copy people who aren't widely known and put your own spin on it. Otherwise, learn technique and theory and spend a lot of time jamming/noodling. In that way, you know you're playing the "right" things, but how you construct that is original to an extent.
Wolf is a perfect storm of things that make him the Wolf. He was so amazing!
I firmly believe too many harp players tend to ONLY listen to harp players and that's a HUGE mistake because many of the very best had other sources beyond the harmonica to learn from. LW is a perfect example of this because he not only listened to harp players like both SBW's and BW, but also to TONS of horn players, especialluy big band jazz and jump blues and just in his instrumental Roller Coaster, many of those lines are heavily influenced by Illinois Jacquet.
To get your own style, you have to experiment A LOT, and not be afraid of failure because success comes after failures by the truckload.
I also listen to horn players, guitar players, keyboard players as well as vocalists (scat singers phrase more like horns).
Part of the way is learning the cliches and then messing with it in different ways, positions, etc., to find something uniquely different, but at the same time, making sure that what you do fits in PROPERLY within the context of the GROOVE AND FEEL, plus also properly expressing the MOOD of a piece.
Or even think of what Hound Dog Taylor wanted written on his gravestone as his epitah: "He couldn't play s**t, but he sure made it sound good!" ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Interesting comments. My favorite performers are also my biggest influences......Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), SRV, James Cotton, and Jason Ricci.
Everyone has their own voice and style. If another harp player had the same influences listed that I do, he would still probably sound a lot different than me.
On the other hand, what I like about these four is that they do have their own distinct voice. Yes, SRV was strongly influenced by Albert King, but a hardcore listener can hear the differences.
I would love if my headstone said he sounded like a cross between Cotton and Ricci....but my wife says it will say "Here lies Duane...he thought he had the right of way".
Last Edited by on Oct 03, 2011 8:45 AM
I think the real question should be are you Comfortable and Confident with your harmonica playing and can you convey that to the listener of your music. If not - Then whether its original or not is well... pretty much pointless!
For better or for worse, I regularly get comments from the audience and other musicians to the effect that "You have a different style." I think it's usually meant as a compliment and, obviously, this makes me feel pretty good. FWIW, I've never played my harmonica like it is a harmonica. I've always listened more to other instruments than to other harp players and tried to cop licks and lines from sax, keyboard and sometimes guitar or trumpet more than harp. Although I do occasionally cop interesting licks from harmonica recordings, I spend very little time and effort trying to pick up harmonica specific techniques from harmonica recordings. Frankly, I think there's a whole lot of players who do that stuff better than I do. I also think that there's a whole lot of players who do that stuff. If anyone wanted to put something about my harp playing on my tombstone, I would like it to be something like, "He played with real emotion." I like to be able to play what i feel. That's the reason i practice--to be able to play what I feel. I'm not interested in copying or imitating other players even though i may listen to them for ideas.
Last Edited by on Oct 03, 2011 9:16 AM
We all are influenced by others playing, different instruments, etc. No one lives in a musical vacum. If one is really driven to play their music, which means no concerns as to the consequences of where it takes you with your life, a sound will develop that is easily identified with you. Many people claim to get to this place but in reality few people really ever get to this place because most are conciously thinking about sounding like someone, pleasing someone/concerns with acceptance, fear of making mistakes, trying to control thier music, not willing to submit blindly to the music and where it will take you, making it, etc. What they do learn is a cut and paste of others stuff while their unique voice remains locked up inside.
I can't tell you how many well know musicians I know that are not happy with what they play. It pays so they play it, but complain they can't play what they really want to play. I always have commented - why not play what you really want? They respond- because it doesn't pay. I respond - how can you not play what you want? They often have responded- but you are different. I respond - how am I different? Things usually digress into them saying hopefully someday they will play what they want to. These are the guys that most new players look up to and emulate. They not only emulate their approach to playing the actual instruments, but the soul level stuff as well. This has helped create an industry of cookie cutter musicians. The music industry detests one playing just what they want. It is about control and one can't control someone who is doing exactly what they want to do. So, if one is going to make it, even on the small club level, they will be challenged to deviate from exactly what they want to do. What would the musical soundscape sound like if the top players did exactly what they wanted???? IMO it would be so different than what we have now it would be shocking. It would also trickle down to the new and part time players. The whole scene would be so different it probably would scare most people playing today because they really don't know what they really want to play... Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
You know, on the other hand, there's also something to be said for pandering to the audience. One harp player i know does an excellent rendition of "Whammer Jammer" playing a note-for-note copy of the original. There's absolutely nothing original about his interpretation, but he does a very good imitation of what Magic Dick played. Brings the house down with cheers and applause every time. To me, it's boring and uninspired, but the audiences love it.
I think you can learn some cool licks from listening to great Hammond B-3 players... I have.
Also, people have always labeled me as country/jazz style (I'm definitely not jazz - wish I was), however, I listen to this style of music more than anything. Yes, this is gospel music, but I love the way the Glenn Kaiser Band mixes things up. Playing along to the songs on this album will force you to play in several positions on one harp, and to use the 5, 6 & 7 overbends often, especially to copy guitar licks.
Jamming along with CD's form this band have really helped me develop my playing. Glenn plays some harp, but for the most part harp is absent on most of their music.
And I like this one from his prior band just cause it's in Eb and has cool piano... LOL...
After mastering the basics and with some work, each and every one of us develop our own signature or style. No two of us play exactly alike, and that is a good thing. I try to listen to those I play with and let what's deep inside come out naturally, and to date it's been a wonderful ride. Go for it!
Learning to play pre-written material is part of regular music education, especially in the early years. I presume that gets you familiar with moving around the harmonica, playing in different positions, being able to figure out what notes are being played on a recording, etc. So when does trying to become your own sound become the focus? After 5, 10 years? Certainly if you can't pick apart and play what Slim Harpo is doing you can't pick apart and play what someone on some other instrument in a more complex genre is doing.
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~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)
