tookatooka
2723 posts
Feb 19, 2012
2:22 PM
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When I started out with harp my goal was the Sonny Terry accoustic style but now a few years on I am favouring the Little Walter amplified honking style.
What's happening. I haven't achieved the Sonny Terry goal yet and my head is turning towards Little Walter? Maybe the Honk is more easily achieved? But I know it isn't.
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BronzeWailer
405 posts
Feb 19, 2012
2:56 PM
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As long as you are having fun, it doesn't matter, IMHO. So much to learn...
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Greyowlphotoart
882 posts
Feb 19, 2012
3:06 PM
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Nothing wrong with that I'd say.If you are getting bogged down I don't see there's any harm in trying something fresh to rejuvinate and inspire you. It's not as if you are jumping ship after a few months.
Could be just the thing for you and maybe more gear to buy eh, which is always good:) And you can always go back to Sonny if it doesn't work out.
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jodanchudan
524 posts
Feb 19, 2012
3:36 PM
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I don't think it's a problem, tooka. If anything, it'll widen the range of ideas you can draw on.
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waltertore
1993 posts
Feb 19, 2012
4:10 PM
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tookatooka: I started out wanting to sound like SBWII, jimmy reed, sonny terry, but soon got sidetracked by the joy of just playing whatever came out. I was always impressed by players that could copy the big names when I was starting out but today they don't hold my interest at all. I rarely listen to the new stuff that is rehash. If I do it rarely lasts for more than a few seconds and I end up turning them off and putting on the original and go-yeah that is the right way to do it.
Now 40 years down the road I can copy most of the big names good enough to sound somewhat like them. This has happened by playing so many hours of just playing not by any plan. I would let you spirit guide you and forget what you head has charted as the course. IMO all the info availble on the net, lessons, books, are going to keep most from ever finding their own sound and is creating a new generation of cut and paste players that are technically great but have nothing coming out. I am glad I had none of this starting out. Within in it all, if you stay with where your soul not you head guides you, you will end up with your own sound that others may try to copy someday! Walter
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Last Edited by on Feb 19, 2012 4:19 PM
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FMWoodeye
233 posts
Feb 19, 2012
7:51 PM
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I'm with you, Walter. I like to develop things of my own. This results in a lot of square licks, but every once in a while I stumble on something cool just by accident, and it's the closest thing to being a kid on Christmas morning than I've experienced in six decades.
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Keith R
32 posts
Feb 20, 2012
2:31 AM
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Well said Walter - and FMWoodeye, I love the Christmas morning analogy!
Letting the music come to you and flow through you is the best way; as Lester Butler put it in one of his interviews: "The great players weren't trying to copy anybody - they just did it!"
It's a wonderful thing to maintain your enthusiasm for music throughout your life. If you listen to Muddy Waters 'I Just Want To Make Love To You' with Little Walter's stupendous chromatic solo, with the same joy that you felt the first time you heard it, then all is well. But you have to find your own harp 'voice' if you're going to play the blues.
And if you can sing well too, then that's double fun!
Last Edited by on Feb 20, 2012 2:31 AM
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Frank
279 posts
Feb 20, 2012
5:32 AM
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Many of us have only so much time we are willing to devote to practicing and playing the harmonica. Developing our own style should be a priority, and focusing on what, how and who we practice will trigger our inner awareness of what we prefer to play when it comes time to speaking a musical voice... We can play and learn some things of players with different styles, then get back to focusing on the sounds and players we are most interested in figuring out. As you study L. Walter- S. Terry etc. make it a habit to analyze the notes they used when putting together a solo and eventually you'll be able to play what you "hear" with your own ideals guiding you- instead of what you memorized. Also figuring out what made the music tic of the players we like will help in ear training and help us develop some concepts. If it sounds good it is good, and remember it's not how much we need to know,( a million different scales etc.) but being able to understand basic theory thoroughly enough to put it into practice. When it comes time to improvise and as long as we play from our musical strengths we should be able to make a genuine statement instead of rehashing the lasted licks memorized. Extensive head knowledge doesn’t equate to good music, it's being able to utilize the fundamentals with good timing and tone. To answer your question... The things you learned by studying S. Terry will help you venture into L. Walters world of blues and visa-versa – it's all the same donut, just a different shaped donut with different fillings and sprinkles . And if you didn’t reach your goal with S. Terry YET...the lessons you obtained form him will help in your next adventure. It's like an orbit for me – Since I know I don't have time to master all the players I'd love to, when I feel a Players gravitational pull leading me strongly towards their direction, I go with it and sit at their feet till a different player pulls me into their orbit. It's a Huge musical universe and we have only so much time - so what most fulfills my desires and happiness as a harmonica player is a good path to explore and If I did leave a player before learning all I could of or should of, down the line there is a good chance I’ll be orbited back into their part of the universe to finish the lesson!
Last Edited by on Feb 20, 2012 5:37 AM
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tookatooka
2724 posts
Feb 20, 2012
6:00 AM
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Amen! Frank. Thanks all, good stuff again.
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Frank
280 posts
Feb 20, 2012
6:22 AM
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Thanks, Tooka, I tried to keep the BS to a minimum, hahahahahahahaha....I was hoping there was a nugget or two to glean from my patter?
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