Just my humble opinion, insisting that I'm not able to play like you:
If you were pleading instead of playing, I'd say that you give too many arguments, meaning: if you play too many notes,most of them lose their importance. Moreover, I think that your backing track, in generally, doesn't appear through your playing and I don't think just about the sound level! I'm all in a sudden thinking that your way of playing would fit well for jazz, but maybe I'm wrong.
Last Edited by on Sep 26, 2012 2:49 AM
I assume you are improvising as you go Ted? If you are I don't know how you come up with so many melody ideas so quickly on the fly. It's where I get stuck, I get a melody going in the first verse and find myself repeating it over and over. It's a bloody hard thing to do and you do it well. Thanks for sharing.
laurent: I'm of the same mind that a player needs to be careful with the number of notes they play less all the ones he actually plays lose emphasis and turn the improvisation into an anonymous blur. On this track I take my cue from jazz guitarists such as Joe Pass and Kenny Burrell and I am not a little influenced by jazz saxophonist Sonny Stitt. The idea is to create phrases where there spaces, pauses in the playing, statements of shorter blues phrases with longer, deeper bends sustained over a bar or two, playing behind the beat, and then creating a sequence of notes that build to a rush until the run stops at the height of it's speed, another pause, a breathing space, and then another variation on the theme the steady backing track provides. Playing fast is an element in my playing I will never lose--46 years of self-teaching makes the stylistic quirk a permanent feature, I'm afraid--but I am trying to make thos bursts of energy contribute to a spontaneous composition, not overwhelm it. I do greatly appreciate your comments.
tookatooka: You might think that you're stuck playing a melodic idea over and over again but others like myself would call it practicing an idea until you have it down cold. Adam has insisted on several of his harmonica instruction videos that the serious student has to practice, practice, practice and after that practice even more. Your love of the instrument and the music it makes will make the effort to learn it seem like no time at all. There is nothing like the feeling of having a break through, where your ideas come together quickly, naturally, creatively. Keep up the good work; I listened to the video you posted on your MBH forum profile and think you have a firm grasp of the basics. Keep on riffin'! ---------- Ted Burke http://youtube.com/watch?v=-VPUDjK-ibQ&feature=relmfu ted-burke.com
When I was in my teens, I had a successful run as a baseball coach. In college, I actually took a baseball class with, IMO, one of the worst baseball coaches you could employ. One thing that he said that really connected with me was the notion of having a plan at the plate. That you pic a spot for strike one, expand that until strike two, and then become defensive with two strikes, etc.
For ten or so years, I've taken that approach with my softball playing and harmonica playing (ok, really, David Barrett preaches the same approach).
Playing for three minutes, IMO, is a way of practicing, but rarely a coherent song. So right off the bat, don't worry about having to carry a song for 3min as most people don't want to hear that anyways.
Think about the song structure, and come up with a plan. If it is a blues, David Barrett's approach to a ABC structure is a perfect start. You have three parts to a 12 bar. You have three choice to make per 12 bar.
If you want to play melodically, that requires repetition of something - riffs, rhythms, note choice - within a 12 bar. I've typed this out before, but you can play the same riff over all three parts, or repeat it twice, or play a variant, etc.
Ok, so assume you have a feel for how to avoid just noodling for a whole jam track. You know you're going to follow some guidelines (like in Juke, for example). Now what do you actually play????
I use what I call anchors. I pick a note and play something off it without thinking...I might start a phrase thinking, "draw 5". As I end the improvised phrase, I start to maybe think of if I am going to repeat it or move on based on feel.
One suggestion I have for guys posting playing over jam tracks is to approach the track as an actual song. Give the audience something to think about other than technique and chops - which ends up being rather ironic in most cases - and tell a story. I hardly ever hear a story, and when I do, it is usually someone copying another player's solo.
I can usually last a minute, but whether it be live, an mp3, or a vid, I get bored pretty quick when someone is just jamming. Having vocals, dynamics, structure, etc all help keep my attention.
Think about what you want people to remember about your performance. There is no wrong answer to that, but it is a very loaded topic.
Do you want them to remember you had a lot of chops? Were technically skilled? An awesome player? Had great tone? A cool riff you played?
I guess ideally, I'd want people to have something melodic to hold onto, or better yet, an emotional reaction to the song - did my playing make a happy song more happy? A sad song more sad?
If you take a solo and no one can relate it to the rest of the song or hum back something you played, you probably lost them. John Popper is someone who screams sheer joy and enthusiasm to - like the rainbow track in Mario Kart, lol. I can't usually scat back much of what he played, but the emotions is very intense. When I listen to Derek Trucks, I can usually scat back everything he played within a line and remember it minutes later.
Another example, would be how melodic Carlos Del Junco plays. He plays totally coherent solos that I can almost predict in my head...very cool. Jason Ricci plays sheets of sound, but the emotional waves are very intense and he is able to use those waves to tell a story.
@HarpNinja. Thanks a lot for your advice and tips. I'll certainly be giving them a try, I like the anchors idea and will use that tomorrow in my practice.
In the past, I've found I can get a bit of melody going and when I want to develop it further in the tune, I very often just throw in a random note and hope it takes me into a new melodical direction. Sometimes it does but often it takes me in a direction which I can't resolve. It's fun but I need to get more control. Hopefully your tips will help. Thanks loads for taking the time to help. It's much appreciated.
Theo: Your solo needs more blow notes. 96 percent of what you play is draw notes. That's like restricting your solo to the white keys on the piano. You're missing half the harp's possibilities. It's possible that you play a 14 blow octave or a 36 blow octave or an extended, vibratoed 9 blow, but if you did, I couldn't find it.
Last Edited by on Sep 26, 2012 7:11 PM
Thanks for the feedback , Adam. I think I understand about needing more blow notes, but I don't follow the rest, ie, 14 blow note,36 blow octave or an extended , vibratoed 9 nine blow. Where are these on a diatonic harmonica? Sorry to be a pain, but could you elaborate a little more? Thanks ----------EDIT:Danny in the post below clarifies your observation here. Thanks again/
Ted Burke http://youtube.com/watch?v=-VPUDjK-ibQ&feature=relmfu ted-burke.com
Last Edited by on Sep 26, 2012 8:47 PM
