A local groups asked me to do some subbing for them. I was invited to play more regularly than originally planned. It is a tough gig for me. In most instances, I am asked to be the organ or bass player regarding what I play. This is a different way of playing harp for me and many of the songs aren't diatonic friendly.
It has been a crash course in music theory for sure! There are a ton of minor tunes that modulate throughout. If I had to solo or play melodies, it would be easy to keep up, but being that most of what I am doing is octaves and chording, I am having to actually learn note layouts beyond a key of C harmonica. In previous groups, people talked to me in intervals and not note names. It let me off easy.
They're really fun guys. I am trying to use a Zoom G5 as they are asking I use the rotary and organ and sub octave very liberally. If I had the money, I'd handle it differently, but oh well.
Some of the modulations tend to be easier to do on a chromatic than on a diatonic, even if you're good with bends and OB's. Doing things more like an organ, probably using tons of double stops and/or chords plus learning bass lines will be a huge help for you, especially getting you to react to things in a more rhythmic fashion rather than just totally melodic and it'll help you how to learn to blend the two together and get you more groove oriented as well. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
