I didn't want to go off on a tangent and I thought this subject deserved its own thread. How does one go about deciphering and then replicating licks and musical phrases when it comes to harmonica?
Ever since I started messing around with this instrument this process has been developing and has become easier with time. My overall approach, however, has always been rudimentary.
I began playing first position melodies that were in my little Hohner foldout and the major scale in the middle octave. I soon realized that reading all those numbers that they had printed out actually made it harder for me to play.
Instead I looked at the titles of the songs that were intended to be played and thought about if I already knew the songs. Many of them I did. So I started humming the songs to myself and using that as a check to see if I was playing it correctly on the harmonica. To my surprise, this was a lot easier and I was able to figure out songs that weren't in the book at all!
Fast forward another 15 years and I still rely on this basic approach. Using voice has been the easiest way for me to replicate sounds back that I've heard and internalize them until a time when I can start hashing it out on harmonica. It's almost like a re-purposed version of scat if that makes sense. I then just work my way through in small chunks and build up from there.
So now I'm curious. What methods do others employ? Music theory to rule out possibilities of certain notes? Are you the kind of person that needs to write notation down for visualization? Do you slow things down? Do you relate it to another instrument? Do you have perfect pitch... If you do, don't bother responding :)
I guess I'm very old school when it comes to learning licks. I just play the song over and over until I get it. Usually this involves repeated listenings of a few seconds of a song to get a particular part down. I very rarely learn a song all the way through as I like to put my own spin on things. What I normally do is learn the basic repeating riff (if there is one) and any parts that are majorly important to the song in question. Then I wing the solos and fills to make them my own.
The only notable exception of that in recent years was "Ain't You Trouble" by Gary Primich. His playing on that song was so perfect to me that I had to copy the solo almost note for note.
Last Edited by on Jan 27, 2013 9:59 AM
Ridge, I'm like you. If I can sing it or hum it, I can play it. I usually work something out first , then figure out what position I'm in and what scale it might be using. Then I'll try it in other positions and find the one I like best.
Edit: I also do like Kingley. I usually don't learn note for note, or only start out with the actual tune, then make my own arrangement. ----------
Last Edited by on Jan 27, 2013 10:18 AM
I break each phrase, or even each note down...I don't slow stuff down, CD players and digital media can be stopped at any note you like, learn it in real time & try to put it together with the real time phrasing...learn it & learn humming it to yourself for the "flow". People I know with perfect pitch can be superb musicians, but I haven't seen any direct relationship with those with perfect pitch & outstanding playing skills, it's not a given. You can't rule out notes based on theory 'cause there is always someone who bucks the trend.
When I started playing I had to write everything down, learn very mechanically, but the more you use your ears the better they get, listening is an acquired skill, some do it more naturally than others. I still find myself listening to stuff I thought I knew years agoand hearing more & more in it, as my ear improves.
If you listen a lot to certain players you sometimes get an insight in how they move about on the harp and it's easier to decode moves that are the basis for phrases, or pop up repeatedly.
To play just like someone else is a bit like trying to wear their skin, or adopt their persona...I advocate learning by copying, to build vocabulary & muscle memory, but these days I only really sit down to learn something if the song I'm doing is something widely known that will come under specific scrutiny likea well know instrumental or head,...it's still hard work learning stuff note for note.
It is a process in learning how to listen and slowly increasing your comprehension speed over time.
Learning how to listen is a two fold endeavor.
1. Learning where the notes "live" on your instrument
2. Learning how to "hear" intervals and recognize them.
For #2, ear training is required. For instance, the Star Spangled Banner starts out with "Oh say can you see". Almost all of us have this in our inner ear already. The ear training comes with the understanding that you are hearing the descending intervals of a major diatonic triad (scale degree 5, 3, 1) for the "oh say" part. What follows is an ascending major diatonic triad (3, 5, and 8 - the 8 being an octave up from the tonic, also called 1) for the "can you see" part.
The #1 above would spell out these notes on your instrument of choice (in this case diatonic harmonica) as all exhale notes, with the hole numbers being 6, 5, 4, 5, 6, 7.
As you sink deeper into the understanding of #2, you will learn that the distance between the intervals can be "spelled out" as starting on a 5th scale degree, then minor third down, major third down, major third up, minor third up, and finally the interval of a 4th.
Each interval has a definite distance. This never changes. Learning to "hear the distance" is not as hard as one might fear. As a matter of fact, I am convinced that if "hearing" were considered as important as "seeing" is in our society, kindergarten children can be taught to hear and recognize intervals as easy as they are taught to see and recognize colors.
As #1 and #2 above are pursued, you will be amazed at how the "mysteries of music" become apparent to you over time, one layer at a time.
Eventually you will be able to speed up your cognizant ability to recognize intervals, in essence, increasing your listening speed.
For instance, that Kim Wilson lick is an advanced intermediate speed for comprehension.
As stated above, those that can sing the notes should have an easier time deciphering the mystery. A solid understanding of #1 above definitely helps with a speedy resolution. ---------- The Iceman
Funny you should ask. I've been working on the Allman Brothers' "In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed" using the classic Fillmore East recording. I play it with my band. Spent a couple of months working on it before trying it live, still working on doing it justice.
I have it in Audacity, and have placed markers to split it into sections (head, duane, dickey, keys, etc). I pick the part I'm working on, set to loop play, and off I go.
Sometimes I just play, but mostly I try and listen and replicate the riffs that I hear. There's some incredible stuff in here, and much of it I still can't keep up with. But the exercise of making myself stop and work out a riff until i can play it cleanly, with tone, at speed, has really improved my chops. You only get better by finding stuff you can't play and working on it until you can.
When I play it live, I mostly do my own thing, but I do get a kick out of quoting sections of it in the middle of my solo. I doubt anyone picks up on it but me, but I get a kick out of it.
Right now I'm working on the keyboard solo at 5:45 below. Great stuff, and I need to learn how to do keys parts on harp anyway.
I'll post my own one of these days. Gotta get it right first.
I can play something usually if I can hum it by memory, at least as soon as I figure out the key. I seem to have internalized the intervals in a key well enough, but although I can tell if a key is low medium or high I usually have to take out a few harps to figure it out. I have learned a few cheats though. It seems you can play along with a lot of 50's pop in C, especially if it has piano in it (maybe it's because it's all white keys?) A lot of stuff with horn sections is in Bb, etc.
