I have noticed that since I have been playing a lot of harp, my blues guitars skills have improved. Harp phrasing translates well to guitar and in my case, makes for much less cluttered style.
It has also improved my ability to go from chord to single note phrases and use of more subtle micro-tonal bends that I hear better thru harp. Kinda neat
Thats cool.I was thinking about the same thing the other day,I played guitar for years with just slow progression,to the point I just about gave up and did set it aside to try to use all my time for harp practice,I did play guitar though on the back burner so I would have something to add harp to,
well after a couple years of really trying hard with the harp ,I relised hey this instrument is just as hard as any and it will take years to learn well,in the mean time i was starting to get back into the guitar,because i have years more spent on trying to learn it.And its my 1st love,
But i started noticing gaps that I had learned on harp such as 1/4/5 and Keys and stuff like that was easier to understand now that I took a look at it all from another instruments view.
Now most my time wood shedding and study courses are towards guitar.I even went from a old acoustic to include a eletric and cigarbox slide even a Dobro resonator,I will still try to learn harp but it is now on the back burner,but I will allways be greatful for the instrument keeping me involed with the process of learning music ---------- Hobostubs
Last Edited by Hobostubs Ashlock on Mar 30, 2013 2:21 PM
In my youth I had a difficult time improvising on trombone, although I was a good chart player. Now I can pick up the bone and play harmonica licks almost effortlessly. I'm not gonna try to figure out the mechanism involved. I just going to enjoy it.
Failing to learn how to play guitar like any of the guitarists I liked at the time--Bloomfield, Hendrix, BB King--drove me to the harmonica. I was fooling around with it in the mid sixties already, but seeing Paul Butterfield in a small Detroit , no age limit folk club (The Chessmate) movtivated me to get serious. My goal , as a sixteen year old harmonica novice,was to play as fiercely and and as fast as my guitar heros. That should explain a lot about the way I play. ---------- Ted Burke http://www.youtube.com/user/TheoBurke?feature=mhee
@ Ted I enjoy your playing and your writing skill. I happened to find your blog when I was checking out some stuff on Buddy Miles. I used to have a snare drum purported to be his. Small world, sometimes
I was playing slide guitar along with harp and they are compatable,yes they influnced each other with me after 44 years they are each other ...
Last Edited by colman on Mar 30, 2013 3:46 PM
I think picking up another instrument forces you to look at things in a fresh way and gives you insights you would never get if you stuck with one instrument. Like FMWoodye, I was never able to improvise on the trombone until I started playing the harp. I am not too good on the dizi or bawu but learning to play a bit expanded my musical knowledge and helped with my main instruments.
Cross training is not just for athletes! As a matter of fact, don't just cross up instruments, try a new sport and see if that helps your playing. I find martial arts and music to be very complementary. The breathing exercises used in the do jang are the same as those on many harmonica instruction videos. Think breathing is not important on a string, keyboard or percussive instrument, you might be surprised. Is your musical timing off a bit, try punching a speed bag or jumping rope and see if it improves. Have trouble following the band, try a bit of sparing, or learn formal dance. It's all related.
@STME58...very insightful. Brass instrument tonguing techniques are influenced and complemented by scat singing, and transferable skills are applied to the harp, i.e., the triple-tongue train routine I do on the harp. Each is a thread in the fabric of a matrix. That's why (if it makes any sense) I hate tabs, because every time I "sound something out" I weave another thread into the matrix. Now,if I could only tap-dance while I play the harp, I'd be destined for stardom.
@FMWoodeye... I agree with you on the tabs, Perhaps it is because I can read music and the tabs lack a lot of information sheet music has. If I know the tune, I don't need the tabs to sound it out, if I don't know the tune, the tabs don't help.
I did find tabs helpful when I was first learning the harp, and I do like harp books that have the full music notation with the tabs underneath, but I prefer music to tabs.
@FMWoodeye... I agree with you on the tabs, Perhaps it is because I can read music and the tabs lack a lot of information sheet music has. If I know the tune, I don't need the tabs to sound it out, if I don't know the tune, the tabs don't help.
I did find tabs helpful when I was first learning the harp, and I do like harp books that have the full music notation with the tabs underneath, but I prefer music to tabs.
Isn't playing harp and using a foot drum a bit like tap dancing and playing harp?
@Goldbrick: Thanks for the shout out and the kind words about my playing and writing. Buddy Miles was not my favorite drummer, but the music he made with John McLaughlin, Hendrix, Carlos Santana and Mike Bloomfield was absolutely killer. He was a solid funk drummer and could drive some incredible music with his straight forward style. Keep rockin'. ---------- Ted Burke http://www.youtube.com/user/TheoBurke?feature=mhee
http://ted-burke.com tburke4@san.rr.co,
Last Edited by TheoBurke on Mar 31, 2013 1:56 PM
i always liked Buddy and as a young drummer lusted after that Flag painted Rogers set he had. I often try to imitate the horn stabs on his funk cuts . And that drum break was one of the first I learned as a drummer
