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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > what's your goals ?
what's your goals ?
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mastercaster
21 posts
Jul 22, 2013
9:13 PM
When I first started trying to play harp in about 1972 , my goals were much different than they are today ... just wanted to get 'that' tone & phrasing ... and then ... get onstage ....

What I found over time, after developing enough to perform as a sideman .. just being a good enough harp sideman was not enough .. not nearly enough to make me satisfied with my performances ..

Vocals entered into the equation ...

When we hear good/great blues harp players ... imo 85% sing as well ... there are a few that get by/ working - without singing .. but , not many ...

I'll never be a great 'singer', but , good enough where the listeners aren't boooooing me off the bandstand ... thank the powers that be ! .. he he

my thoughts are that playing harmonica lends itself to singing .. we use basically the same breathing , muscles & technics , phrasing etc ...

So for me now , improving my playing is still important ... but ... maybe more so ... improving my singing / story telling takes almost the same priority ...

Developing some writing skills would be cool too .. but not likely ...

What about you ?

Cheers

Last Edited by mastercaster on Jul 22, 2013 9:14 PM
Jehosaphat
509 posts
Jul 22, 2013
10:02 PM
Have to totally agree with you on the singing and how important it is for a harp player who wants to gig.
Lets face it for most bands having a guy on the payroll 'just' to play harp is an expensive luxury..a 4 way split becomes 5 way= less beer/gear money.
Singing is a great asset for any harp player,in fact at one level i'd put it as more important than harp skills.
So I guess i'm into trying to sing as my next goal.
(I croaked out a couple a few weeks ago and no one actually left the bar,so there's hope)^
FMWoodeye
762 posts
Jul 22, 2013
10:26 PM
Lemme pile on. I not only started singing more but also resurrected the trombone I had forsaken for decades, and I'm also working on my trumpet playing again. So instead of trying to shoehorn the harp into songs that aren't harp friendly, I find that a horn fits in nicely
in a band with a diversified repertoire, i.e., Motown, Joe Cocker,etc.
Gnarly
645 posts
Jul 22, 2013
11:24 PM
My perspective is different than most here, I sang and played guitar professionally for decades before trying to bring the harmonica onstage.
My goal at this point is to be able to play harp as effortlessly as guitar. Chromatic especially!
If I don't achieve my goal, I will still be happy. Harp is a cool companion!
jbone
1307 posts
Jul 23, 2013
4:34 AM
I play passably well, sing ok if I remember where to sing from. I have written some decent songs. Recorded or helped record a few cd's. At this point getting out and gigging locally and working on the next cd seems to be plenty.
In my 30's I was really just getting started although I had messed with harmonica for a couple of decades on and off by then. In my 40's I sort of caught fire for a few years and into the '00's I was fairly driven to "make it" whatever that means. Get noticed, open for bigger acts, maybe tour, play a lot of dates, actually make a living with music.
I'm 58 and getting a bit worn down. From what I'm told the road life is not easy even for the younger musicians.
Jolene and I have a sort of compromise solution: In a few years we are hitting the road in an rv and plan to visit different areas, play there until they kick us out, and go on up the road. We will be writing new stuff as we go and seeing a good part of the country as well. North in the summer and south in the winter.
Catch salmon in the northwest and smallmouth bass here and there, catfish in the south. Maybe some beach fishing here and there. Breathe all the different air we can for our later years. Play blues and roots until we physically can't any more.

Not a bad goal I'd say!
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woogieman007
20 posts
Jul 23, 2013
10:10 AM
For me it was tong blocking chords for years I was moaning because YouTube videos who say this is what should happen but how do you shape the tong, but after trying it I did my first only 2 weeks ago, singer wise I don't think any singing teacher in the world can teach me to sing :P but you nether know. Also learning how to bend a note with control that I need to work on a lot.
rogonzab
353 posts
Jul 23, 2013
10:47 AM
My goals:

- Play TB Dennis-Gruenling-Nic-Clark style
- Play whit a stompbox on the street (Yes, like Adam Gussow)
- I want a band to play, but just for the fun not for the gigs. I want to play, not to have another job.


I hope that some day I can do all 3, but if I can do just one I would be happy.
wolfkristiansen
192 posts
Jul 23, 2013
10:55 AM
I quit singing decades ago when I saw someone grimacing as I sang. I got the message.

I agree, though, if you can sing and play harp, you should. Even backup harmony vocals can add a nice touch to many a song.

For me, though, as a non-singer,I have these goals every time I play; listed in order of importance:

1. Help the singer convey the mood/message of the song.
2. Touch people emotionally through my harp
3. Get them dancing! Nothing like a full dance floor to elevate the spirits of the audience AND the band.

Cheers,

wolf kristiansen
nacoran
6965 posts
Jul 23, 2013
11:22 AM
Right now, I just wish we could get solid recordings of all our stuff. We do some track recording, but we haven't mastered the mix out yet, and the non-tracked stuff always has some mistake on it that drives us nuts. My goal now, I guess, is to get us sounding consistent. That includes, for one thing, me getting my vocals and harp parts to blend better (I play much louder than I can sing).


(This one was done with one mic, one track... right after this, I come in on vocal way too low in the mix).

(Warning, the first one is kind of loud)

(This one is tracked. I need to fix the harp track. The LLF does something sort of like a popped p when you try to get it going sometimes. I'm almost happy with this one. I can't get anything else to sound anywhere close to being that balanced (and that still needs some work).


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Last Edited by nacoran on Jul 23, 2013 11:35 AM
Rgsccr
186 posts
Jul 23, 2013
11:39 AM
Good thread - thanks for starting it mastercaster. Not really sure if I have any clearly defined goals other than to keep getting better. I've improved more in the past four years than in the previous thirty+ (not that hard to do when you are really bad). Now I am able to play well enough at good jams that the better musicians are willing to play with me. I wouldn't mind being in a band when I get older (I'm only 62 1/2), but there is no way that I will ever sing unless it's time to clear the bar. So I guess I will have to try to be one hell of a harp player. Slightly more seriously, what I am trying to get better at is constructing solos and using more of the harp - not just the bottom six holes. Also, playing some first position - like most blues guys, I play mostly second and some third, but first position I have a tougher time with generally unless it's Jimmy Reed high stuff.
mastercaster
22 posts
Jul 23, 2013
7:52 PM
@ jbone:

Ya man .. good life to combine fishing and 'touring' : ) fished salmon & steelhead trout in the pacific nw for years .. steelhead trout is really where it's at .. for me , salmon fishing the rivers is some of the hardest catching there is in fresh water ... they stop eating when they enter the rivers .. very trick tech. to hookup .. took me years to master .. I'm a saltwater sport fishing guide in the tropics now ..

Country music was what sold back in mid to late 80's in the PNW .. here's one from my band Iron Mule circa 1988'ish , that harp work makes me cringe when i hear it now, no worries that was long ago : ) ... got to adapt , love blues , but a hard sell in those days .. ended up playing allot of country swing, bar/dance music etc ... now - blues, old R&R , some swing ..... all cover songs .....



btw that's our gifted bandleader/guitar on lead vocals with the rest of us stacking the harmonies ...... he could play any instrument on the bandstand even a bit of harp ... and knew over 300 tunes ... bummer was .. booze , drugs and depression got him ... being a full time musician .. not easy even for the most talented folks ...

Tight lines & : ) !

@ Rgsccr - Thanks ! Keeping on getting better is a goal I think we never stop trying to achieve ! By the time we reach our primary goal at the time .. there is always something more to aspire too ... the more we know , the more we realize we don't know : )

Cheers

Last Edited by mastercaster on Jul 23, 2013 9:09 PM
capnj
127 posts
Jul 23, 2013
8:33 PM
Primary goal is singing number 1,blowing the harp to everything I hear,which is the way I practice.I have little discipline to go note for note,but that is me,so I let feeling,and a good ear takeover,really have developed catching a melody line,after one or two listenings of most songs,or finding the hook playing the groove or hook.Since most live music venues don't pay anymore than they did in the 70's,of course its tougher being a sideman.

I will never be a singer,just a vocalist that stays in pitch,able to relate lyrics, storytelling that is audibly understandable.Have heard some great voices,but their diction sucks,can't pick out the words,muddy and real mushy.Jimi Lee quote HCH-12,up your value 3 times by being able to vocalise.

Love those country blues JBone,Mastercaster,music and fishing what a way to go,I'm there,it's what I love.A must to change positions,working on that with dedication.Never lose your passion.


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