Mirco
29 posts
Dec 03, 2013
10:45 PM
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In all sincerity, why do harmonica players practice playing harmonica for YEARS, get real good at it, and then go on the bandstand and spend most of their stage time singing? Harp playing onstage is then relegated to fills and solos.
A lot of great harp players do this. So my question is: would my practice time be better spent working on singing, with a lesser emphasis on harmonica? Shouldn't our practice time reflect what we intend to do in performance? Maybe the practice time should be distributed more evenly between harmonica and vocal work.
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nacoran
7392 posts
Dec 03, 2013
11:20 PM
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I think it depends on your personal goals. I think a lot of harp players don't ever expect to sing.
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BronzeWailer
1173 posts
Dec 03, 2013
11:21 PM
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Good question Mirco. My harp teacher reckons a lot of blues bands are let down by the singing, even though the harp playing might be good. I have been doing probably more practice singing than harping this year (after three years of intensive woodshedding, busking and gigging, mainly with the harp). Being a better singer will help your harping as well, in my opinion.
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jbone
1433 posts
Dec 04, 2013
4:07 AM
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First of all, learning to breathe deeply enough and control your air column will definitely help both vocals and harp playing.
Secondly, it does depend on your goals. If you want to be the harp player only, that's where you focus, if you are primarily a singer you may want to pay more attention to vocals.
For me, when I began this trip 40some years ago, I had no idea where it was leading. I wanted to play harmonica. Some years passed before I saw a need to sing as well. I have had some voice problems lately due to not practicing, exercising, and warming up before I sing. Remember you can replace a reed or a plate or a harp, but you only have the one set of vocal cords!
I may be a bit jaded, but I think I do well with both other than having to rest my voice for some months at this point to allow a polyp to heal up. Technique and delivery wise i seem to get good compliments regularly.
My plan for the moment is to get back to deep breathing exercises, keep playing harp, not sing for a time, and only later when my doc gives me the go-ahead, return to active vocals. With warmups and right volumes.
This all tells me I have been lax in my woodshedding over time. If you want to do well in one or the other, or both, arenas, you will do well to spend time with each depending on your own preference.
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Barley Nectar
201 posts
Dec 04, 2013
7:35 AM
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Been playing 40 yrs also. Seldom sing. My HS music teacher practicly begged me to be in chorus. That was for wimps I thought. Had I only known I would play music on stage, I would have joined.
Pretty tough being a one trick pony around here. No local blues sceen here so vocals would probably get me in a band. I think most bands just want a dab of harp so what Micro says is par. But, at 58 yrs old, who cares. LOL...BN
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rogonzab
425 posts
Dec 04, 2013
7:51 AM
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yeah, many harp player, but only a handfull of singer.
Most of the times, a band cant tell the difference between bob dylan and jason ricci, so a harp player is a generic thing, if you can play you are exactly like the other guy whit a bluesband in his mouth. That is why is hard to get a good band.
Now, if you can sing, you can choose your own band.
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LittleBubba
295 posts
Dec 04, 2013
1:58 PM
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It depends on where your natural ability lies. One observation though: if you go to a blues festival, usually the weaker bands play the earlier slots, and the later you get, the better the singers.
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Frank
3425 posts
Dec 04, 2013
3:15 PM
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If your leading the band as the singer - the sky is the limit...play as little or as much harp as you want.
Point is - if your the singer, you call the shots...
If you want to play 80 bars of music on the harp during the song, you can - if all you want to do is play fills, you can, if you want to take just 1 solo, you can.
As singer, it's your world - let your imagination exercise.
What players are you referring to who are great harpers but sing more then they play harp?
Last Edited by Frank on Dec 04, 2013 3:22 PM
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Mirco
32 posts
Dec 04, 2013
4:33 PM
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Frank, just thinking of recent players I've seen live:
Ronnie Shellist
Rick Estrin
Mark Hummel
Aki Kumar
Most of these guys get up and sing, but the harp seems to take a real backseat. I would hesitate to call them harmonica players, more band leaders or frontmen. Nothing against that.
My overall point is that: shouldn't our practice time reflect closely what we intend to do onstage? Maybe I should speak to some of these guys personally about it next time I'm at a show.
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Frank
3426 posts
Dec 04, 2013
4:44 PM
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Weird, when I see those players - I get the opposite effect...I wonder how the hell can they play so fU*&ing much harmonica in one night. Anyway, yes - rehearse what you plan on showcasing in front of an audience :)
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Mirco
33 posts
Dec 04, 2013
6:46 PM
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I don't disagree with you, Frank. Those guys play a lot of harp on stage.
But... I bet if we examined their practice time and broke it down percentage wise (harp playing vs. singing practice), it would be proportionate to their stage time breakdown (harp vs. singing).
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Jim Rumbaugh
939 posts
Dec 04, 2013
6:53 PM
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Sorry if this is a repeat.
MY opinion.
The song is 30% music 40% singing, 30% presentation.
Good entertainment should have all three. Yes there are exceptions, but to appeal to the largest audience, you need all 3. By adding singing, you've just doubled the amount of value you can add to the song. And if you're a bit of a showman, you can run the whole show.
(hmm... I think I should start a new thread on my 30/40/30 theory :)
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Joe_L
2411 posts
Dec 04, 2013
9:57 PM
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Well, you've got to decide what you want to do. Junior Wells could do a whole show and never put a harp to his lips. He could also play his ass off on the harp. Same with guys like John Nemeth and Tad Robinson.
In retrospect, I wish I had started singing when I started playing the harp. I only started singing about five years ago. There are a number of good reasons to work at singing.
First, you can't play harp all the time.
Second, if you sing more, when you do play harp, it makes more of a statement, if you have the skills to make a statement.
Finally, it just makes you more rounded as an artist.
The good thing is that you can practice singing in places where playing the harp isn't practical, e.g. in traffic. Nothing will mess with your pretty smile than a harmonica in your mouth when the air bag deploys.
A good friend of mine once told me the demand for non-singing, non-band leading harp players is at an all time low. He said, "If you want to play more, you had better start singing." He was right.
Once, I started doing the deed, I got to play with better people, who don't like singing. I got to play songs that I want to play. I got to play more frequently.
Personally, I practice both. These days I work on singing and learning new tunes more than harp playing.
FWIW, Those guys you listed can play their ass off on harp. Estrin plays some amazing harp as a sideman. Hummel has done some incredible playing as a sideman with a multitude of artists. Aki is also a fine accompanist.
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Last Edited by Joe_L on Dec 04, 2013 9:59 PM
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Kingley
3302 posts
Dec 04, 2013
10:32 PM
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Joe L makes some great points and I agree with him.
If you want to get more work and be out playing harmonica more often then learn to sing. It's a common sense decision and a total no brainer. As to practicing. Well why not practice both? Seems pretty obvious to me. If you practice using a focused method and don't just twiddle around, then in just five to ten minutes a day of both you can make great headway in both areas.
Last Edited by Kingley on Dec 04, 2013 10:33 PM
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Frank
3436 posts
Dec 06, 2013
4:03 AM
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The voice is even easier to carry around then the harmonica...so practicing singing is rather simple to do, start with an easy song like this- anyone can sing...it is a matter of discipline, effort and desire :)
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Baker
352 posts
Dec 06, 2013
5:05 AM
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"In all sincerity, why do harmonica players practice playing harmonica for YEARS, get real good at it, and then go on the bandstand and spend most of their stage time singing? Harp playing onstage is then relegated to fills and solos."
I imagine they also practise singing for years too. As far the harmonica being "relegated", I'm not sure that's what's going on. It's a creative decision when and where and how much to play in order to best serve the song. Songs after all are songs so will be focussed around singing. Just because you don't play loads of harmonica in a song doesn't mean that you shouldn't be good at it when you make the decision that the song would benefit from it.
I guess on the how much harp vs how much vocal practise question there are lots to think about.
Is you harp playing good and your singing not so good, or vice versa?
If so concentrate on the weaker one more.
Are you practising to learn new stuff or practising to keep in shape. If you're learning new things you probably want to concentrate more on that. If you're keeping in shape then spend some time focused time everyday on that.
Are you rehearsing your show/set. If you're doing that then you're probably working on what you need to work on to get everything right, just by doing it.
Either way you should at least do some of both. I don't sing but if I don't put some practise time in with the harmonica or guitar every few days at least, I can feel myself slip.
I guess what I mean is I don't think there's any hard fast rules. It's good practise to be able to identify your weaknesses and address them.
Last Edited by Baker on Dec 06, 2013 5:17 AM
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Gravesy
12 posts
Dec 06, 2013
2:06 PM
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Great question!
You will often find many harp players are not necessarily harp players. Many are singers who decide they want to play harmonica. In which case they will practice harmonica a lot more than singing due to the fact they already have the ability, knowledge and skills to stay as good as they are at singing whilst learning to play harmonica convincingly. The same may be said of harmonica players looking to hone their vocal skills.
I have been a rock singer for 17 yrs and have been playing harmonica for a few months after various spells dabbling in the art. As a band that covers Zep, Sabbath, Motorhead etc mixed with some originals here n there I have really enjoyed Rockin' the harp in practice. I'm yet to gig the harmonica. After a break from gigging and full practices I find my voice may lose a bit of strength and stamina so vocal practice is equally important as harp practice. But you will move forward faster with an instrument than your voice. I got tired of being a very bad bedroom guitarist (I don't play gtr in the band) and we love jamming out heavy blues so harmonica felt right for me and boy it sounds good when you gel with a band.
I say practice what you're worst at most but always enjoy your music! \m/
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