Danny Starwars
7 posts
Jan 18, 2015
9:14 PM
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Hi; I've recently wanted to go busking but am in the process of finding a guitarist/singer to go along with and in the meantime have been jamming over backing tracks.
The thing is, I don't sing and there's only so much variation I can get from standard blues shuffles and the like. So for the first time today I tried some jamming over a backing track I liked (C harp over G):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cst7_0krjgw
Anyone done a lot of this that can give some tips for how to get better at this? Learning scales help? (I've never really learned scales and sometimes that's been a hurt).
Appreciate any help in this area.
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Joe_L
2558 posts
Jan 18, 2015
9:32 PM
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You should get out and do it. Blues is a very limiting music form.
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Meaux Jeaux
36 posts
Jan 18, 2015
11:45 PM
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"Blues is a very limiting music form."
How so Joe_L, could you please elaborate?
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JInx
955 posts
Jan 19, 2015
12:43 AM
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sounded good to me
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Harmlessonica
16 posts
Jan 19, 2015
2:47 AM
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Danny, you're a lot better than most buskers I've come across. The harmonica can produce a soulful sound, irrespective of music structure or style, as you've proved.
By the way, you have enviably meaty hands! :) I can never get wah-wahs to sound as good as I'd like them to...
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nowmon
3 posts
Jan 19, 2015
4:47 AM
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learning the way of chugging"dit-dit,huh,dat-dat" and on & on.is a great platform to add any other riffing.playing by yourself needs a chugging to carry any melody or licks...mixing this gives you a lot more than just riffing...doit...
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Barley Nectar
607 posts
Jan 19, 2015
6:27 AM
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Do it man, you sound good. I agree that blues is limiting. It will limit the number of people in a bar, rather rapidly...BN
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tookatooka
3724 posts
Jan 19, 2015
8:15 AM
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Danny Starwars said, "there's only so much variation I can get from standard blues shuffles". This is a problem I've encountered too. Maybe someone can run with this problem and explain how we can get more variety into our blues.
Although we have a limited number of notes to play with there must be millions of combinations so why do we get stuck in the rut?
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Komuso
469 posts
Jan 19, 2015
8:44 AM
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You could start with this The Practice of Practice
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Paul Cohen aka Komuso Tokugawa
HarpNinja - Your harmonica Mojo Dojo
Bringing the Boogie to the Bitstream
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Danny Starwars
12 posts
Jan 19, 2015
1:06 PM
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Thanks for your comments guys.
"By the way, you have enviably meaty hands!"
Some of that is the fallout from my brain tumor surgery, leading to a lot of water retention and stuff. But you know, silver lining and all that :D
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Harmlessonica
18 posts
Jan 19, 2015
1:28 PM
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Next time I'll put my harmonica in my mouth instead of my foot! :)
Good luck with the busking, I'm sure you will do great.
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Danny Starwars
13 posts
Jan 19, 2015
1:53 PM
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Ha ha! No problems dude! I'm a cartoonist so there's humor even in brain tumors. I used to show people scans of it and tell them I'd named it Georgia.
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My YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ2_8CnjaiNLcPke4gWQ65A
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WinslowYerxa
761 posts
Jan 19, 2015
2:07 PM
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Lots of non-blues songs can benefit from blulesy harmonica. A lot of country tunes, Rolling Stones and other blues-based rock tunes. When you're busking, it can help to play tunes that people recognize after only a second or two - because often, that's all you have. From the time they first notice or hear you to the time they've gone past may only be a few seconds.
Another thing you can do - purely from the busking aspect - is to really ham it up. Emphatic body movement, big arm swings or dramatic hand moves to your hand cupping activity, grandstanding harmonica tricks that will immediately impress the passersby, that sort of stuff.
From the harmonica point of view, though, learn to play with rhythms. not just chord rhythms, though they're great. Also just the kind of rhythms that sound catchy, whether they happen in a lick or riff, or in repeated chords. These can be rhythms that hunker down in the groove and add good feeling, or rhythms that pop out and get saucy.
Scales are great for your ability to get around on the harmonica, but plenty of the greats show no evidence of ever having formally learned scales.
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Winslow
Check out my blog and other goodies at winslowyerxa.com
Harmonica For Dummies, Second Edition with tons of new stuff
Deepen your playing at the Harmonica Collective
Last Edited by WinslowYerxa on Jan 19, 2015 2:08 PM
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Danny Starwars
16 posts
Jan 19, 2015
4:29 PM
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My YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ2_8CnjaiNLcPke4gWQ65A
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