Last week I was invited to a show, in which all the money of the tickets will be send to a harp player that has cancer (so sad...). So, I go for it and ask my favorite guitar player in Chile to play whit me a few tunes. He said yes, so we talk about the songs, and we decided to play two songs, one of which is a Jimmy Reed song, Caress me Baby.
I haven't study that kind of playing before, but I said yes anyway. We rehearsal for an hour a few days before the show. The day came and I was nervous, it was unfamiliar territory and it was the first time that I played in the spotlight (I had played many gigs, but always as a side man, this show was for a harp player, so all the atention was on my playing as a tribute to him).
When a was in the stage a was so nervous because the music in my head was so different that the music in the PA system., so I suck.
Is OK, I should have practiced more first position, or I should played a different tune. After the show, I suffer a bad case of "post-stage depression" but now is OK, I learned a lot from the experience.
So, form now on, I am going to practice more songs instead of scales or techniques.
---------- Sorry for any misspell, english is not my first language.
Don't feel too bad, I thought it was ok. Not great, no, but ok. Playing a not-too-familiar-position in front of a paying audience would probably have sent me practicing kind of hard, though :) . ---------- Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
I liked what you did. Yes, you could've braved a low end first position lick or two, but Jimmy Reed harp is that high lonesome sound mostly, and you did that convincingly. I think you supported the song very well.
Your solo was a little tentative, but given the duration, worked just fine.
But yeah, first position takes some work to become good at, for sure.
You sounded fine. I will say that laying out after the intro is really important here. When not to play is really hard sometimes, especially when we're anxious about what to do. The key so often is that we really do know what to do but step on the spaces and don't leave room for when it's right. This next version of trying to say this probably won't be any clearer but it's the one I like: It's not what you do as much as when you don't do it. There is a truly fine application for this concept but it also works for music.
Not terrible at all. You have soul. If you don't get out there and expose yourself to the elements, you'll never become a seasoned relaxed player, with decent chops, with something unique and soulful to say. It took me a long time to like my playing and singing. Start forming your own band. Learn to sing, and step up. Rather than step back. You will progress quickly. I would have been very nervous too. I know exactly what you were going through. It's healthy.
I've never played out after 8 yrs, perhaps I'm a perfectionist or sh1t scared of being just terrible, some parts were good some parts not too good, you needed more practice to get things right. Well done considering your limited practice session :)..Check Walter Torres stuff he plays high end with a feel that is spontaneous with many Jimmy Reed feelings.
Don't beat yourself up too much...it wasn't bad at all! But I personally admire a little self-criticism. Hey, is it just me or is this Jimmy Reed high end 1st position stuff really hard to pull off as an accompanist? Reed himself just played intro stuff and solos, and other people like John Hammond Jr, Slim Harpo, etc do the same while they play guitar and use the harp on a rack. It just seems that to play that high end bend stuff throughout over vocals and the entire tune is tricky stuff. Like not something you want to take on as a "first time at 1st position in front of an audience" kind of thing. One approach would be to play tasty, sparse cross harp fills during the verses and then for your harp solo work out a few nice little first position licks and wail. It sounded like you already had your 1st position bag of tricks empty by the time your solo came 'round.
The whole Jimmy Reed approach is partly due to the fact Jimmy Reed played harp on a rack while he also played guitar and tho he's best known for his 1st position stuff, he's also recorded in 2nd as well as 3rd position as well. The biggest challenge for many harp players attempting this style is that you have to play VERY UNDERSTATED and make use of space to make it all work and many harp players, especially those who like to play a lot of notes and fill up every hole happening have an especially rough time with it because using space requires LOTS of restraint.
When you're 'comping while playing in that style, avoid playing the upper register stuff too hard because many players are damned near on automatic pilot doing that, which is totally opposite what he was doing and in a tune of his called Found Love, he's holding out the 9 blow note with NO VIBRATO at all for exactly 8 bars long, allowing the tension to totally build on its own using the fewest notes necessary and for many players, it's MUCH harder than it looks.
Here's Jimmy Reed as a sideman in an Eddie Taylor classic called Bad Boy:
Here's another tune as a sideman with Eddie Taylor, a more uptempo version of Little Johnny Jones' Big Town Playboy, and like above, understated EVERYTHING and letting the groove drive the music is of paramount importance:
---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
I hang a bell off my harp case that's in the way every time I reach for a new harp. It's a reminder to: STFU
Last Edited by Littoral on Jul 23, 2015 12:00 PM
I learn something every time I play. That's been going on for a lot of years. When we don't do as well as we want to it's hard on the psyche but that creates resistance, which we then work against and get stronger as we go along. So just take the lesson away and use the information to do better!
Something else I had a hard time with for years was, I could hear in my head what I wanted to have happen, but many times I couldn't make it work. Instead I would do something else. It was not satisfying to me but my peers and audience would compliment me on doing a good job, sound great, nice chops, etc etc. At first I just ignored the compliments because they didn't know what I was going for. With time I realized that I am not the final arbiter of what's good and what's bad, it's the listener! In other words I have to surrender to my audience and let them decide what they like. After all they are a huge part of why I'm out there, or I could just sit at home by myself.
Some other guys who do or did 1st position who have informed my playing are Raful Neal and Bob Dylan. Kim Wilson is a master in 1st and there are many others as well. I revisited 1st after about 15 years of playing harp and discovered how much more there was to it than I had initially thought. It's definitely worth exploring and working hard on.
Rogon, you did ok, but always strive for more. It's a journey, not a destination!
It sounded all right to me mate! Don´t be too harsh on yourself, as many told you, learn from this and become a better player of what you are today! As you play more, you´ll become more and more relaxed and confident. I hope this is true for me too haha.
