Hi - short intro for those who don't know me. I'm returning to harp after decades away.
It's a crazy problem but a guy I know wants to play Midnight Special with me. The thing is, ST&BM are my earliest influences in terms of Blues/Blues harmonica, and I know their version well too listen to.
The thing is, I've never played it! And the way this guy wants to play it is quite "clipped" and it seems as if I'm going to be doing a LOT of draw chords and such.
For some reason I'm having a huge amount of trouble getting this right! How do I break it down? Do I practice the rhythm slower with some chords/riffs and it'll pick up? It's moving kind of slow. Thin is, if it was a straight shuffle he wanted for this event, we wouldn't even need to practise before it (done THAT before, ha!)
Any help would be appreciated.
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Last Edited by Danny Starwars on Sep 15, 2015 2:43 AM
Is it getting the rhythm right? or just finding it hard to get a part figured out that fits a different rhythm than you're used to?
It's probably worth looking for other versions that are closer to the one you have to play to get some ideas.
When I get new or unfamiliar material to work with I usually make a rough recording of it. Then I drop the MP3 into Garage Band and play over the top of it. I do a few different takes with different ideas, have a listen back, take what's working for me and try and refine those ideas into something more coherent.
It helps me having it in the recording software as I can chop out bits I don't like, add in new bits etc until I have something that works. Then I learn what I've put together and try and refine it more in terms of dynamics, tone, intonation etc.
It's not a real substitute with playing and refining a song with someone else but I find it's a quick route to a starting point for that process.
Hope this helps some.
Last Edited by Baker on Sep 15, 2015 5:51 AM
It´s hard to get a grip on what you´re after here. Like Baker I´d say it´s excellent advice to record yourself over an already existing track -- and if you don´t have Garageband you can do like I do and use Audacity. In fact I did just that. I was setting up things for recording anyway and used CCR´s famous (and rather worn out) version and added harmonica, like a warm up exercise for my own session. I guess you could say that particular track needed harmonica like the proverbial hole in the head, and it´s in my experience impossible to make it sound "orgnic" going about it this way, but still -- it´s good practice.
The playing is uninspired -- it could be called "basic" --, going through positions 2 and 3, the sound is rather awful (my recording skills are limited) but it could give you some input on how to approach one (1) version of the tune.
I couldn´t post it on Soundcloud ("copyright reasons") but I´ll be happy to mail you the mp3, with the above reservations, if you give me an address
Last Edited by Martin on Sep 15, 2015 9:35 AM
Hey Danny,I just uploaded a video of Bobby Darin performing Midnight Special.....I,m sure this is the way to go for you.If you dont sing,then you could surely learn some of his licks and moves...awesome stuff i,m sure you,ll agree.
Last Edited by grahamonica on Sep 15, 2015 10:58 AM
"Baker: Is it getting the rhythm right? or just finding it hard to get a part figured out that fits a different rhythm than you're used to?" <-- Yup, pretty much. The guy plays it with the emphasis on the "and", and I have to do a lot more draws; it's taking a while for me to get my head around it. It feels counter-intuitive.
But I really want to do this (it's for a event later) and will nail it at some point. I've spent a while working on it, but it's trickier than I would have thought.
Thanks for all links and suggestions :D
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