dougharps
1094 posts
Dec 31, 2015
10:19 AM
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This last October 2015 I received a text from a friend of mine, Aaron Wilson, who has been in many bands and currently drums with Kilborn Alley. He occasionally gets in touch about asking me to come into the WEFT studio to play harp as a sideman while he drums. This is an unpaid but extremely fun thing to do, though at times challenging. Because of Aaron's support for my music I played on the air with Bill Perry and Shy, and on another occasion with Bill, Shy, and Cash McCall, who was there with them. Aaron "A-Train" Wilson drummed on these shows. You may have seen him at HCH at Rooster's with Deak and Bobby Reynolds.
In October this year Aaron texted that his brother Bryan was in town and that they would be singing some gospel on the air with a guitar player (unnamed in the text, but it turned out to be an uncle, Everett Elam, who I know from his local playing with bands). I learned that Aaron's brother Bryan is a gospel singer of note, and a minister.
With no rehearsal we played live for an hour with me primarily adding a little flavor here and there. It was challenging since there was so much vocalization going on, but I added some harp to the mix and did my best not to step on anything while adding harp. They told me that they liked my contributions and later asked me to join them in performing at their church, but I had a conflicting gig and could not. During the session I sat off to the side so I could watch the guitar and any signals from the singers. I thought of it as a radio performance, not a video performance. It was great fun, though at times I just wanted to listen, and at times that is all I did. The harp is decent, but the singing is amazing!
Mary Don't You Weep
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Doug S.
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KC69
497 posts
Dec 31, 2015
3:14 PM
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Good Job Doug! Looks like a lot of fun! Wow that would be tough to fill with my meager ability. I like what you did! Love to give the devil the bluz!
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And I Thank You !!
KCz
Backwoodz
Bluz
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dougharps
1095 posts
Jan 01, 2016
10:16 AM
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Here is another cut, using all diatonic this time...
Like an Automobile
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Doug S.
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hvyj
2913 posts
Jan 01, 2016
12:29 PM
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Doug, I'm interested in what harps you chose and what scales you worked off of and why. I believe the first tune is a harmonic minor. It's been covered by Spingsteen and Teresa Anderson.
The second tune is a straight spiritual which, IMHO, is eminently playable as a major pentatonic which fits like a glove. But it sounds like u are playing chrom. Why and what scale were u working from? I'm interested since I don't play chrom well enough to gig with and I don't understand what you were doing and why. Thx.
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dougharps
1096 posts
Jan 01, 2016
8:55 PM
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Though I study theory and have learned a lot, I am an ear player. Informed by theory and my ears I choose the instrument that I think will work best for me with a song. Often there are two or three different harps and positions I could use to play a given song, and at times I switch harps mid song. I use a lot of octaves and splits when comping on diatonic and also on chromatic.
The first song I played almost completely in 4th position on a C chromatic in Am. The video shows that I checked out a couple possible instruments off mic before choosing the C chromatic. At the very end of the first song you can hear that I switched from the C chromatic in 4th to play a key of D diatonic in 2nd. Unfortunately I was only able to play a few notes on diatonic before that song was ended. I had played "Mary Don't You Weep" before, but in a VERY different arrangement.
The second song I had never heard before. I played it entirely on an F diatonic in 2nd, not a C chromatic in 1st, though I could have played it that way. For this song I wanted the sound of the diatonic. The notes were easily available in second position on diatonic.
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Doug S.
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2chops
469 posts
Jan 02, 2016
7:04 AM
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Very nice Doug. I liked that the volume of the guitar was under the vocals low. In this genre of music, the vocals are thee #1 thing. What you did with the harp was good too. How you fluctuated the volume, when you came in and type of harp of choice.
You mentioned on how that even though you know some theory and all of that, in the end you trusted your ear and just rode the wave. Good point. Sometimes we over think what we're doing when we're up and running. Just my $.02.
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I'm workin on it. I'm workin on it.
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dougharps
1104 posts
Jan 05, 2016
10:20 AM
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Thanks for the positive support. There are only 4 clips available and on one I hardly played at all, just a couple short chromatic harp phrases.
Here is the third clip and the last I will post. It has enough harp content to share it with the forum.
He Brought Joy
It was a pleasure playing with these guys, and an honor to have been invited.
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Doug S.
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KC69
499 posts
Jan 05, 2016
12:07 PM
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Wow; had to have been fun. Really enjoyed this last one! Keep harpin and "givin the devil the blues!"
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And I Thank You !!
KCz
Backwoodz
Bluz
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