Really nice "non-standard" lines coming out of that harp. I can hear some extremely fluid playing using overbent notes, but i don't know which ones. Tell us about your playing... are you proficient and musical at all the overbend notes (it sure sounds like it)? ...and how did you learn to start incorporating them into your playing?
How long have you played more "chromatically" (is that the right word to use, you know what I mean) as opposed to straight-up non-overbend harmonica?I can only do one so far (the 6 overblow) and it sounds like I am throwing a cat in a wood chipper.
I'm curious because I have been playing "standard" blues harp so long that I tend to think in terms of what the standard blues harp vocabulary is. Your playing seems "free-er thinking" (don't know if that's a word either) and less constrained, but it also doesn't seem so 'out there' or jazzy that it doesn't connect with traditional blues music lovers.
I was very impressed with your playing, Ridge. I thought you sounded excellent. Bluesy, but modern.
@Ryan - It's good to put a face to a handle. Thanks for attending.
@1847 - No, it's not a Golden Melody harmonica, but it is in the Hohner line...
@Cliffy - A lot of nice observations in here that I will address.
First, I should preface that this isn't my tune, but a cover of a song that Jason does called "Playboy" that's also a cover/tribute lyrically to SBWII "Too Close Together".
That being said, the lines I'm playing are adaptations of lines out of "Playboy". I love the song. To me, it's the gold standard of how to play a blues rhumba. It's absolutely packed with melodic and rhythmic ideas to keep you busy. I think the tune lends itself to a sort of fluidity and encourages musicality.
I've been playing for about 18 years and have been pursuing chromaticism, by adopting overblows/overdraws, for 12-13 years. I fiddled around with getting these notes, but wasn't sure how to fold them into my playing in a meaningful way. I first heard Jason in the 9th or 10th year of my playing and it opened up possibilities that I'd never conceived of and demonstrated very relateable ways to use the 6 overblow. I later found out about Adam who also, in a different way, demonstrated other ways to use the 6 overblow, but most especially the 5 overblow, in musical phrases.
The other big thing that I've worked on in the last 6 years or so are scales. Primarily the minor pentatonic and major pentatonic in 2nd position. I've also transposed the major and minor pentatonic and learned this same scale in 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 12th. That's helped me build my own little musical connections about how different positions overlap which has lent itself to playing a little more confidently over chord changes. For example, if you're in 2nd position playing a I,IV,V you can play 2nd position over the I, 1st position over the IV and 3rd position over the V. This is another borrowed concept from other players.
We all need to get over the idea that overblows are somehow jazzy. 6 overblow is the same as your 3 draw half-step bend (the blue third) in the middle register when playing 2nd position. 5 overblow is the same as your 2 draw half-step bend. A line a hit a few times in the song is the descending lick 6' -6 -5 5ob -4 (6 draw bend, 6 draw, 5 draw, 5 overblow, 4 draw). I do this right at 36 seconds in. You could also play it as 3"' 3" 2" 2' -1 (3 draw 1 1/2 step bend, 3 draw whole step bend, 2 draw whole step bend, 2 draw half step bend, 1 draw) but I think it sounds better in the middle register. It's nice to have OPTIONS!
So it brings me a good deal of pleasure to hear you say that it sounds non-standard. It is non-standard if you are stuck observing things from the blues harmonica perspective. I'm definitely not free-er thinking, but I am able to think selectively about what I do and do not want to do. I've made my own, albeit primitive, foray into approaching harmonica as an instrument. I want my playing to be accessible and not isolationist. Your feedback reinforces that I'm going in the right direction.
I'll probably start another thread and lay some more ideas out. ---------- Ridge's YouTube
Thanks for explaining that! I would really enjoy it if you did explore this topic more in its own unique thread.
I'm interested in broadening my playing horizons, and the path you're on is the path I'd like to start exploring. So any time you'd like to start a new discussion, I'd love to pick your brain some more!
Ridge was one of our "Well of Knowing" teachers in the informal teaching circles every day, together with Buzz Krantz and Jarred Goldweber. Ridge doesn't push himself forward as a performer much, so I was very pleased to see him get up and tear it down with the Bad Kind. He also sang and played Jimi Hendrix' Manic Depression - quite an unusual choice for a harmonica player! =========== Winslow
Very nice I agree with cliffy "Really nice "non-standard" lines coming out of that harp---NOT AN EASY THING TO DO--- way to go ---wish I could have gone---
Did anyone record "manic depression" love to hear that
Winslow stole my thunder, but, yes I did Manic Depression the night before. I had been woodshedding it on my own and decided to go for it live. I know I kept rushing the vocals, but the song rocked otherwise.
I'm hoping to get the audio from that and share it here. ---------- Ridge's YouTube
Dan, I missed Saturday, but I really enjoyed hearing you play while I was at Harmonica Collective from Wednesday to Friday after the Jason Ricci and the Bad Kind show. You ROCK! ----------
