Martin
1051 posts
Aug 05, 2016
5:59 AM
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A friend and I have been playing together for a couple of years (voice, guitar, harmonica) and we´re considering extending our duo to a trio. We´re not primarily blues oriented, more "Americana", so if you think "blues" entails playing those 12 bars over and over all night long this is a bit OT.
There´s a good guitar player at hand, good at both backing and soloing, and he´s intersted in joining. (He´s also a real solid drummer but I don´t think that is a required skill right now.)
Any of you been down this path and care to share some experiences?
I know what *I´m* after in terms of songs, and how to build them: not "one, two, three and here we all go at the same time", but more layering things and introducing the various instruments as we go along.
It´s pretty minimalistic, but we´re only aiming for those smaller venues.
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harmonicanick
2507 posts
Aug 05, 2016
6:46 AM
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keep it duo, so much easier, instead use pedals
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Gnarly
1907 posts
Aug 05, 2016
7:24 AM
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Find the right "person", and let the music tell you what to do.
If they have the right attitude, they can play the music.
Bear in mind I am a solo act.
Oooh this is weird, Captcha is 4ehm4n, looks a lot like Lehmann
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dougharps
1281 posts
Aug 05, 2016
7:34 AM
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If you have two guitars and harp the guitar players should not be playing similar styles and pitch ranges. They need different roles to broaden the group's sound.
One could carry bass lines while playing a rhythm part while the other plays riffs or lines. If either can switch to mando or dobro at times that can add a different element.
Recently I have played monthly as a harp side man for a trio that has two male guitar players and a female vocalist. They opted for one acoustic guitar switching between flat picking to finger style, and the other playing electric guitar through a FLY rig to the PA, playing lead and rhythm. This is a low volume semi-acoustic group that does rock and folk covers.
The idea is to create a wider variety of sound rather than to double up on similar guitar parts. After having sat in with this group a few times over a few years they asked if I would play some gigs with them to add a new element to the sound. If you add another guitar player to your duo you need to be adding new elements to your sound. The extra split in the gig money has to be justified by what is added to the group musically. Does the guitar player sing and bring new material to the group? How about vocal harmony?
Will the music be significantly improved by adding this player? A third member will require that your duo figure out new parts to make musical room for another instrument and player. And a third personality...
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Doug S.
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Sarge
560 posts
Aug 05, 2016
8:14 AM
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Get a bass player
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Wisdom does not always come with old age. Sometimes old age arrives alone.
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Martin
1052 posts
Aug 05, 2016
8:42 AM
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Thanks guys!
@harmonicanick: Sorry, no pedals -- except for the sound enhancing stuff (and those we have). Can´t afford them and won´t be able to learn how to program them. We are lo-tech guys.
@Gnarly: I´m entirely in agreement -- but sometimes you have to lend Euterpe a helping hand.
@dougharps: He can sing harmony, yes. And I completely agree: no doubling on similar guitar parts. This is a seriously good guy who can dial in that Hank Marvin-sound and do interesting things with it at one minute; then play raw slide guitar the nest.
Thank you for good and considered points.
@Sarge: That could have been an idea, but he can play bass and we´ll use that on some songs. Another solo instrument takes some burden off from me, ´cause I like to play "steel guitar" sounding stuff in the background, as well as filling out with chorus sounds -- and also tearing of a solo every now and then. As it is now I been playing a bit to many solos and I don´t wanna be a bore.
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barbequebob
3269 posts
Aug 05, 2016
8:52 AM
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If you're gonna do a trio with two guitars, both guitar players HAVE to have excellent time and both HAVE to excellent rhythm players and truly good guitar player can ALWAYS find a different, but complimentary rhythm part regardless of what tune or genre may be or the whole trio thing with two guitars will fall flat on its face.
You could do it as a trio with a bass player or a drummer, but just like I said above, they HAVE to have good time or the grooves are gonna be a horrible mess and wind up boring the living crap out of the audience because nothing's gonna be grooving no matter how good any of the leads/solos are and that is a proven fact. Whoever is gonna be the leader has to be on top of EVERYTHING that's going on and cannot be afraid to drop the hammer immediately whenever things get messed up.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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hvyj
3086 posts
Aug 05, 2016
9:08 AM
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It's much easier to control groove, rhythmic breaks and tempo shifts with a duo than with a three piece. Personally, I generally don't enjoy playing with more than one guitar. Unless both guitar players are good and well disciplined two guitars fill up a lot of sonic real estate making it harder to play effective fills and construct coherent solos on harp. On the other hand, if the harp player is not a strong soloist or is trying to lay back or find for places to hide, two guitars can provide a whole lot of cover. But it's easier to book a duo.
The better guitar players working in a duo will get a bass groove going with their thumb on the low/top string. Generic guitar players will just strum (ho-hum) chords and sound, well...generic or like a hootenanny.
Last Edited by hvyj on Aug 05, 2016 9:31 AM
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Harmonicatunes
170 posts
Aug 05, 2016
4:48 PM
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In the last year or so I've set up a trio, its worked quite well. Deatils are here
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Tony Eyers
Australia
www.HarmonicaAcademy.com
everyone plays...
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Georgia Blues
214 posts
Aug 07, 2016
1:00 PM
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Trios are nice. My choice would be guitar, harp and bass. Need that bottom.
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bonedog569
1052 posts
Aug 07, 2016
1:32 PM
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Bass or drummer with brushes on a snare for a little rhythmic drive. That being said - a good player with'big ears' on any instrument is preferable to a lousy one on the 'right' instrument.
I play in an acoustic duo tha sounds like it could be similar to what you are doing.
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Bone's music videos
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