Nice vocals...and everybody throws down some great comping. I just tried it, and it ain't as simple as one might think. I am humbled. Thanks. I got to get off this computer and practice. Again, I really enjoyed your singing.
@Michael that is some really good playing, great to see you back.
@Bluesharper Good job aswell dude. It's great to see people picking this thread up where it left off!!
I for one thought it would be easy but when it came to it 4 mins was a long time and i soon ran out of licks/steam, it was a great exercise. I think we need to do another after BYBO if Mathieu would kindly lay down some more vocals:o)
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http://www.youtube.com/user/fiendant?feature=mhum
Last Edited by on Oct 29, 2010 11:48 PM
You know, it's not just what you play and how well you play it. When and where you play what you play has a lot to do with effective comping and what you DON"T play is just as important (or more important) than what you do play.
IMHO, everyone except Christelle and bluesharper are stepping on the vocals intrusively. It is important let the music breath.
Also, as a practical matter if one is invited to sit in with a band and persistently plays over the vocals, one is not likely to get invited back to sit in again.
@ hvyi I don't know if you listened to my video, but Christelle, at a certain point in the video, is playing high notes over the vocals. That is a very bad idea (especially when comping at a jam). And another thing I noticed about Christelle's video was that she was not really locked into the groove/beat. It was not flowing, which is another REALLY important point with comping.
@ Heart2Harp, you should record another song for this, it's a great thing to do! Wonderful singing by the way. Can I steal some of your singing style?
Okay, I didn't listen to any of them all the way through, but I just went back and listened to Christelle and MAL completely.
Yes, Christelle completely loses the groove at a couple of points and, as the tune continues she DOES start to overplay and step on the vocals. BUT she still leaves some space even after she gets carried away and starts to overplay.
Btw, it's very easy to overplay when there's no drummer because the temptation is to keep playing in order to carry the groove. But blues has a call and response structure and the harp is a vocal-like instrument that traditionally plays a response line alternating with the call of the vocal line. Generally speaking, this means the harp player usually needs to shut up when the vocalist is singing.
@MAL: Your playing is terrific, and your groove is solid. But, respectfully, my criticism is that you don't leave any space because you never stop playing. You play constantly until 2:54 when you stop for about 2 seconds before starting up again. IMHO, what you are playing would be more effective (and have a more powerful emotional impact) if you were to leave some space by phrasing in a more or less of a call and response pattern with the vocal line. And, sometimes it's very effective to stay silent (or play something very minimal) when the time comes to play a response since occasionally not playing when the audience expects to hear you play builds tension/anticipation which makes the next response you do play that much more effective/powerful when it is played.
I don't claim to be an expert, but I do have quite a bit of live performance experience during which I have been chewed out by really good musicians often enough over the years until I learned how important it is not to overplay. So, I am passing this along FWIW.
Last Edited by on Oct 30, 2010 4:06 PM
After listening again with fresh ears to my playing I agree with your critique and am appreciative of those suggestions (something to work on!). The beginning is fine but after a while I see what you are saying: the impact of playing constantly loses any emotional appeal because it all seems the same. There was no break to start anew and make an even bigger statement from the beginning.
@ Heart2Harp just about my project, it wasn't to just practice consistently for a year. The point is to put in 5000 hours and to keep track of how a certain amount of practice hours correlate to a level of playing. I haven't been so good with posting the amount of hours, but my youtube is more a practice journal for me to update and keep track of my playing. If other harp players wanna follow along and offer critiques and suggestions they are more than welcome! I probably have a total of 1500 hours playing time so far, and about 1100-1200 hours of deliberate practice. I have not imposed a time limit to accumulate the 5000 hours but am trying to get there ASAP.
