Howdy i needing some pointers as to what to work on in the comming months of my playing Im playing to a jam track in F,I recorded this on my 3rd take I did not edit it though,its played on my honey tone amp although the 8 track was set on a setting that added some effects.any tips greatly appreaciated thanks
it's not music, it's noodling. Practice more on phrasing and articulation... ---------- Excuse my bad English. Click on my photo or my username for my music.
I'd add; concentrate on playing the changes so it's more melodic & fits the tune a bit better. I hear some really good notes but they need to be better organized. Adam has lot's of vids that address this - check em out.
But for only 21 months you're on the right road and kudos for the balls to post for help (I'm on month 60 and sooooo very much to learn!). ---------- ~Banned in Boston!
I'm somewheres around 24(ish) months myself. Though, I haven't brought myself to submit 1 video of my playing. Though, I guess if I never decide I'm good enough to post my playing I'll never post my playing.
Keep working on playing different songs. This isn't one of my favorite recordings of yours so it's probably not a great example to critique. I think overall you're doing very well.
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~Ryan
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window." - Stephen Wright
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
Hobostubs, it's time,to be brutally honest with you, tho what you've accomplished in 21 months is good, you need to have a considerably more structured path and quit doodling because just noodling doesn't accomplish anywhere near as much as getting more structured does. Noodling doesn't help you properly learn where everything is on the instrument, from notes available, scales, or anything else when that's your primary way to attempt to learn. Once you've done the structured learning for the day, then give yourself some time to noodle as a way to experiment because that is also an important thing to do in addition. Get a hold of not only videos, but also as many books as you possibly can because these are important and useful tools for learning. Remember, no matter how good one gets, there's ALWAYS room for learning more regardless at what level you are, and that's even at a pro level and most pros never stop learning. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
hey Hobostubbs - this one shows improvement over your previous stuff IMHO. Keep at the Barrett lessons especially the chorus forms (like everyone is saying) so you are putting together melody lines. BBQBob nailed it for practice time and expectations.
Hobostubs - You've made a good start. Unfortunately, you've got some work ahead of you. Fortunately, this will be fun, if you do it right.
If you want to play Blues, then do it the old school way. Buy some Jimmy Reed records. Listen to them and practice doing what he is doing. Why Jimmy Reed?
1. His harp playing isn't very difficult to figure out. It'll also help you develop your ear.
2. If you've got any sense of rhythm at all, you'll be able to feel the groove. Plus, those grooves are the basis for a ton of Blues songs.
3. This isn't going to be popular. Jimmy Reed was a master of less is more. More modern harmonica players could really benefit by letting their music breathe and sink in. Many try to cram in way too many notes into a small space. When you're starting out, it's easier to figure out Jimmy Reed than Jason Ricci.
4. Pick a song and learn it. Keep playing it over and over and over until you get sick of it. Then play it some more. Sing it, too.
5. With Jimmy Reed tunes, you don't need a lot of harmonicas. Most of the recordings he made were in four keys. When he is working the high end of the harp, the tunes are almost always in A. He uses an A harp. He does stuff in E. He uses an A harp on those. He does a few tunes in F (Bb - second position) and a few tunes in G (C harp - second position). You can go a long way with Jimmy Reed with harmonicas in the keys of A, Bb and C. If you get a D harp, you'll use it.
6. Playing Jimmy Reed tunes will get you moving around the harp a bit. See #5. You'll also have to master blow bending and hitting single notes.
7. Jimmy Reed does all of his playing on a rack. His hands are busy playing guitar. You don't have to master any hand techniques to play his music. Everything should come from your mouth and breathing properly.
8. Jimmy Reed songs are short. Since, they were released on 45rpm records, each one is less than 4 minutes long. You can practice one or two tunes easily in a 30 to 45 minute time slot.
9. Record your first practice session. Practice every day. After 30 or 45 days, record it. Listen to the two recordings. Hopefully, you'll hear a difference.
10. Jimmy Reed has a ton of soul. Those are some of the coolest records ever made. They are an enjoyable listen.
I'd add a couple of things that haven't been mentioned.
1. I think that it might be about time to start trying to incorporate some throat vibrato into your playing. It's a tough technique that terrified the crap out of me for a long, long time. But start to practice it at speeds that you can handle without it breaking down, if you haven't already. Bear in mind that a good vibrato is going to have a pulse that has some relation to the speed of the music, e.g. 3 per beat in a faster piece, or 6 (or even 5) in a slow blues.
2. That warble at around 1:58 sounding to me as though there wasn't an awful lot of control going on. A lot of players just shake the harp about without really keeping the beat fixed in their mind. As a result, the way they leave the warble often sounds messy and awkward. I still practice warbles at different speeds so that I can try to control exactly where my scoops and what have you will go. I think this is a lot harder than a lot of people think.
HarmonicaMick brings up good advice, but don't let speed dictate how fast your vibrato is. Cotton had/has a mean vibrato that is/was slow and pulsating and fat, and it's not just for the slow tunes.
The only two harp players with a vibrato as slow or slower than Cotton's was Howling Wolf and Junior Wells. That's gonna take some time to get and right at this point, you're not really ready for that. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
HarmonicaMick Let me disagree. Vibrato is just an effect. You can be a perfect player without vibrato (no examples for harmonica, but Miles Davis is great example for trumpet). While you'll never be a good player while noodling without timing, phrasing and tone. ---------- Excuse my bad English. Click on my photo or my username for my music.
"concentrate on playing the changes" Play the I chord in second position, the IV in first position and the V chord in third position. Find a simple phrase you can repeat over a couple of bars and move it through the position/chord changes. Add some little changes here and there and...your rockin'.
Wow Joe L, cool Jimmy Reed info. I will check that out. And spot on with the hat wisdom. Look at my picture....I'm not wearing it because I'm outside. ----------
I just put the fedora in the pic for cliche reasons,it was gave to me. Ive only wore it once and i wasnt playing. My blues hat is a Australian,leather outback hat from Kakadu and it was gave to me by my Dad for Exmas,Ive wore it every time ive played live its my blues hat, cliche or not;-)the closest thing that comes to sunglasses i wear ever is dark cutting gogles I wear when i cut steele;-)
I'd like to hear what our resident experts say but to me - no not just noodling - you're mostly playing the song now with it's changes - much better - i liked!! ---------- ~Banned in Boston!
The big thing about noodling is if when you don't even attempt to bother with at least some sort of structured and focused practicing, the huge problem is that, especially with noodling and trying to teach yourself doing things this way, you can get into tons of really god awful playing habits very quickly and the longer these stay ingrained, the more difficult it becomes to correct them. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
