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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Hands up those who play funk
Hands up those who play funk
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Stevelegh
13 posts
Dec 28, 2010
10:57 AM
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OK, question:
Who plays funk harmonica?
I don't mean playing a blues with the drummer playing on the one.
I don't mean playing Low Rider or Cissy Strut in second position as a little twist in a standard blues set.
I mean working with a horn section or solo, playing some downright nasty James, Sly or Tower of Power.
I'd love to do this. I play guitar in a funk / disco band, and feel the other members merely humour me when I mention something harp related. Nothing ever happpens.....
I'd love to hear some stuff if peeps have vids or recordings, and I'd love to hear ideas how to approach this style without riffing in 2nd position over a nice jam. 12th position seems like a good way to go.
Thoughts?
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hvyj
959 posts
Dec 28, 2010
11:49 AM
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I play funk regularly, usually sitting in but occasionally with my own band. Material by Funkadelic, Zapp, etc.--70's style funk--I'm not familiar with all the artists who did the originals. I generally use 2d position but regularly use 5th position for minor keys. Occasionally 3rd position, but not often.
The keys for some of this stuff are not the usual. F#, C# and B are not uncommon for some of this stuff. There's all kinds of space in most of the arrangements, so there's room to blow harp if you pick your spots and, most importantly, cop the groove, Leaving space is also really important. I'm talking about stone funk, though--not disco.
Pedal board electronics can work really well for this type of music. A MicroPOG can be set to give a harmonica a 70s synth type sound which, of course, works really well on a lot of this material if you put it in the right place and don't overdo it. There's some pretty funky Miles Davis stuff, too--"Jean Pierre" comes to mind--which works really well with electronics. It's easy to fit harp to stuff like "Cosmic Slop" and "Standing on the Verge of Getting it On" by Funkadelic or "Doo Wah Ditty" by Zapp. "BrickHouse" is also very playable. But when i sit in, i often play on funk material i don't know the actual title of.
It seems to me that the most important thing is to cop the groove. For reasons unclear to me a lot of harp players seem to have a hard time with that. Also, one cannot just force feed blues licks over the groove, although sometimes blues scale based lines will work fine. Leaving space is very important--punctuation rather than elaboration--what you DON'T play is as important as what you do play. And simple repetition can also be very effective if you play in just the right spots. It's not so much WHAT you play as where you put it. And laying out--leaving space--is VERY important.
i can play funk easier than i can explain how i do it. It's a completely different feel. But, yeah, harmonica can be used very effectively for funk if you do it right, I don't pretend to be an expert at it, but I do have practical experience doing it.
Last Edited by on Dec 28, 2010 11:10 PM
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Gray
125 posts
Dec 28, 2010
12:04 PM
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I play with these guys often.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnlbLCr6_Dc
1.play high keys
2.play short jumping stabs.
3.be in tune
4.dont use blues harp amplification (fx like-octave and phaser)
5.most importantly,be a harp player not a horn player.
and like HVYJ said cop the groove.If you cant dance then your in trouble.
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hvyj
960 posts
Dec 28, 2010
12:12 PM
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"be a harp player not a horn player"
I agree with this. I get more ideas from listening to funk keyboard players than i do horns. I like how the keys phrase as they solo over the groove and some of those keyboard ideas translate really well to harp.
"be in tune" Amen. ET works better than compromise or JI.
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Stevelegh
14 posts
Dec 28, 2010
1:40 PM
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Wow! OK, more than I bargained for.
hvji, that 5th position info is really helpful. Also the forcing blues licks over funk. I did used to play Low Rider many years ago and that was exactly what I did. Everyone thought it was great to hear, but I hated taking the 'added in' solo.
Gray: that is one hell of a band. I'd love to hear you do some stuff with them. Do you have anything recorded?
'If you can't dance, then you're in trouble'
Haha! I really can't dance. I can crack out a nice wah 16th groove on the guitar. Will that work as a substitute?
Thank you guys.
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scojo
175 posts
Dec 28, 2010
1:43 PM
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I play it whenever possible. Prefer using third position unless it's very "majorish", in which case I might mix 3rd and 2nd... 5th and 4th can work too, and even high-end 1st. HVYJ really described the mentality very well.
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Virtue
21 posts
Dec 28, 2010
2:46 PM
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Traditionally funk it is solo played copper wind instruments, it is necessary to listen and repeat this music. From characteristic receptions on a harp it is necessary to use more bend and overbend, a deep vibrato, but it for slow parties. For fast it is necessary to choose more convenient position. From effects for creation of deeper blare characteristic for funk, it is possible to apply the compressor or fuzz.
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