I withdraw all claims to intermediate status. My apologies to the real intermediates. Guess I lost my head. Anyway, do you think this is this helpful for getting chord changes down ? Thanks
---------- Maybe I can't play that good but I'm a lot better than people who can't play at all.
There's nothing wrong with thinking you're an intermediate only to discover you are not as good as you thought you were.
I keep getting to the point where I think I may just be able to wear the intermediate badge and then discover there's something else I should know and demote myself back to beginner.
At least when you're at the bottom, you don't have too far to fall :)
More focused practice might be laying down a I-IV-V chord pattern all by yourself while tapping your foot or using a metronome. if you do it right, you will hear it. It will force you to develop accuracy and precision.
Then, get the blues scale down. After you do, play I-IV-V chord changes for 12 bars, then, next time through, play scale tones or licks made up from blues scale tones that work over the changes. Keep in mind that flat 3 of the blues scale is the flat third of the I chord and the flat 7 of the IV chord so it's a good note to hang on as you go from the I to the IV. Flat 7 of the I chord is flat 3 of the V chord, etc.
The blues scale of the key you are in works over all 3 chord changes if you know WHICH blues scale tones to emphasize over which chord and which scale tones are common chord tones that work well for transitions from chord to chord.
What you are doing in the recording is ok, but you really just screwing around--nothing wrong with that and it can be fun. But, structured practice relating scale tones to chord tones is probably going to help you develop more quickly and more musically. After doing that for a while, then screw around playing over recordings (or with other musicians) and you may surprise yourself.
Now, generally speaking, blues lines resolve UP into the chords--the flat 3 and the flat 5 of the scale are played against major thirds and major fifths of the chords. So, generally speaking, instead of bending down to these "blue notes" you are better off hitting them bent and then releasing them UP into the chord tone for expression. Whether, when, if and how far you release the bend has a lot to do with the emotion we associate with the blues idiom. but you've got to develop a basic understanding of how the scale tones relate to the chord tones and you probably won't get that from just screwing around playing along with a recording.
Btw, the flat 7th when played as a 7th in relation to the chord you are on should ALWAYS be played flat or deepened a little. It should not be released up because all of the chords have a dominant (flat) 7th and if you play a major 7th it will sound like shit. You can play minor tones over major chords, but playing major tones over minor chord tones sounds really bad. In this regard, how you use the flat 7th (when played as a 7th in relation to the underlying chord) differs from how you use the other blue notes (flat third and flat fifth).
Now, i am talking about MAJOR key blues here. Minor key blues works a little differently.
Last Edited by on Jan 05, 2011 1:33 PM
Thanks HVYJ, but that might as well have been rocket science. Guess I'll never get better just messin around. ---------- Maybe I can't play that good but I'm a lot better than people who can't play at all.
Not as hard as it may sound. go on the SUZUKI WORLD CLASS HARMONICAS site. after you enter, at the top there is a banner that says "notation charts." Click on that and it shows you diagrams of all 12 Richter tuned diatonic harmonicas so you can see how the notes are laid out.
here's the trick: you just have to understand what note is what degree of the scale on the F harp (C in second position). The location of the degrees of the scale are the same in all 12 keys for second position. so if you learn one, you know them all. (Btw, this is true for every position.)
In my experience a lot of harmonica players are resistant to learning music. You've got to learn music to know your instrument well enough to PLAY it. otherwise, you're just screwing around. But like i said before, there's nothing wrong with just screwing around and it can be fun--but not as much fun as playing live in public with other musicians.
@ncpacemaker, I take it you didn't quite understand what hvyj was explaining?
Yeah! me too, it is difficult to grasp, but I tell you what, I've copied that response into a document and I'm gonna study it and try to work out what it all means.
It took hvyj quite a while to write all that out, it would be foolish not to take heed and at least try to understand these things. A little bit more knowledge may just be enough to get you up to the next level.
We have to exercise our brains as well as our lips and tongues.
Look, to keep it simple, write down the notes of the blues scale in C. Then write down the notes in a C7 chord, an F7 chord and a G7 chord and see how they relate. then look at the diagram of an F harp on the Suzuki site to see where these notes are on an F harp.
You also need to know what notes are available through bending (D1 bends a half step, D2 bends a half step or a whole step, D3 bends a half step, whole step or three half steps, D4 bends a half step, D5 only bends a quarter tone, D6 bends a half step)--don't worry about blow bends at this point. write down the names of all the notes available through bending.
Figure out which notes are which degree of the blues scale in C. This pattern remains the same for ANY key of harp in second position. Then, see how the scale tones relate to the chord tones.
if one has an excellent ear, maybe you don't need to do all that, but my ear ain't that good. i needed to figure out the relationship of scale tones to chord tones in order to understand what i should be playing to sound right.
@tookatooka: My explanation of blue notes and their relationship to chord changes is not complete. But I've given you enough to get you started thinking in the right direction. The blues scale of the key you are in is played over ALL THREE chord changes when playing blues--the trick is to know what scale tone is what degree of the scale of tonic note of each chord and if it is a "blue note" for that chord. generally speaking, when you play blues you do NOT play the blues scale of the tonic note for each chord--you select notes from the blues scale of the key you are in. this differentiates blues from many other styles of music.
Last Edited by on Jan 05, 2011 2:32 PM
NC - You should really watch this. Jason breaks down your basic progression and your root notes on the harmonica. Start watching at about the 2 minute mark and he'll say exactly how to go through the changes. This is good practice. All his videos are amazing if you haven't watched them before.
"I withdraw all claims to intermediate status. My apologies to the real intermediates"
I'm with you on this. Been a "hack" for a few years I'm learning over the last two weeks.
I've made blues sounds and thought I was really something. I've walked away from playing for months at a time becoming frustrated by dabbling in all the technical "mess". Come to find out,I can't even play the blues scale effeciently or keep the beat and time for 12 bars.
I really feel refreshed by taking a good look in the mirror and being honest with myself. I'm really having a ball with Adam's lessons on "Sunshine of your love", blues scale, and 12 bar time training,tapping. The jam tracks with Charlie are really good for me, I can really hear the changes.
So, the Charlie Hilbert jam tracks are my suggestion to the OP. I would hope him and Adam make a volume 2 sometime or another.
My goals by this spring are to have a good jam in a band without pissing them all off and actually adding to the sound so I will be welcome back. I've got my work cut out for me but I love it.
Last Edited by on Jan 05, 2011 4:37 PM
By way of illustration, consider the draw 2 whole step bend. In second position this is the flat 7th of the key you are in. (Bb in the key of C on an F harp). On the I chord (C) this is a blue note. Great note but DON'T release it up because it will take you through major 7 which is NOT a good note for playing blues and will clash with the dominant (flat) 7th of the I chord.
Same 2 draw whole step bend on the V chord (G). Bb is also the FLAT THIRD of the G chord. Flat third is a blue note. It is a blue note (flat 7th)of the key you are in AND a blue note (flat 3rd)of the V chord This double function makes it a great note for blues and on the V chord you can release this bend up to B which is the major third of the G chord or play it bent or play it in between to get a "blue third" on the G chord for expression. The tension between the major third and the flat third is a big part of the emotion of the blues and releasing the flat third up a half step to the major third resolves that tension because you are releasing the flat third up into the major third of the chord, so it blends. NOT a good move on the I chord, though, where you DON'T want to release this bend up.
See how this works?
Last Edited by on Jan 05, 2011 5:34 PM
@ncpacemaker: YES! IF you know one key in second position the pattern is the same for all keys. Now these are the root notes for a I-IV-V chord progression. Not all tunes use a I-IV-V progression but there's a whole lot of blues tunes that do.
