Re: [Harp-L] Rhythm and Tone



Dear Wolf and List,
   
  The single most important element that separates a "good" harmonica player from a "eh, so-so" harmonica player is,  IMHO:  Clear Single Notes.  Second element:  Control of bends.  Third: rhythm.  Fourth: Tone  Fifth: getting off the beat, Sixth. . .    Can't really say any one thing makes the player can we?  It's EVERYTHING. . .  isn't it?  It's OB's, It's tuning, It's playing chromatically, it's hand wahs, it's TB, it's pucker, it's. .  it's it's. . . ....
   
  It's a lifelong pursuit to get the music that's in your head to come out of your harmonica.  (again, IMHO)
   
  Mr. Reynolds makes good points, but is, (again my honest opinion) a bit naive.  Vibrato, like any technique is useful, but can easily be overdone.  I know I cringe when I hear a player adding vibrato to every darn note.  What about good strong notes without vibrato.  Dare I suggest notes that start with, but then end without vibrato? (or vice versa)?
   
  As for "staying in rhythm"  what does this mean?  Sure, we don't want to sound like we're playing a different song than the rest of the band.  Good time is absolutely critical.  
   
  I guess my concern (and major gripe about many of the harp players I hear) is playing too often right ON THE BEAT.  If you learn where the beat is, GREAT!!.  The next step is learning how to play around that beat.  Also, vary your rhythms within the context of the song's whole rhythm.  If this doesn't make sense to you, find a real good drummer.  They should be able to show you what it means to play behind, ahead of, or on the beat.  Or, when you're trying to figure out why you love certain harp players, think about their solos'  cadence, not just the notes. 
   
  Sorry for the rant.  I lurk, but every now and then I need to chime in.  Watch my videos on youtube if you want.  I'm "12gagedan"
   
  Best,
   
  Dan Gage
   
  formerly of CT,  now living in San Diego, digging fish taco's, breakfast burritos and sunshine damn near every day. 
   
  
Wolf Kristiansen <wolfkristiansen@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
  Earlier today, I was browsing the junior harp-l group
on Google Groups, alt.music.harmonica. Having lurked
in both groups for a while, I've concluded that the
level of harmonica knowledge in harp-l is greater than
in alt.music.harmonica. It wasn't a difficult
deduction. Today, I read something in
alt.music.harmonica, though; simply said with an
undeniable ring of truth. It's been said before, many
times and in many ways. 

Here it is again, from a gentleman named Robert
Reynolds who was replying to another poster's question
about bending notes. He has no idea I'm quoting him
in this group, but I thought I should spread his
wisdom. 

Warning, this is from a blues lover and blues player's
perspective; I suspect the non-blues players (whom I
respect and laud) would have a slightly different
emphasis about the essential elements of playing
harmonica:

"I want to throw in my two cents worth on your
question about bending, but I also want to make it
part of a general philosophy of playing and sounding
good. I believe that the two most important elements
of sounding like a good musician are rhythm and good
tone. More specifically, rhythm is first, then good
tone. I figured this out by listening to great
musicians who can stir the soul by playing only a few
notes, or by playing the same note several times. 
Even if you play the wrong note, it still sounds good
if the rhythm is on target. If you screw up the
rhythm you sound like an idiot. Your rhythm sounds
pretty good, but just remember that rule because some
day you'll be jamming with other musicians and your
mind will go blank. At that point you'll have to
remember that instead of playing a super cool lick you
should try to stay in time. 

The other main thing is good tone, and as far as I can
tell the number one element of good tone is vibrato,
which makes the note sound as if it's alive. Playing
a note shouldn't just sound like a note. It should
sound like a voice. The blues solo you picked out is
a great way to develop your playing, but developing a
good voice to your playing is just as important."

So there it is, I know these things have been talked
about before, but I thought Mr. Reynolds had a fresh
and effective way of describing them. I agree with him
on both points, of course. 



Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the All-new Yahoo! Mail at http://mrd.mail.yahoo.com/try_beta?.intl=ca

_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l





This archive was generated by a fusion of Pipermail 0.09 (Mailman edition) and MHonArc 2.6.8.