Re: [Harp-L] Playing Country



Winslow wrote:
Draw 5 in second position is a minor 7th, which sounds wrong in pure
major scale contexts (but right in blues-flavored context and in modal
tunes that use a lowered 7th). You can either avoid that note

This was the first big surprise I got when I started picking sessions in Nashville 33 years ago. That dominant or lowered 7th sounds so right to an ear trained in blues and rock & roll, and producers always asked me to not play it. It took just a few experiences to realize that it really was to be avoided. And clearly, it was part of the Nashville Sound back then to not play lowered 7ths on the one chord unless specifically called for. I played on a few recordings by adventurous producers where it sounded just great - stuff that was supposed to sound more backwoods and funky. None of it got above the top 50 or so, though.


Country music generally reflects the rock music of 20 - 30 years earlier, though it did not used to copy it as precisely as it seems to now. Frankly, nowadays country radio sounds like one long Eagles song to me now. I have to think that that dominant 7 would be at least a little more acceptible now than it was back then. The altered harp is probably still a good thing to bring in your gig box.

Is there actually any recording work for harp in Nashville these days?





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