[Harp-L] RE: Playing Country

["Hurricane Ramón" <party_man1@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Excerpt .


Mike Fugazzi axes :



Subject: Playing Country

So how is it different then blues?  Specifically, what kind of scales would I work on?  What works for both  ?

Mike Fugazzi 

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Hurricane sez :

It's all " feel " and that's the only significant difference .

Both Country Western and The Blues ( & Rock-N-Roll , Rock-A-Billy ) share the I-IV-Vb structured chord progressions over all with maybe the IVb ( the dominant 7th Blue note ) being a strait V major with out the flatted 7th being used as much as the Blues would apply it's Blue Feel " that does use a flatted 7th .

This is not set in stone , there are many variations to Country   Western . 

My first paid gig as a professional musician was with a Country Western band in 1977 . I found absolutely no difficulty in playing this genre and as a result found why cowgirls are terrific :)

All it takes is a fine ear for listening to the changes and apply the right 

" feel " 

to your playing . 

It matters not if the chord changes are I-IV-V(b) or I-V(b)-IV chording of the song . 

Older Country 'Western songs like those of the :

 " Singing  Brake Man " 

the legendary { Jimmy Rogers } sometimes  used the I-V-IV changes and the more modern ones do the I-IV-V  thang .

What is most important is 

" KNOWING " 

the song completely first so you anticipate these changes from song to song with absolute fluidity and :

- - - GRACE - - - 

This is the " Feel " of the greatest Country Western Songs I know of ..

Vince Gil has some stuff only a chromatic can do justice too ( and others like him ) unless you can play chromatically on a diatonic harp ( I do ) which is an other disciplinary study that takes time to develop and hone out to be a proficient player of that style . But aside from that Mike ,  have a BALL ! 

Once you 

" own " 

a song inside your head it's all down hill from there :)

Sincerely :

Hurricane Ramon   

Aka :

Party_Man1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx/listinfo/harp-l

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