Re: [Harp-L] Discussion topic: Why do you want to play blues?



Dear Buddha
Thanks for making me think about this.

To quote Keb Mo: "The Blues is my rack in the CD store". I very much play harmonica because I love the blues, but also because I hear the true blues in much of the music I love. I initially tried to learn to play harmonic by playing the blues but I was dreadful because I didn't acquire any knowledge of what I was doing.

Then I learned to play the blues (on guitar) and I can now play it on harmonica too, to some extent.

To me, the true blues is not just a pentatonic scale with flattened 3rd and 7th notes, or one or two standard chord progressions (12 bar, 8 bar etc). It is a feeling that involves indeterminate pitches, glissandos and complex rhythm (by classical western notation standards). It also involves improvisation on simple material - or sometimes on more complex material.

In other words you can play whatever you like as long as it is, er, the blues. Diatonic harmonica is great for improvising on simple material, because it is hard to stray too far away from the tonal centre of the key, but you can bend, ornament etc all over the place to pleasing effect.

As a blues lover, I find some of the instructional material for 'blues harmonica' a bit depressing because it is fixed and dogmatic about structure and notes. Sticking to this may lead to music that will not get you beaten with sticks, but it will always be mediocre.

Also, over the years a lot of "the blues" has become a dead and debased form, where players largely ring the changes or only precisely imitate what other people have played before, usually imitating slightly less well than their models. Before anyone on this list gets offended, this doesn't apply that much to harp players because that is already a non standard activity that shows a bit of imagination. Boring blues is baddest on the guitar, keyboard etc. The almost unsyncopated 12 bar is one of the dreariest sounds in the world.

Of course now I'm galloping off on a hobby horse... I find it worrying when people claim to play the blues having only listened to the copies of the copies of the copies - they play Clapton, J Geils, the Stones etc (all fine blues players) but have no idea that that music is simplified and standardised copies of 1940s-1960s Chicago blues, which in turn is simplified (often) and standardised copies of 1920s and 1930s blues. I also find it worrying when people who play more complicated music think that because the blues is simple it is easy. One danger here is that listening to it with too highly classically trained an ear can lead one to miss the nuances of rhythm and note, then reproduce an un-nuanced version, or one that tries to eliminate improvisation entirely.

For these reasons, some very technically able harp players do not play the blues that well IMHO. However, most top grade diatonic players have mastered the blues, because it would be madness not to given the harp vocabulary that lies there. And some technically weaker players play the blues very well - Taj Mahal being one recently discussed example.


On 20 Aug 2008, at 20:17, Buddha wrote:


This is mainly for diatonic players and of course the question doesn't
apply to all.

Why do you choose to play blues on the harmonica? Because you love
blues or because you love the harmonica and it seems to be heavily
intertwined with blues?

I ask this because all of my students come to me wanting to learn
blues but instead I end up just teaching the harmonica in a way where
the student leaves with the ability to play whatever they want. So
far, none of my students are as steeped in blues as they were in the
beginning. Most venture off into jazz, rock, funk, fusion, pop or
country.

So is playing blues an ability issue, "copycat" issue or one of
passion for the genre? Is there a reason players don't seem to seek an
original voice on their instrument? A good example of original voice
is, George Brooks, watch the SPAH jam vids, he sticks out every time
it's his turn to play, even when he plays 2nd position.  Jason Ricci
is another person with an original sound as are Little Walter, Lee
Oskar and Howard Levy etc...
_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l

Richard Hammersley Grantshouse, Scottish Borders http://www.last.fm/music/Richard+Hammersley http://www.myspace.com/rhammersley http://www.myspace.com/magpiesittingdown







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