Re: Chords and Horns.

[timm@xxxxxxxxxx (Tim Moody)]

You know, it's kinda funny you mention that very subject.  Last night I sat
in with a blues band that opened up for a R-n-R band. After we were done,
one of the Rockers from the other band came up to me and said, "That sounded
real good, I really liked the way you played those chords behind the
guitar on that one song". I thanked him, but it puzzled me a little. Now,
after reading your post, and thinking back on it, I figured out what I was
doing. To me, it was just some standard rythmn fill-in that I do when
someone else is playing out front, and I never looked at it as playing chords
because I always do it. It is a standard I-IV-V progression played mostly
with three or sometimes two holes for each chord. Even if the progression is
different, the theory is the same. The key to the whole thing here is not
just playing a two or three hole chord but PLAYING a two or three hole
chord with rythmn. You know what I mean? We'll stick to a I-IV-V cause it's
common to blues and rock. When you're blowin' out a I-IV-V, it's basically
in 4/4 time but that doesn't mean we need only throw in four TA's in a bar.
Instead of going TA  TA  TA  TA   try going  TA  TAtaTA  TA. ( A TA is that
horn sound your looking for and you need to use your tongue to get it ) The
key to the whole thing is timing. Get a good chordal hook going and stay
with it. A good example of a chordal hook is Big Walter's "La Cucarauchau"(
spelling ). Something else to think about. This guy said, "As in a similair
manner as keybords are used in a rock band" you might consider listening to
some keyboard players for influence or possibly buying a keyboard and
filling in with it. Anyway to make a short story long, a strange
coincedience to see that question posted.

Tim Moody