Re: Get me going on the blues

["Stephen Shaw" <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

>From: "Howard Chandler" <chandler@xxxxxxxxx>
>To: "Stephen Shaw" <moorcot@xxxxxxx>, <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Re: Get me going on the blues
>Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 20:36:28 -0500
>
>Stephan,
>
>I'm sure I'm not the only person who'll tell you they learned to play the
>blues by coping licks from records but that was the way I did it.  Even
>though I've lived in the American south most of my life, I've picked up 
>most
>of what I know from records.  Pick up any blues records you can find.  An
>early inspiration was a bloke from your side of the pond, John Mayhal.  I
>recently found the Time/Life blues collection in the bargan rack at
>Walmarts. There are a bunch of good blues webcasts out there too.  Of 
>course
>jamming with friends is where it's at.
>
>Anyway, how would a guy from Louisiana get into Irish/Celtic harp Er.
>Harmonica playing.  Will I need one of those specially tuned chrom harps or
>even an altered diatonic?  Who's good to listen to?
>
>Thanks
>
>Howard Chandler
>Mandeville, LA
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Stephen Shaw" <moorcot@xxxxxxx>
>To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>; <harptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2003 6:54 PM
>Subject: Get me going on the blues

Howard - thanks for the advice.  My instinct tells me that listening to 
recordings is the way to go to get started.  As for getting into 
Celtic/Irish - the advice is the same.  My website lists some of the albums 
that inspired me. If you get two or three Irish albums, harp or not, and you 
really enjoy listening to them, then you are a ripe candidate for branching 
out.  I really love the music and listen to it all the time.  That is what 
did it for me.  As for harmonicas, you don't need a chromatic necessarily (I 
use them very little), but the standard diatonic has one main drawback for a 
lot of the tunes in that the 6th note of the scale is missing from the 
lowest octave.  You can tune up the 3-blow a whole tone to put this right 
(by so doing you don't lose that note, as it is the duplicated note of 
2-draw).  By altering just that one note you then have a harp in the 
so-called "Paddy Richter" tuning.  Away you go.  If you don't fancy messing 
about with your harps like that you can:
(a) play a standard-tuned harp and "bluff" the missing notes
(b) ditto but just avoid the tunes with the missing low-octave 6th
(c)use 12-hole diatonics for such tunes (the Glenn Weiser approach!)
(d)buy a customised Paddy Richter diatonic (or several).

If you're cool with chromatics you can ignore all that!

The next thing is to adjust your mindset to playing in first position for 
the majority of tunes.  If you can do Oh Suzannah and Clementine you're 
away!  Minor-key tunes are nearly always in 3rd position/Dorian mode.  You 
can play quite a few tunes in 2nd position, but that can come later.  When 
you are playing fast melodies in first position you are blowing/drawing 
roughly equally depending on the tune, in contrast to the drawing 
predominant in blues (I believe).  I use my nose as a sort of air-valve to 
correct the air-mass in my lungs if I need to do a long string of blow notes 
or of draw notes.

To be really traditional (and to join in in sessions) you will need harps in 
D, G and A minimum.   C comes in handy occasionally.  I find the standard D 
is too high in many tunes in first position melody-playing, so I go for the 
Special 20 Low D.  Otherwise I go for Lee Oskars for sheer longevity.

Busking along to recordings is great, but you find at times that the 
musicians play in unusual keys, quite often a semitone up from the 
traditional keys.  In such circumstances you may find harps in E flat, F 
(both preferably low) and A flat useful.  You probably won't use these much 
in sessions though.

Also, consider using tremolo harps occasionally.  You can get really fast on 
these, believe me.  They may look like toys but in the right hands they can 
really be the business.  Mine are Hohner Echos (avoid cheap imitations).

Finally, one of my all-time favourite Irish musicians is, I believe, quite 
frequently in Louisiana as he likes to team up with some of your 
Cajun/Zydeco folks.  His name is Ron Kavana and if he's ever down your way 
don't miss him.  No harp content though.

Obviously this is a potted version of how to get into Celtic/Irish but I 
hope it gives you some ideas.  The most important thing of all is to listen 
to music till you're verging on lunacy, then listen some more!

All the best

Steve Shaw.



Want more than the blues?  Try Irish!
http://mysite.freeserve.com/trad_irish_harmonica

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