Re: [Harp-L] playing in a band setting/jamming

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 "Peter Wright" wrote"
"...So I decided, now, I need to work on improvising/jamming...
I'm thinking it may be another 3 years before I'm ready for my first jam.  I
think "improvisation" is a complete misnomer."

The most important part of jamming isn't playing, it's listening.  The hardest thing for most developing players is learning to hear what the other musicians are doing, and responding to that.  Even very simple technique, and a very limited repertoire of melodies and riffs, will work very well in a jam, provided that the player is listening carefully and responding to what's happening.  

It helps sometimes to just pick out a single part -- the bass, or a rhythm played by the drummer, or a guitar riff -- and respond to that.  "Respond" might mean playing the same rhythm, or a rhythm that complements the first rhythm.  It might mean duplicating the guitar riff, or supporting it with a single note or held chord that fills out the sound.  The point is to play something that works with the band, so the whole band sounds better when you play.  

That "something" could be very simple.  In fact, if the band already has a lot going on, simple is likely to work better than anything else.  How many strong flavors can you put in a single cake?  I sat in once with Dave Koerner, the guitarist in the Koerner, Ray, and Glover trio that included Tony Glover, who wrote "Blues Harp" and changed my life.  Koerner played very strong bass lines, and I focused initially on playing to his bass lines, which locked the harp right in with the guitar.  The result was a stronger-sounding rhythm, which made us both sound good.

On another occasion, I sat in with Vermont's Unknown Blues Band, a killer team whose members have worked with Butterfield and the fusion band Kilimanjaro.   The band -- guitar, keys, bass, drums, and sax -- played "Messin' with the Kid", and my only contribution (aside from my solo) was a short, rhythmic chord punctuation that I played at the end of every 2 bars, just to put a little more kick in the rhythm.  The guitarist heard it, and couldn't figure out where it was coming from initially; I saw him glance at the keyboard player, who grinned and motioned to me.  It was just the right thing and no more.      

Again, listening, not playing, is the most important thing in a jam. The best way to start listening in a jam is to keep your ears open, figure out which of the instruments is really driving the song, and play something that works with that instrument.

Regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com