RE: [Harp-L] re: Improv in Blues

[Mojo Red <harplicks@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- Chris Michalek <Chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> 
> Stop listening to other harmonica players.
> Stop listening to Blues

LOL! Great advice, Chris. The first harmonica
player I'll stop listening to is you. ;-) 

Okay, actually I think it's a very, VERY good idea
to listen to great soloists using other instruments
(especially sax and other horns), but I don't think
it's BAD to listen to harp players, just make sure
not to get caught up in becoming slavish to what
other harp players are doing. 

I love Chris' playing, but I don't want to play
just like him... mainly because: 1) alot of his
music doesn't ring my bell, and 2) I couldn't play
like Chris Michalek in a million years, even if I
tried. :-)

Personally, I believe in listening to a wide range
of music. And when something really Flicks your
Bic, then listen to it with those Big Ears. I
highly recommend stealing licks, phrases and
technique from other instruments and other harp
players. Take what you really like and it will
shape YOUR sound. But it's YOUR sound you want to
develop, not somebody elses.

Chris obviously studied Levy's sound, then used
some of what he learned to create Chris's sound.
Slap my hand if I'm wrong, Chris. But you must have
~also~ listened to a very wide range of music, a
lot of international sounds and the like, to end up
where you are. If you had ignored Levy's harp,
would you be where you are today?

Okay, back to Blues. 

Mike, my advice, when it comes to improvising over
blues songs without sounding too redundant is to
focus your playing on the ~song~ more than on your
licks. Big Ears come in ~very~ handy here. Many
blues songs are similar, but no two are the same.
Key in to what makes that song unique (the song's
hook) and use ~that~ as the basis for your solo.

Once you play or emulate the hook (usually a simple
phrase unique to that song), it's certainly okay to
repeat it and work from it as you build your solo. 

Drift farther from the hook as you build tension
and introduce new ideas that come to you, based on
that simple hook... hit 'em between the eyes at the
"climax" of your solo, then ~return~ to the hook to
finish your solo and hand things off back to the
band/singer. 

Think of it like you're telling a story. It has a
beginning, a middle and an ending.

My 2 cents on Improve in Blues

Harpin' in Colorado,
--Ken M.

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