Re: [Harp-L] Building solos

Joel Fritz <jfritz666@xxxxxxxxxxx> · Thu, 17 Mar 2005 13:17:09 -0800

I sent this to Chris by mistake.  Meant to send it to the list.

Chris Michalek wrote:

STOP listening to harmonica players.  Most of them are not very good
musicians.  Try listening to guitars and saxaphones if you want to
play differently

---- Original Message ----
From: mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Building solos
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 10:32:53 -0800 (PST)
I've been working really hard lately at learning
overblows, how to follow chord changes, and scale
patterns on top of listening to a wide range of blue
harp players at every chance I get.
I feel like I am at a sticking point, though.  I try
to spend a lot of time imporvising, but I feel I play
repetitively.  I understand people work toward their
own sound, but I'd like to be able to play extended
solos and not have all the songs sound alike.

In the words of Tom Lehrer "Plagiarize, don't let anything evade your
eyes...Only remember, please, to call it research." ("Lobachevski")
In this case probably ears are the organ of choice.  Seriously, nobody
invents music without having heard someone else's music.  I think it's a
great idea to listen to other instruments.  I played guitar before
harmonica and a lot of things I play are variations on things I play on
the guitar.  Horn players and jazz ensemble playing are great sources
for new material. A good bass player can give you all sorts of cool
harmonic ideas.
Another thing I fall back on is playing the melody.  I'm often surprised
what happens if I try some little variations on the melody instead of
riffing.

--
Hear Barrelhouse Solly on the internet--that's me
 http://www.soundclick.com/barrelhousesolly

--
Hear Barrelhouse Solly on the internet--that's me
 http://www.soundclick.com/barrelhousesolly