On Mar 18, 2005, at 7:03 PM, michael harp wrote:
An odd thing happened while trying to "de-evolve" my playing style in
order to fit into the band's vintage sound. The jazz sax technique of
soloing I've been hearing in my head for years was starting to come out.
Not the smooth jazz crap, but the real players.
The nice thing about this band is that the soloists are given plenty of
time to build solos based on feel rather then sticking to a 12 or 24 bar
canned/cover solo. It creates a breeding ground for fresh ideas while
soloing over old material. Some very fine harp players have emerged from the
band.
Ahaaaaa
Rather then trying to play LW solos like LW or other Muddy sidemen, I
started building my solos based on the short horn phrasings I was hearing
mentally. The end result is that I'm starting to develop solos in the LW
vein which is basically a harp player influenced by horn players. I'm not
locked into sounding like LW but I can effectively build a solo on one of
his or Muddy's tunes by not looking to him for influence. Granted, I listen
to other harp players for tongue techniques but not solos. I can't remember
anyone's harp solo to save my butt.
IF we listen to nothing but harp players for influence our ideas become
locked into a narrow mould. You can still be technically good but limited in
the types and styles of music you can "effectively" play.
Very good big Mike. The problem I see with listening only to harpies is that instead of focusing on the music/notes/patterns etc, many players are so hung up on PEOPLE. We see it here all the time. Someone starts a thread about a subject and it gradually morphs into "so and so did such and such", or "hey, did anyone catch what's his name"?
It is no secret that some people are idol worshipers and at the slightest breath of certain peoples names, their eyes glaze over. So HERE is the problem. People who concentrate on PEOPLE (especially their FAVORITES) can listen all they want to but will NOT catch the TRUE music. They will be sub-conciously tied to the PERSON and this will pull corpuscles of concentration AWAY from what they were listening FOR in the first place.
The perfect situation would be to listen to the phrasing, patterns, chord progressions, etc. but done by someone who is UNKNOWN to you. This way, you wont be "Pre-Jaded". Of course once you have heard this unknown person, they TOO become known to you and you're back where you started in that strange world of "Jeez, since I'm putting on this so and so disc and I KNOW that so and so is great, I know I'll hear some great stuff. Which brings you right back to concentrating on hearing great stuff from someone whom you already KNOW is great. Therefore, you STAY in a world of great expectations (from a PERSON)
Better to listen to an amalgum of all sorts of music by all sorts of people, and therefore have NO pre-conceived notions of WHOM is doing it, but more of WHAT they are doing.
the ghost of smokey joe
Then again, if you don't like horn players you aren't going to learn
anything by listening to them. I started playing in the early 70's owning
very few harp or other recordings so I spent hours on end playing along with
the instrumental tunes on ABB Filmore East lp and learning slide guitar
solos on the vocal tracks. and yes, guitarists do notice when you can do a
Duane Allman solo almost note for note.:) I used the lp to build dexterity
on the harp. Later, playing along with ABB and Pat Metheny live recordings
taught me how to improv on tunes that don't follow a standard blues pattern.
By exploring other instruments and music you prepare yourself for many
musical encounters throughout your life. Your harp will never be a hurdle
and your opportunities to play will increase dramatically.
mike
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