[Harp-L] Musician's Ettiquette

["paul" <paul@xxxxxxxx>]

Good question . . . Sitting in is how I basically learned to play . . . I
lived in Key West in the 70's, played for tips on Mallory Square until about
midnight, then went from club to club on Duval Street and sat in on last
sets . . . it's a great way to figure out what you've got . . . 

 

First, you want to make sure that you can hang with the band you're asking
to sit in with . . . just common courtesy and professional etiquette . . .
Other than that, just try to catch whomever is the band leader in-between
sets (waste of time to ask someone who doesn't have the decision-making
authority), tell them that you play harp, and ask if the band ever let's a
harp player sit in . . . After that, make sure you wait for your cue to play
(don't play all over the singer or when others are soloing).  If you can't
hear well (which is most of the time), just play stuff that you 'know' will
sound good, and keep it simple . . .

 

One of the best sitting-in experiences I ever had was with Johnny Sansone's
band . . . The guy that owned the club told Johnny that he should ask me up;
so I didn't have to deal with that . . . Once the band started playing, I
just picked up on what the bass player was playing, which really fattened
the groove.  I remember thinking how cool it was to see every guy in the
band at that moment jerk their heads up, and look over at me with these big,
goofy grins (like, holy sh#t, the harp player is actually playing something
that makes sense), and off we went . . . 

 

It really helps if you try to fit in with what the band is doing, and add
something to the music . . . good luck, hope this helped . . . 

Regards,Paul Messinger