[Harp-L] RE: Recommended Scales on chrom?

[Damien Masterson <dzm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

  Nobody can tell you which scales would be the best for you unless  
we have more information, re: your tastes, etc.
Judging from your email, you like and listen to the Blues, so I would  
recommend the following:

All major scales
All minor scales, Learn to recognize all three forms of minor:  
natural, harmonic and dorian.
All mixolydian scales

Then (this is important!)

All pentatonic scales, major and minor.
The "Blues" scale is just a minor pentatonic with an extra note, the  
flatted 5th.

THEN...

    When practicing your Blues scales, instead of playing a C Blues  
scale over C7, try playing an A Blues scale over the same chord. This  
is a very common sound in Jazz & R&B, it offers the root, b3, 3, 5,  
and 6th degrees of the scale, segueing your ear into a more chromatic  
and less diatonic approach.

Practice these scales in ALL 12 KEYS, up and down the entire  
instrument. Start at the bottom of the harmonica, playing the lowest  
scale note available, all the way to the top of the instrument,  
playing the highest scale note available. If you practice your major  
scales this way, you will be unwittingly practicing all of your modes  
and two of the minor scales above. They are all inside the major scale.

 Don't forget chords, arpeggiated, up and down the entire  
instrument. If you do it slowly and patiently every day, the routine  
will go from about 1 or two hours a day to 10 - 15 minutes, depending  
on how much you practice.

Always use a metronome. Music is worthless if you don't have good  
time or rhythmic feel, at least when playing with others.

  Don't limit yourself to what you think someone else did. William  
Clarke had a great sound on the chrom, and towards the end of his  
life, like many Blues guys, he decided to stretch out a bit.  
Nonetheless, he had a pretty limited vocabulary, playing a few  
different scales or copping a Charlie Parker riff. Don't be afraid to  
practice ALL of the modes, and all of the melodic minor modes as  
well. Internalize them, then decide which ones are important.
My analogy for Blues guys is the difference between someone like  
Muddy Waters, who was a phenomenal master of the blues genre, but had  
a limited vocabulary, vs. someone like Stevie Ray Vaughan. I know  
they are different sub genres within the blues, but SRV was clearly  
more diverse and had more vocabulary, i.e., more things to say on his  
axe, and more ways to say it, than a lot of the other guys, who were  
masters of feel and nuance.

 That comes from practicing different sounds, or modes, or scales.  
Whatever you want to call it. Stressing different notes than the  
other guys. Playing lines that aren't clichés. And a bunch of other  
complex stuff that takes years to develop...

If you have any questions, contact me offline. And practice! It's not  
going to happen by thinking about it...

Thanks!


Damien Masterson http://www.damienmasterson.com
or enter my name in any search engine
http://www.myspace.com/damienmastersonmusic
http://cdbaby.com/all/damienzm
415 305 7138 dzm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Damien Endorses Hohner Harmonicas and Audix Microphones


On May 22, 2007, at 1:25 PM, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 14
> Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 14:19:22 -0400
> From: "O'Sullivan, Chris \(GPCT-CAI\)" <Chris_O'Sullivan@xxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] RE: Recommended Scales on chrom?
> To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Message-ID:
> 	<F2D907007615A8498A5D80B15D6331CBECA7A4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="US-ASCII"
>
> "Hi folks,
> I recently bought a chromatic book from Mel Bay,think the author is
> Bobbie Joe Holzman.
> Very comprehensive study of the chrome and quite user friendly,having
> said that , he covers approximately 14 different scales on a C  
> chrom and
> speaking personally,even in a lifetime I could never learn off all
> these, less commit them to memory!
> My question is; aside from the Dorian (3rd pos stuff,which I love!),
> what other modes would you quys suggest are the more important,/ 
> relevant
> scales to work on.
> I tend towards Smith,Clarke ,Delay etc but also appreciate Toots'
> Bluesette for example and listening to Smith's "Peg",its clear he is
> "pulling the trigger"occasionally ,ie not merely playing Dorian.
> For instance,what modes would the Harmonica gangs (Rascals etc )have
> used most frequently?
> Any advice appreciated.
> Sean"
>
> I have the transcription of William Clarke's SERIOUS INTENTIONS cd, I
> picked it up from HARP HOUSE when it was Kevins Harps. Work with this
> book and you will have enough to draw from.  Plus if you love the  
> cd ( I
> do ) it is fun to learn and you have some great songs to cover. The  
> WORK
> SONG on the big 16 hole chro with the octave splits will caused you to
> lose sleep, But in a good way :-))