[Harp-L] Playing country

["Glenn Weiser" <celticguitar1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Message: 7
Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2007 03:36:25 -0500
From: "Cara Cooke" <cyberharp@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Playing country
To: Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
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I have never played in a country band where they expected me to play just
like someone else, so I have used positions 1 through 4 as I needed them,
just as I do when I play bluegrass.  Minor tunes like "Seminole Wind" work
better in a minor position for me.  12th position rarely gets used, but
it can come up as convenient in a key shift in one of our Texas fiddle
tunes.  The only time I get into a situation where I must play 2nd position
all the time is when the band is more of a country/rock or country/blues
band and the overall delivery forces the need to stay in that scale.

I would be my pleasure to wish you luck on your upcoming gig with Frank
Wakefield.  He plays some wonderful music, so enjoy yourself.

Cara Cooke

-------------

Cara-

Thanks-the music gods were smiling and I pulled off the three songs I did 
with Frank-even the daunting, breakneck tempo "Pistol Packing Mama" -to my 
own satisfaction. I used mandolin-style stuccatto chords on the backbeat for 
my backup and fiddle -type lines for the solos. Some tapers in the house 
caught it so I may have something to post on website in a week or two.
I rarely play in that style, though, so I don't know if I would have had 
enough licks in my head to stay fresh all night. I'd probably have to 
woodshed for a while to work up a whole show of that stuff. But it was 
exhilarating all the same, and a great honor to play with one the giants of 
the genre.

-Glenn Weiser