Re: [Harp-L] Blues Scale / Shapes

["G. E. Popenoe" <gpopenoe@xxxxxxxxx>]

Yeah Ken, I play both diatonic and chromatic. It's all about shapes,  
colors, textures, emotions for me. . While I'm a reader, I don't spend  
much time thinking about theory.

Sure, I made a point to learn what the books say is a "blues" scale  
early on, but I simply used study of the various scale types as  
background information from which to explore. If I actually thought  
about the nuts and bolts while I was playing my little pea brain would  
overload.

Most of the time I don't know what key I'm in unless I stop and think  
about it. I don't want to think. I do plenty of that for my day gig.

Everybody has their own way of getting there. Some use a lot of craft  
while others use more intuition. My bet would be on intuition in  
regard to the technique used by the blues greats.

Advice we might hear from one of the greats might be, "Hey man, shut  
up and play!"



Gary Popenoe

On Mar 6, 2008, at 7:55 PM, Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I've really been enjoying the posts on this subject because it  
> points up how wonderfully varied the approaches are of some of the  
> most accomplished players on the list.
>
> Even though I have expressed some opinions now on this subject, the  
> truth is that I haven't thought about a scale or note in my own  
> playing in centuries.  If I'm asked to play a scale degree I can go  
> right for it, but left to my own devices I use the shapes we all  
> have in our heads, I never think about a scale pattern.
>
> I love connecting them, playing parts of one and then suddenly  
> lacing into part of another, all that stuff.  I have to think that  
> lots of diatonic players think like that as their heads get  
> populated with their own set of shapes.  Some people have a personal  
> relationship with the various notes or scale degrees, but mine are  
> with the shapes.  When I discover a new one it's like making a new  
> friend.
>
> There could hardly be anything more subjective than how a seasoned  
> player addresses his/her axe.  I'd be interested in reading the  
> thoughts of harp players of both breeds (diatonic and chrom) on how  
> they 'see' the notes and phrases they're playing.
>
> Ken
>
>
>
>
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