Re: [Harp-L] Bluegrass harmonica: Wakefield and Weiser on You Tube

[David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yeah, I watched that, but I didn't see Glenn Weiser in it. I mean, there was a harmonica player, but he didn't have a ponytail, so it can't be Glenn. Whoever this clean-cut guy is that's saying he's you, did very well. I play this style of music ALL the time, have been for years. I gotta say this guy has some notion of what a bluegrass rhythm is, I couldn't tell you how many harp players show up with bluegrassers and noodle around all over the place on rhythm. This guy who says he's you hits the 2 and 4, like he's supposed to. 

How long does this guy keep up that rhythm? All night? Couple of songs? That incessant chop, chop, chop, chop, chop will kill you on the harp by the end of a set. What I do is hit the 2s and 4s in a patterns, like six beats on, two beats off, so it doesn't kill me. That is the greatest secret of bluegrass harmonica I have ever unlocked... the pattern I play depends on what the rhythm guitar is doing. It also gives a little Monrovian feel, if you listen closely to his mandolin rhythm, you notice he doesn't chop the mandolin in every measure.

Sitting On Top of the World is a perfect example of how close the ties of blues and bluegrass are, or were. It's an old Walter Jacobs blues song that Bill Monroe recorded a couple years after Sonny Terry did. When Monroe did it in 1957, it became a bluegrass standard. It's one of NUMEROUS bluegrass songs that are actually 12 bar or 8 bar blues songs.

Back to the harp playing, the leads were perfectly constructed. Started off with a familiar phrase of the song, goes into a little wildness, then ends with a tag that resolves the solo and intros the next guy's solo. 

That's solid bluegrass. 


Dave
___________________
Dave Payne Sr. 
Elk RIver Harmonicas
www.elkriverharmonicas.com