Re: [Harp-L] Summertime on A Diatonic

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

It was not only Miles' choices of notes, but also his choices of silences between the notes - I think Iceman will agree on this - that made his playing effective (same goes for harmonica players such as Rice Miller, aka Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Jimmy Reed).

Sometimes when listening to someone whose playing you dig, and hoping to emulate what they're doing, you may get more out of it by listening to the phrasing, almost as if it were a speech heard from afar, where you can't hear the actual words but are nonetheless carried along by the cadence of the speaker's voice. Ignore the actual notes and listen for where the phrase begins and ends, the direction it goes in, the pauses and interruptions, how it launches and how it comes to a conclusion. Once you get the feel of that, you can find your own notes to create a similar expression, adapted to your "voice" and the notes that work for you in the context of your instrument and the music you're playing.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5


--- On Mon, 9/29/08, IcemanLE@xxxxxxx <IcemanLE@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> From: IcemanLE@xxxxxxx <IcemanLE@xxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Summertime on A Diatonic
> To: wasabileo@xxxxxxxxxx
> Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Monday, September 29, 2008, 6:24 AM
> yes, yes. A lot of great inspiration can be had in
> transcribing Miles' solo  
> on this cut and applying it to harmonica. You don't
> have to go for the 
> complete  solo - pick out sections that move you. It was
> Miles' choice of notes and 
> not  his quantity of notes that made a powerful statement.
>  
>  
> In a message dated 9/27/2008 8:32:11 A.M. Eastern Daylight
> Time,  
> wasabileo@xxxxxxxxxx writes:
> 
> I have  been listening to Miles Davis "Porgy and
> Bess" and would love to 
> incorporate  some of those ideas on the harp.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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