Re: [Harp-L] Jazz chromatic books

[Eugene Ryan <ryan.eugene@xxxxxxxxx>]

Winslow write:
>>One problem with copying music played on other instruments is that a
phrase may sound musical and natural on the instrument that orirgnally
played it, but on harmonica may sound awkward and unmusical (or at least
un-jazz).

I agree that some transcribed solos may work and some may not, but I think
if you try them, you'll figure out what works and what doesn't. It's a
really valuable activity, well worthwhile - and as Richard says, it's not
always a lot of work.  In terms of things working on harmonica or not
working, I think the great players like Toots and Stevie were very
successful at figuring out how to make things work on harmonica.

If you transcribe, you will get the following:
- the sound and feel of great playing in your 'fingers'
- the notes, phrases and overall arc of each melodic phrase
- characteristic licks of the player
- the time feel of the playing, how to play great swinging eight notes etc.
- your ear gets a lot better
- you find out what doesn't work
- you get to play at tempo and find out how to handle this - and the types
of things that work at tempo on harmonica
- it's a lot of fun playing the same lines/solos/notes/bends as these great
players - even if you're just copying, you're playing great music and it
feels like that!

If you analyse the playing afterwards if you have some theory, you can
probably see why certain note/pattern choices work.  The danger in not
applying any analysis/theory is that you may not be able to take what you
learned from that solo and extrapolate it to other tunes - but equally,
there's not much point in playing reams of scales if it doesn't sound like
jazz.

I've transcribed a reasonable number of jazz tunes in the last year or so,
both on and off the instrument, and here are some of the tunes and
conclusions I've come to about them (dunno if it'll be of much use to
anyone, but it might show some of the surprises I got and some things I
learned):
 - Miles Davis' solos - work great on harmonica - no real surprise
 - Lester Young's Body and Soul - works well, but can sound a little stiff
on a Super 64 chrom (compared to Lester) if you play it in the same range -
also uses a Bb note lower than the 64 range
 - Jim Hall's Stella - works really well on harmonica - that was surprising
to me, and this was a great find as I love Jim's playing
- a jazz blues walking bass solo on a Super 64 - good to get the quarter
note feel and how the player approaches each chord, but on the down side, on
the 64 you have to either play too high or jump up or down in spots, which
makes it sound a bit different than the recording.  This one was interesting
because the solo was definitely not according to the formulae you see in
jazz books for playing bass lines. Yeah I know, should have used a bass harp
- no harm to be able to do it on the spot on your main harp though.
- Wynton Kelly's piano solo on Freddie Freeloader - only some parts work
well, which was surprising as it's a pretty bluesy solo and relatively
simple.
 - Parker solos - really hard to make it at the tempo, and can sound quite
unnatural - but some of it works!

None of this is to take away from other approaches, and I very much look
forward to Winslow's book on jazz chromatic harp. I still recommend to
transcribe as well.

Eugene