[Harp-L] RE: Harp-L Digest, Vol 70, Issue 80

[Michael Posey <harrpoe@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

 The below link will take you to the chart you seek. You will be playing in 2nd position. So if the band is in E, you are playing the A harp. If you are playing blues/rock, learn 2nd position or cross harp first.

 

http://www.harmonicalessons.com/overview_chart.html

 

I am not the be all tell all however, I would like to offer the following based on my own experiences: 

 

Unless you want to sound like Brett Michaels or Alanis Morrisette, (you DONT!) you may want to consider the other advise being provided and learn to crawl before you enter the relay race. If you're determined to 'just do it', IMHO, the best thing you could do is find a decent guitar player and jam with him/her acoustically as much as possible before you go before a crowd. This accomplishes many things with basic theory and tone development included.

 

Go buy Hard Again by Muddy Waters. Listen to it at least 5 times before you even begin to try to play along with it. The harp player is James Cotton. Guitar player is Johnny Winter.  The guitar/harp keys are listed here:

 

http://www.planetharmonica.com/Ressources/albums.htm

 

Listen to what Cotton is playing but listen more what he is NOT playing. He is not playing over the vocals, the guitar solos or really overplaying at all when it is his time to shine. Keep it simple. ALL harp players start out overplaying. I will probably be slain for saying it but I believe it to be true. Less is more with harp. You can't bend if you can't play a smooth single note first. You can't play triplets correctly without learning how to trill first. You will hear notes coming out of Cotton's harps that you will not be able to play on yours in the same key. Dont worry, that comes years down the road IF you stick with it. Most of all, listen to his tone and then listen to yours and note the difference. Always try to keep your tone as full and fat as possible. Thin is not good. Deep and resonante are.

 

Know your place in the jam, (the rookie) know the jam leader and his/her ques, keep as much eye contact with him/her as possible, keep your solos to no more than 1 or 2 measures unless instructed otherwise and DONT STEP ON ANYONE ELSE'S SOLOS or VOCALS. Assuming you are playing thru the PA, do not stick your harp up against the mic and start playing. Start back a ways and work up to it to reach your volume or you will blow out your audience and band members. If you have fun at either's expense, you will not be invited back. If you start to hear feedback, back off immediately!

 

Get on youtube and enter harp instruction. There are DAYS of lessons from excellent players. Find the ones you like and watch them to learn some basic licks and how to string them together. There is also a plethora of backing tracks to play along with.

 

Intimidated yet? Good! A bit of intimidation ignites the desire to improve. However, don't deter. If you cared enough to find this list and seek advice, you should also care enough to prepare as much as possible before you subject yourself to criticism and ridicule. Or, conversely and hopefully, have a good time, and enjoy a few compliments for doing your homework before your jam. It will be very obvious one way or the other.

 

Good Luck- Report back.

 

 

 


> 
> Message: 4
> Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:23:49 EDT
> From: Lyalljames@xxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Re:Help!
> To: cdgaldos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, gbuxman@xxxxxxxxx, drfertig@xxxxxxxxx,
> harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Message-ID: <c5a.4c83e6a1.3774d465@xxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
> 
> Dear list Thanks for all the great beginning performance advice. You 
> are all very generous. I know this is a stupid question but I'm not really a 
> musician. If the band is playing in a certain key what harp key do I play 
> in? So if the guitar is playing in C what key harp do I use. I know 
> people talk about the "circle of fifths" but is there a simple chart like 
> Band=C then harp is ?. Thanks for all the encouragement! Jim Lyall N. 
> Canton ,Ohio
> **************Make your summer sizzle with fast and easy recipes for the 
> grill. (http://food.aol.com/grilling?ncid=emlcntusfood00000005)
> 
> 
> 

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