RE: [Harp-L] what goes through my head?

[Glenn and Debbie Woodhouse <gwoodhouse40@xxxxxxx>]

Thanks for the post Chris, I really enjoyed it.  Iceman, your comments really strike a chord with me (excuse the pun).  I am really trying to find a happy medium with comping.  As a four piece (Drums, Bass, Electric Guitar, and Harp) our guitarist always wants me to play some kind of continuous accompaniment under her solos and vocals.  She feels the sound drops out too much coming off of vocals and into her guitar solos if I am not playing something or that it helps her vocally be in key if I am playing under her vocals.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it is clashing/competing with where the real focus belongs.  The most successful approach for me is to quietly play octaves through the I IV V progression or just hang on the I, altering the volume and vibrato dynamics at selective points in the tune.  When performing, playing anywhere from 24 to 40 tunes with the above strategy can become monotonous pretty fast for the listener.  I think I am just going to defy my partner's better judgement at times, back off, and work on selective fills more as a means to mix up this comping strategy.  

 

I would really welcome some advice and examples of good comping and critique on the songs I have posted on the MySpace player at www.ColdRail.com . In the first three tunes at a minimum there is examples of it working and not working.

 

Thanks, Glenn

> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 3
> Date: Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:34:47 -0500
> From: icemanle@xxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] what goes through my head?
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
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> I like the restraint Chris shows by "not playing" for most of the song. The few fills he does are well timed and don't intrude into the flow or disturb the lead at that time. The solo is very well done, with a lot of space to help define the actual linear ideas when they occur. 
> 
> Too many harmonica players tend to forget about playing silence during their solos.
> 
>