Re: [Harp-L] Creativity Question

[icemanle@xxxxxxx]

First of all, piano is my main instrument, so I have a visual of the keyboard as notes in my imagination.


However, when I began learning harmonica, I memorized solos and tried to reproduce them note for note. In a rock band in the 70's I played Whammer Jammer - pretty close, but that was good enough for rock and roll at the time. Then I fell in love with Corky Siegel's Hush Hush and also early Charlie Musselwhite. I did a lot of note for note reproduction from Charlie's The Harmonica According to Charlie Musselwhite album. What was funny was, I would work like crazy to memorize the whole solo and so often, when I'd hit the stage to play, I'd get 1/2 way through and lose hold of that string of notes, leaving me hanging. The rest would sound pretty lame by comparison. It was then that I realized that I'd have to play ideas born from within so as not to end up in an embarrassing musical position.


Next was attempting Little Walter stuff. I'd grab a few ideas here and there and was always amazed at how he could sustain interest without too much repetition throughout. So, key phrases were learned and I'd get "loose" with them. However, it was still just pieces put together in different orders, so would feel old to me after a short while.


Finally I dove into visualizing notes upon a backdrop of chords and chord changes, revisiting heavily the music theory I'd learned in college along with new books on theory, sitting at the piano. It eventually got to where I could imagine the chord changes as a background and see the notes as choices floating in front. Then I'd see common notes through different chord changes and gained a simpler approach, trying to get back to diatonic choices without too many sharps and flats added, so to speak. Next I studied the sound of each note within the diatonic scale degrees - what does a fourth sound like, a fifth, the second, etc, until each note gave me a different feel when considering choosing it.


It all came together when I studied the music and life of Miles Davis, who could always seem to pick out a perfect note at any given moment over any chord changes and seemed to favor playing less notes to express more ideas.


Now I pretty much play in the moment about 90% of the time and seem to constantly discover new choices over familiar chords, moving past the diatonic approach and considering all the chromatic tones as well. I also learned the importance of having "your sound" play a large part, thanks again to Miles Davis, and seem to lean more towards long sustained notes w/out vibrato, although I do love a deep vibrato for spice.


Having taken a real original approach to blues, it wasn't always embraced by the traditionalists, as interesting and different as it sounded. Feeling I was missing out on something, I've spent the last year pretty much relearning TB everything w/slaps, etc, and working at the deep FEEL involved. The emotions are great, but I still find myself gravitating towards melodic arcing and interesting lines if I'm not careful in the blues. Sort of a fun struggle for me, but it's never boring.


The Iceman





-----Original Message-----
From: Chesper Nevins <chespernevins@xxxxxxxxx>
To: icemanle@xxxxxxx <icemanle@xxxxxxx>
Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wed, Apr 28, 2010 10:44 am
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Creativity Question


Nice question! 

How about you?

Jason
http://myspace.com/jasonharmonica

On 4/28/10, icemanle@xxxxxxx <icemanle@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>
>  Do you memorize solos and repeat them or do you improvise in the moment?
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>  If you memorize and repeat, are they your own creations or do you figure out 
another's solo and reproduce it? If so, how do you keep it sounding fresh?
>
>  If you improvise in the moment, what is your mental/creative approach?
>
>
>