Re: [Harp-L] FEELING THE GROOVE and reflecting it physically

["John Kerkhoven" <solo_danswer@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Part of the progress here comes from understanding the music.

I'll stick to blues because that's what I know best.

- You need to hear (as was made clear to me by a helpful musician) the 2 and
the 4, those are the strong beats in the music. Get into the habit of
snapping your fingers to the two and the four, tapping your foot to the two
and the four, finding any physical movement to go with the rhythm of the
song.
- The snare will help you locate the 2 & 4.
- Listen to and for chord changes. For 12-bar blues, check out Adam Gussow's
Blues Harmonica Secrets Revealed lessons 18 through 20 on Youtube.
- Learn to break a song down. I mean analyse it so you hear where the lyrics
fall in relation to the beats and the bars. (I've made a simple full-page
grid with 48 blocks on it -- 12 rows of 4 -- that I use as a visual aid when
working out a song. Anyone who wants one can e-mail me off-list.)
- Not all songs are 12 bar. Learn about different structures.
- These last two points are about listening. If you are unfamiliar with a
rhythmic style -- say Reggae or Funk (heavy on the 1) -- it will take a
while to get it into your bones. It's one thing to play along with what
others are doing, it's another to play by yourself, which is to say to lay a
groove down on your own.
- So finally, take your favourite songs, slow and fast, 8-bar 12-bar and
other variations, and learn to sing and play them. It can take a few days,
or a few weeks even, to get a song down. Once you work through one song,
others will come more easily.
- Play the songs you learn over and over.
- Listen to your musical mentors over and over.

Check out Madcat and Kane's version of Sweet Home Chicago on youtube. They
play it slowly and Kane has her whole body in the groove of the tune.

Check out Son House singing John the Revelator or Grinnin' in Your Face --
acapella with just hand clapping.

Try, when you are listening to a tune to hear just the rhythm of it. Robert
Johnson could do this with just his guitar. There's a pulse, for instance,
in Walking Blues. It's easy to imagine the rhythm as the pace of a man
walking.

Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller)'s Bring it on Home is a train song, the
rhythm is more train-like.

It's all on the 2 and the 4. Kim Wilson, Little Walter swinging tunes, more
variation on the theme.

I would love to hear what others have to add, but I hope this helps.

John



Ok, I'll bit, any help in this area would be appreciated. At almost 60, and
still a beginner, I have trouble keeping time to the music. I watch youtube
and try to tap my foot in time and lose track. I am in awe of Kim Wilson's
ability here. I can't help but notice he often "marches" in time with the
music, using both feet alternately. The amazing part to me is that he has
such a sense of the rhythm that he can change to one foot tapping, obviously
twice as fast as alternating feet, and then go back to both feet! It is
clear to me that the music is inside him and just has to get out.

Dave