Re: [Harp-L] How we learn Blues Harp

[Philharpn@xxxxxxx]

I disagree about the reported dearth of blues notation. There is scads of 
it around -- it just isn't targeted at blues harp players who can't read 
music (there is NO tab).

There are blues song books, blues fake books and blues collections. Many 
guitar books have music notation (in addition to guitar tab). Just look at the 
notes.

All of David Barrett's books have music notation. This comes in handy when 
trying to figure out how the tablature works out.

The Willie Dixon Book
 The Book of the Blues
The Blues Songbook
The Blues Fakebook
The Blues Bag
She's Got the Blues (songs made famous by blueswomen)
The Bessie Smith Songbook
Folk Blues
Handy's Blues An Antholgy

Just to name some I own that I can see in the bookshelf across the room.

Some of these books contain piano arrangements; others feature guitar 
arrangements. But they all contain a melody line and chord names.

Add to this rock 'n' roll sheet music collections (piano & guitar) and you 
will have even more blues. That's because in the 50s anything with a guitar 
or jumping sax was considered rock 'n' roll. When in fact a good portion of 
this early rock was really blues -- just look at the I IV V chord form and 
the repeating 12 bar sections. The other issue is that the people who put 
these books together wouldn't know a blues if it bit them on the toe -- so they 
put it in the rock 'n' roll book.

MOREOVER, the Jamey Aebersold collection has several volumes devoted to 
blues -- all with notation and chord changes. Plus backing tracks.

How does somebody make the jump from being a nonreader to becoming a 
reader? Use the Charlie Musselwhite Method.   Get some fakebooks with some songs 
you already know in the key of C. Use the tab pattern rendered in a harmonica 
method book or look on the web for that chart that shows the note layout 
for all 12 keys and hole number (4 blow is C on a C harp). Charlie just 
created his own tab until he didn't have to write the numbers for the notes 
anymore. 

Use songs that you already know, like "Saints" or "Old Folks at Home" so 
you can tell right away if your tab is working. The songs will sound like 
they're supposed to.

What about other keys? You can start with songs in the key of C -- no 
sharps, not flats. And when the song does extend into sharps or flats you can 
located them and mark them as bent notes/overblows or notes requiring the 
button on a chromatic. Or an XB-40 that bends on all the notes, blow or draw.

James Major has written a series of 12 books (one for each key) that shows 
the note layout for positions 1-6 and 12 on each harp.   The letter-size 
books cost $7.95 each. Which means you can get the whole set for $96 -- that 
way you never have to GUESS or transpose the notes from the C harp to F or G.  
 There are some web sites that will tell you the same information. But I 
find it's a lot easier to flip a page than click a mouse. But whatever works 
for you.

As for harmonica method books: I've been collecting harmonica books from 
Tony Glover's works (which always puzzled me) to the current day and just 
about all of them feature notation. Jon Gindick's do not and David Harp, as I 
recall. But they are about the only exceptions. I can't recall a   
Centerstream, Mel Bay or Hal Leonard that lacks notation. There is the Sonny Terry book 
with the impossible tablature that I defy anyone to figure out.

You can find scads of harp tabulator on the Internet, but that probably has 
more to do with people trying to skirt the copyright laws (tablature is not 
really piracy is it???) that would follow if people post sheet music.

Don't anybody misunderestimate me about my view of music notation. If I 
could figure out a song from listening to a recording, I surely would. I can't. 
I ernvy the people who can do that! For me, I'd rather sit down and play 
the song through a couple of times and then play another and so on.

Some people can learn songs off records. I can't. Life is too short. I need 
all the help I can get.
I just open up one of my books, look at the tune to see if it is playable 
on a blues harp. Will bent notes handle the accidentals (extra sharps or 
flats) or will I need to go to the chromatic (SlideHarp a Richter layout or   
solo tuned chromatic) to perform the song?

If I want to memorize the song, I simply play it through until I have it 
memorized.

One of the famous pro players on this list once said that learning music 
wasn't any harder than Third Grade Math. 

The real reason most harmonica players don't learn to read music is they 
think it takes too long. When they can sit down and figure out a few songs, 
they are all set. Learning to read takes a little longer. It's easy to get 
started and they don't see any benefit in going to the next level.

Why do many people use the two-finger hunt-and-peck method to type on the 
computer instead of touch typing? They can sit down and hunt for the letters 
and that meets their needs. Learning to touch type on a QWERTY keyboard 
takes longer.   

The fact that previous harp players all learned and played by ear is 
something most harp players find out about later and helps them feel good about 
not reading. Look at the Walters, they didn't read. Why should I?

Don't get me wrong, Bob: I think you're on the right track. Mike Turk is 
one of the best. And jazz is a great way to learn music theory. I also agree 
that overblows can be problematic. Some people can execute them flawlessly in 
blues and jazz, but for many overblows are simply beyond reach.

Hope this helps.
Phil



In a message dated 7/19/10 10:47:29 AM, bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> Up until recently my path to learn blues harp follows the traditional arc 
> for baby boomers. Through a combination of books like Tony Glover's, a few 
> teachers here and there, an apprenticeship of sorts with a local blues 
> luminary, years of jam sessions, a few SPAH seminars, and some "master 
> classes," I've arrived at what one might call a certain level of competence.
> Last year I began studying with Mike Turk, who by the way is an amazing 
> player and teacher who should be on everyone's short list of Jazz harmonica 
> greats. We started out with the diatonic.  But I have been frustrated by the 
> rigors of overblowing and recently began playing the chromatic.
> Studying Jazz on the chromatic has led me to the joys (irony gently 
> implied) of charts and reading.  Reading is amazing.  Even though I'm still at 
> the see-Dick-run phase in my reading, I've learned four Ellington songs in 
> three weeks. Had I been obliged to slog my way through learning them by ear, 
> I'd probably still be stuck on "In a Sentimental Mood."
> And now to the point of this post. Why don't most blues harp players learn 
> to read? Why is there such a dearth of blues charts? And why are the 
> method books often not written in standard musical notation?  And why don't most 
> people approach blues harp like other instruments?
> I sort of know the answer. It's two fold: tradition and audience. The 
> originators learned by doing and by mimicking because they didn't have access 
> to formal musical training. And since we want to sound just like them, we 
> have adopted their way of learning. And because we have adopted the approach 
> of originators, most harp players can't read music. Music book publishers 
> are in business to sell books so they don't publish books their audience 
> can't use.
> In my opinion, this approach puts us behind the eight ball as musicians 
> and as members of a band. We often learn just enough theory to function and 
> that's it.  And on top of that, it takes years to develop our ears so we can 
> listen to a piece and accurately repeat what we've heard.
> Bob
>