Okay, so last night my band was hosting its final Tuesday night blues jam at a
local blues venue called Ziggies, and and this player comes late in the jam and
I'm asked to help back him up on the last set of the night.
We had fun on a couple of simple blues numbers, and then he says he wants to do
this instrumental in C called "Sleepwalk." Well, I don't recall the tune until
he starts playing, and then it hits me... Oh Yeah! Santo & Johnny - 1950's
lap-steel guitar ballad, and sooo beautiful!
I'm eager to partake, but I know that 2nd position blues won't cut it. I reach
for my G harp and attempt to play it off-mic in 12th position. By Gum it WORKED!
The guy who called the song played it flawlessly on his electric w. slide and
then he gives me a solo. it sounded good to me, so I kept on playing.
His grin told me he was happy, the applause tole me no one in the audience
expected the blues harp player to hang with this song. Then he took me to the
bridge and it STILL laid out beautifully - no overbends needed, just a lot of
controlled conventional bends.
I was stunned, and totally happy to find all the notes I needed, and be able to
improvise comfortably around the melody in a meaningful way... playing outside
my comfort zone in natural sounding way. Wow! Such a Great feeling!
I LOVE 12th position. Perfect for this song, and so many other non-blues
classics. Thanks to Chris Michalek, Peter Ruth and other friends who encouraged
me to pursue 12th to the point where I could feel comfortable enough to
attempt... and then convincingly PULL OFF... something like this on stage. Yup,
our last night at Ziggies was a great one...
Harpin' in Colorado, --Ken M. TeraBlu Band on My Space http://www.myspace.com/terablu