Re: [Harp-L] Bluegrass

[David Payne <dmatthew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi: 

I just want to make sure that I don't give the impression that this beat stuff 
is more complicated than it really is. When you explain it, it comes off 
complicated, I would imagine the part about spreading out a syncopated rhythm 
over multiple measures would sound more complicated than it is.I want to make 
sure it's clear that there is no wrong or right way to do it. I know I don't 
approach a song with any preconceived notion of how the rhythm is going to go 
down before I play a song the first time - or even a song I've played before if 
I'm playing with new musicians. When you play with musicians, you feed off one 
another, you compliment one another. Sometimes, you'll accent what they are 
accenting. Sometimes, you'll accent what they don't. It just depends and it 
won't take long for you to get the feel of it. 
One thing I'd like to add: 
Note what David Grisman does here on the mandolin at 3:14 while Doc Watson is 
picking lead. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-tuhyWgt00
So the set up of music at that moment is like this:
Doc is playing lead. 
There is a rhythm guitar playing. 
David stops playing chords and plays a 7th note. 
What happens when you play one note like that? You change the chord of the whole 
band. let's pretend the band is playing a G chord and you are cross harping on a 
C harmonica. You bend down the 2 draw to an F. The result is: the band is 
playing the notes G B D, you throw in an F note. Now, the band is producing the 
following notes G B D and F, a G7 chord. That's why you don't have to play a 
complete chord on the harmonica if you don't have it. You can play double stops 
and it sounds perfectly fine because the other instruments are playing the notes 
of the chord you don't have on the harmonica. 
A ton of players do that without realizing it. I started thinking about that 
watching my grandpa on the mandolin. I never saw him play a full chop chord. He 
always played double stops instead of full chords. On a G chord, for instance, 
he would chop only a G and a B note and I wondered why that worked. It worked 
because the rest of the band was playing the D note. It was a unique sound, the 
overall sound of the band was a full G chord, with a little more emphasis on the 
1st and 3rd notes. Another interesting thing I've seen from old school guitar 
players is them playing almost entirely basslines - they did that back in the 
day when pretty much nobody had a bass, but they wanted that sound they heard on 
the radio. My point is, there is no "right" way to do it and you can learn a lot 
by watching what musicians are doing on other instruments. 

David

________________________________
From: "sheltraw@xxxxxxxxxxxx" <sheltraw@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: David Payne <dmatthew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Harp L Harp L <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tue, February 1, 2011 1:28:30 AM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Bluegrass

Hi David

Thanks for the YouTube link. That was a great example of the chop. Your
time-keeping tips of using ghost chops on the 1 and 3 is fantastic. I will
give it a try.

Did you overdub the barking in the vid? Can't beat that authentic
dawg sound!

Cheers