Re: [Harp-L] Re: Bluegrass



David Naiditch, David Payne, and Richard Hunter have made some very good
comments on this.

There are two sides to the problem.  Our approach to the jam and any lack of
knowledge that the jammers may have about our instrument.  String players
are comfortable helping any other string player (especially novices), but
they most often have no real knowledge about how the harmonica works or can
be applied to the music.  Most often they are faced with a harmonica player
who thinks that he knows what he is doing, but really doesn't, and he is so
obnoxious and destructive to the music in the jam that they all get tired
and the jam breaks up.

I encourage string players to have the same patience with anyone interested
in learning the genre; but since they are most often only knowledgeable
about stringed instruments, it is difficult for them to keep the same
patience with those who are not playing stringed instruments.  So I also try
to help them understand some basics about the harmonica and how it can fit
into the music.

However, we have to do our own work to be ready to participate with them.
Jams are social occasions and have rules.  We work our way in from the
outside until they get a little more comfortable with us.  We do our
homework and prepare a couple of tunes and songs, in normal keys, so that we
will be ready to participate.  We participate politely, like the other
players.  If we do not have the knowledge or equipment to participate, we
sit out and enjoy the music quietly.  If we take the opportunity to learn
the tune, we do so in a way that does not disturb the jam.  We also remember
that, regardless of how accomplished we may be in another music genre, we
may be novices in this music genre -- so we listen and watch and learn with
the goal to contribute to the music as the others do and blend in (not stand
out obviously).

In time, as we keep helping them learn about us and we learn about them,
they will be better able to help other novice harmonica players make as
solid a contribution as they run across them -- just as they do with the
novice string players.

A couple of things I recommend for all harmonica players:

   1. Learn to sing common bluegrass songs (and know what keys you sing them
   in) so that you can make a greater contribution to the jam than simply
   playing the harmonica.
   2. If you have an ear for harmony, learn about the parts and pitch in on
   the harmony whenever there is an opening.
   3. Learn how to play a stringed instrument in bluegrass, as well.  The
   best choice is usually guitar, because there generally is always a guitar.
   Being able to read guitar chords can help you better choose how you would
   approach a song or tune on the harmonica and will help you keep "in" by
   playing over the chords, if you get lost on the melody, until you can pick
   the melody back up again.  This is a trick the string players use all the
   time, and most people who are listening have no clue they ever got lost.  It
   isn't uncommon for bluegrass string players to be skilled or comfortable on
   multiple instruments.

 Cara


On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 2:00 PM, Ken Hildebrand <airmojoken@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> I discovered "Bluegrass" or facsmili's of it, back in the late 70's, played
> by various bands in local northeast Ohio bars.  Disco was popular, and my
> friends and I, who were in our early 20's, were looking for alternatives.
> Revolving disco-balls didn't look very good in our customized party vans,
> and the music wasn't right either. It sucked!
>
> The bands played a wide variety of songs made popular by "The Nitty Gritty
> Dirt Band", Jerry Jeff Walker, Flatt & Scruggs, Jonathan Edwards, John
> Prine, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, and many others... I also discovered
> harmonicas, Norton Buffalo, Charlie McCoy, and the infamous PT Gazell.
>
> Alot of this music just melded well together... we searched out real
> bluegrass music, and anything with a country flavor to it.
>
> If I was going to call the music something other than "Bluegrass", I would
> have to call it "Blueweed".
>
> Those were fun times, and I miss those friends and my '74 Dodge Maxi-Van.
>
> Ken H in OH
>
>
>
>



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