[Harp-L] Re: bluegrass chop?

["Beck, Peter" <6beck@xxxxxxxx>]

Ahoy Brian,

The way you phrase your question makes me think your concept of "chop" may be different from mine. I find chopping in the fiddle/mandolin role to be quite comfortable, even for a long jam on a song, because there's good variety between drawing and blowing.

You are playing cross harp, right?

On a typical I-IV-V song, I draw 2-3-4 for the I chord, blow the 1-4 octave for the IV chord, and then what I do for the V chord varies according to the song and my mood, but it's usually one of these:

*        Draw the 1 and hold it (i.e., no chop on the V chord)

*        Play a sequence of notes using 1 draw, 2 draw half-step bent, and 3 draw whole-step bent (i.e., the notes of the V chord triad; no chop)

*        Switch to the other harp I'm holding, which would be in the key of the song, and draw 2-3-4 to get the V chord chop (if you're playing in G, with a C harp, you would switch to a G harp and draw 2-3-4 to get a D chord, which is the V in G).

*        Play the melody (no chop)

*        Throw in (as Richard Greene calls it) "some shit," which might be a snazzy fill up away from the low end (still no chop though).

You "get away with" not chopping on the V in most songs because the V chord doesn't hang around for several beats; it's there to set up a resolution to the I, so it gets in and out pretty quick.

The trick comes on a song like "Banks of the Ohio," where the progression squats on the V for several bars. This is where your ability to really control 3-draw bends can come to the fore. Or you can switch to the other harp. (Holding 1-draw for an extended period will leave you sounding clueless. Which assumes that other people are listening to you and judging you, which may not be a valid assumption. Lots of times at jams what sounds reasonably smooth and together is be the product of a whole bunch of folks who are just holding on for dear life and will only notice as a hindrance if you if you play-loudly-a blatantly wrong note.)

Hope this helps.

Hooray for culture!

Peter Beck
6beck@xxxxxxxx