Re: [Harp-L] Working on groove

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Music Cal wrote:
<Much of my groove is solid and was established
<as a guitar player. Often the technical difficulties of playing the harp get
<muck up the execution of my groove despite my feeling for the groove being
<good. So, how does one work the execution?

Play simple parts.

Most grooves are made up mostly of pretty simple parts. It has to be that way--everybody can't be riffing insanely, or the groove would get cluttered. 

Consider Magic Dick's harp parts with J Geils--very tightly wound into the rhythm section, and usually consisting of a few notes.  Huey Lewis's rhythm lick on "Heart of Rock 'n Roll" is very simple--he plays the bottom two draw notes with a rhythm articulated by his tongue, not a very complicated one--and it works fine. Another great example of a simple rhythm lick that works perfectly on harp is the Clash's "Train in Vain"--that part is so simple the guy doesn't even change chords when the band does, and it drives the band anyway. 

Thanks, Richard Hunter



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