Thanks once again for a great tune and set of lessons. Even after listening many, many times, there are alot of little details I probably would not have picked up without your breakdown. Bravo! Lots to work on and enjoy until next time.
Thanks for the geneology of this tune. So interesting to listen to each of them in relation to the Rick Estrin version we're working on. I have listened to both the Pinetop original and the Big Walter version but never made the connection. Pinetop playing in C# is a little WTF. Piano players? Really love how the intro works on harmonica and wild to hear it with, I don't know, clarinet?
The phrase in the third bar with the slight drag or stutter is something I want to wire into my brain. Likewise on the 5th bar when you hit the 1-blow on the upbeat. You could have waited and hit that on the down beat but it's such a cool surprise this way.
It wasn't conscious, but in thinking about it now, that 1 blow on the upbeat probably comes from Now's The Time, by Charlie Parker - which is also the same tune that the song The Hucklebuck came from.
I think that word is perfect. It relates to your idea that the playing should be conversational and make sense. If you took the conjunctions out of a sentence it wouldn't make sense. A conjunction links ideas together. Brilliant.
Mary Beth - google Thelonius Monk 25 tips. There are some real touchstones there. I think I first heard about them when Rick did the Chicago Shuffle lesson, way back when.
I had to look up "conjunctive" but now I think I know what you're talking about :) You've quoted Monk's about how it's everyone's job to make the drummer sound good. This performance makes me think of another of his 25 tips: When you are swinging, swing more! I'm digging it!
That's another one of my favorite Monk quotes. And by "conjunctive" (hopefully I'm using it the right way - I've been using that description for years) I mean the little supportive devices between the licks that seem to hold things together and propel the piece foreword. A conjunctive device could be a casual, barely audible partial chord, or it could be a little lick that leads into a bigger "statement" - What I call "conjunctive devices" might sometimes, on the surface seem inconsequential, but to me, they're often the glue holding things together and they help to create the impression of buoyancy that can make a particular lick or verse feel alive
I'm in woodshed mode these days. Lots to work on. Just thought I'd reach out and say hello. I hope you and the guys are doing OK in this wacky time. You've got a decade on me but we're both in the danger zone :) Hope to see you next October when you come to the Bull Run.
Hi Bill, Good to hear from you too. This is a crazy time for sure - With any luck, I'll just stay in the house and avoid getting sick - At my age, when they start having to make decisions on who gets treatment, I'll be expendable. In the meantime, there's plenty to keep me occupied. Thanks for checking in!
Thanks for your response Dennis. The 3-hole bends are so essential to playing blues and I have been working hard on this, both puckered and tongue blocked. This is helpful. I've found that focusing on drawing deeply into my belly really helps and thinking deliberately about moving the bend further up or down in your mouth/throat is a new idea. I feel like I've been doing that somewhat instinctively, but probably not enough. It helps to have a focus when working on things that are hard.
That's what I'm here for...some of this will be more detailed on a book I'm working on (in my spare time haha!!) but that should help a lot. Thinking can help during practice, just not so much on the bandstand haha!
Ah, that 3-hole half-step bend...Why does it get harder to hold and control on the higher pitched harmonica? Is there something that shifts in the technique? I have much better control and vibrato playing it puckered but articulation of the phrasing would be so much better if I had that control tongue-blocking. Anything particular you would recommend focusing on?
The technique of bending changes with every note you want to bend, as it is a pitch-specific technique. The lower the note, the deeper it is done. The higher the note, the furtehr front it is done. It's all about finding the sweet spot for each pitch you want to bend, puckered or tongue-blcoked. You are just likely more comfortable at it puckered because perhaps you have more time practicing and playing that way with bends compared to TB.
Thanks for your response. I'm starting to get it I think. It seems like theory is more of way to codify and communicate a relationship of notes being played that give a certain sound. By describing things in terms of intervals, the pattern transfers to any key, since it's all set in relation to the root note. In the same way that giving a thing a name or word gives it a concept place in your brain, the theory can give you a pattern to identify or create distinct styles and feels. So if I listen to a Louis Armstrong solo and identify the notes he's playing in an interval schema, I can begin to identify the pattern that is creating the feel of the solo. Of course there's more than just the note choices that create the feel, but it's a part of it. It starts with listening and knowing the sound by, well, what it sounds like. Putting it in the context of theory gives you some constraints that help identify or recreate that sound in other keys or contexts.
I heard Charlie Batty once say you don't want to be governed by theory but it's good to be aware of it. That seems wise. So much more to master to be a good harp player. Thanks again - now I'll get back to practicing my 3-hole draw bends :)
Bill - this is the best reply I cold have asked for - you are exactly right. It's very much like a language that way. When you learn how to put words and parts of speech together, you learn how to communicate certain things...HOWEVER, there are other things involved such as HOW you say the words, the timing and intonation of voice, and of course slang and innuendo. So once you learn some basics, you also learn how to add other meanings to words (notes) by decorations, timing, textures, effects, etc...and then use it all as a means to be expressive!
All different styles of music use different parts of the scale to get their type of sound, so notes that work in traditional blues are fairly similar to old style rock and rool and country, but certain styles of jazz and other types of world/ethnic music all vary, which is a big reason why they sound different.
It also depends on how well you speak the language of music and how well you know how to piece together these different parts of the scale. In other words, just about any note CAN work if you know how to make it fit in, but that all depends on your knowledge and experience speaking the language of whatever music you are playing. There are some basic rules, but I go pretty in depth with this with a lot of my private students. However, I don't know of any GOOD resource for this type of knowledge aside from experience and taking some serious one-on-one lessons with someone who understands this concept.
I know there is some reticence to get deep into the theory, but perhaps you can point me toward some source. I can see and hear the roots of the changes, but I don't understand how the other notes played over each chord fit into a pattern or theory. It's hard not to be curious about what rules apply.
Hi Bill - follow through with this whole series first, then let me know what questions you have. I'll help in any way, but I do break some of it down...
I like the short format. This would be a good study piece to learn and then practice on different key harmonicas. There's a lot of 3-hole draw bend work and I'm not solidly consistent from one harp to another.
Yes - I strongly recommend practicing anything you learn on all different key harps! The 3 draw is so important to master, you can never be TOO good! Glad you're working on this...thanks
Yeh, on the Hate to See You Go CD it's definitely in F. Must be something funny about the YouTube version. Thanks. Looking forward to working on this again.
Well, thanks for giving us this piece. You may have needed to come up with a another lesson but this was a great one. And if anyone thinks they have this all wrapped up with a bow on it, they can check out the new record because you do a bunch of things differently on that so there's more to learn there. Personally, I'm at the point where I've got the basic notes and phrasing figured out but there's so much dynamic and tonal variation to key in on and also just keeping that swing. The rhythm is so infectious when you get it right, but if you slip and fall out of the pocket for an instant it stands out like a sore thumb. Demanding piece if you ask me. Thanks again.
Thanks Bill, I'm glad you dug the series, and yeah there's always lots more to learn, for all of us. As you know these lessons are just a means to a never ending end - They're just vehicles for growth.
Rick,
Thanks once again for a great tune and set of lessons. Even after listening many, many times, there are alot of little details I probably would not have picked up without your breakdown. Bravo! Lots to work on and enjoy until next time.
Bill
Thanks Bill! Glad you're enjoying it. Sometimes those small details can really be the difference maker.
Thanks for the geneology of this tune. So interesting to listen to each of them in relation to the Rick Estrin version we're working on. I have listened to both the Pinetop original and the Big Walter version but never made the connection. Pinetop playing in C# is a little WTF. Piano players? Really love how the intro works on harmonica and wild to hear it with, I don't know, clarinet?
The phrase in the third bar with the slight drag or stutter is something I want to wire into my brain. Likewise on the 5th bar when you hit the 1-blow on the upbeat. You could have waited and hit that on the down beat but it's such a cool surprise this way.
thanks for sharing all this.
b
It wasn't conscious, but in thinking about it now, that 1 blow on the upbeat probably comes from Now's The Time, by Charlie Parker - which is also the same tune that the song The Hucklebuck came from.
I think that word is perfect. It relates to your idea that the playing should be conversational and make sense. If you took the conjunctions out of a sentence it wouldn't make sense. A conjunction links ideas together. Brilliant.
Mary Beth - google Thelonius Monk 25 tips. There are some real touchstones there. I think I first heard about them when Rick did the Chicago Shuffle lesson, way back when.
Hey Rick,
I had to look up "conjunctive" but now I think I know what you're talking about :) You've quoted Monk's about how it's everyone's job to make the drummer sound good. This performance makes me think of another of his 25 tips: When you are swinging, swing more! I'm digging it!
That's another one of my favorite Monk quotes. And by "conjunctive" (hopefully I'm using it the right way - I've been using that description for years) I mean the little supportive devices between the licks that seem to hold things together and propel the piece foreword. A conjunctive device could be a casual, barely audible partial chord, or it could be a little lick that leads into a bigger "statement" - What I call "conjunctive devices" might sometimes, on the surface seem inconsequential, but to me, they're often the glue holding things together and they help to create the impression of buoyancy that can make a particular lick or verse feel alive
That is a great quote!! I have to remember that one, thank you!! When you are swinging, swing more!! :-) Perfect!!
Hey Rick,
I'm in woodshed mode these days. Lots to work on. Just thought I'd reach out and say hello. I hope you and the guys are doing OK in this wacky time. You've got a decade on me but we're both in the danger zone :) Hope to see you next October when you come to the Bull Run.
Best,
Bill
Hi Bill, Good to hear from you too. This is a crazy time for sure - With any luck, I'll just stay in the house and avoid getting sick - At my age, when they start having to make decisions on who gets treatment, I'll be expendable. In the meantime, there's plenty to keep me occupied. Thanks for checking in!
Yes! Hopefully all this work in the woodshed shows up positively on the stage when I'm focused on responding to my bandmates! That's the goal anyway!
Thanks for your response Dennis. The 3-hole bends are so essential to playing blues and I have been working hard on this, both puckered and tongue blocked. This is helpful. I've found that focusing on drawing deeply into my belly really helps and thinking deliberately about moving the bend further up or down in your mouth/throat is a new idea. I feel like I've been doing that somewhat instinctively, but probably not enough. It helps to have a focus when working on things that are hard.
That's what I'm here for...some of this will be more detailed on a book I'm working on (in my spare time haha!!) but that should help a lot. Thinking can help during practice, just not so much on the bandstand haha!
Ah, that 3-hole half-step bend...Why does it get harder to hold and control on the higher pitched harmonica? Is there something that shifts in the technique? I have much better control and vibrato playing it puckered but articulation of the phrasing would be so much better if I had that control tongue-blocking. Anything particular you would recommend focusing on?
Thank you once again!
The technique of bending changes with every note you want to bend, as it is a pitch-specific technique. The lower the note, the deeper it is done. The higher the note, the furtehr front it is done. It's all about finding the sweet spot for each pitch you want to bend, puckered or tongue-blcoked. You are just likely more comfortable at it puckered because perhaps you have more time practicing and playing that way with bends compared to TB.
Quick 4-chord on measure 2?
Yes, Quick IV (bar 2 of every chorus).
Hi Dennis,
Thanks for your response. I'm starting to get it I think. It seems like theory is more of way to codify and communicate a relationship of notes being played that give a certain sound. By describing things in terms of intervals, the pattern transfers to any key, since it's all set in relation to the root note. In the same way that giving a thing a name or word gives it a concept place in your brain, the theory can give you a pattern to identify or create distinct styles and feels. So if I listen to a Louis Armstrong solo and identify the notes he's playing in an interval schema, I can begin to identify the pattern that is creating the feel of the solo. Of course there's more than just the note choices that create the feel, but it's a part of it. It starts with listening and knowing the sound by, well, what it sounds like. Putting it in the context of theory gives you some constraints that help identify or recreate that sound in other keys or contexts.
I heard Charlie Batty once say you don't want to be governed by theory but it's good to be aware of it. That seems wise. So much more to master to be a good harp player. Thanks again - now I'll get back to practicing my 3-hole draw bends :)
Bill - this is the best reply I cold have asked for - you are exactly right. It's very much like a language that way. When you learn how to put words and parts of speech together, you learn how to communicate certain things...HOWEVER, there are other things involved such as HOW you say the words, the timing and intonation of voice, and of course slang and innuendo. So once you learn some basics, you also learn how to add other meanings to words (notes) by decorations, timing, textures, effects, etc...and then use it all as a means to be expressive!
Hi Dennis,
So here are some theory questions.
Does being in the key of F just mean that the root note is F?
I guess my main question is, what determines which notes "work" or are "legal" over a given chord and how does that relate to the key of the song?
Thanks,
Bill
Yes, being in the Key of F means F is the root.
All different styles of music use different parts of the scale to get their type of sound, so notes that work in traditional blues are fairly similar to old style rock and rool and country, but certain styles of jazz and other types of world/ethnic music all vary, which is a big reason why they sound different.
It also depends on how well you speak the language of music and how well you know how to piece together these different parts of the scale. In other words, just about any note CAN work if you know how to make it fit in, but that all depends on your knowledge and experience speaking the language of whatever music you are playing. There are some basic rules, but I go pretty in depth with this with a lot of my private students. However, I don't know of any GOOD resource for this type of knowledge aside from experience and taking some serious one-on-one lessons with someone who understands this concept.
Will do. Thanks Dennis.
I know there is some reticence to get deep into the theory, but perhaps you can point me toward some source. I can see and hear the roots of the changes, but I don't understand how the other notes played over each chord fit into a pattern or theory. It's hard not to be curious about what rules apply.
Thanks.
Bill
Hi Bill - follow through with this whole series first, then let me know what questions you have. I'll help in any way, but I do break some of it down...
I like the short format. This would be a good study piece to learn and then practice on different key harmonicas. There's a lot of 3-hole draw bend work and I'm not solidly consistent from one harp to another.
Yes - I strongly recommend practicing anything you learn on all different key harps! The 3 draw is so important to master, you can never be TOO good! Glad you're working on this...thanks
Gagi! You sound awesome!
Thanks, I broked my G harp and thats why is missing 2nd part... 😞
Your demonstration of the turnaround for the first chorus starts at 4:10.
Thanks,
Bill
Yes, the 2/5 blow.
Man, what a beautiful piece.
On the turn around, you scoop up to the 3-draw, then 4-draw, 5 blow, - Are you playing the 2-5 blow there? It sounds like more than a single note.
Thanks
Bill
Hi Bill,
Which turnaround? Give me a time code.
Yeh, on the Hate to See You Go CD it's definitely in F. Must be something funny about the YouTube version. Thanks. Looking forward to working on this again.
Hi Jerry,
The Little Walter recording sounds a little flat, like somewhere between E and F. Do you hear it that way?
Thanks,
Bill
I just listened to it. Must have been slowed down somew along the way because it seems to be in E here.
Rick,
Well, thanks for giving us this piece. You may have needed to come up with a another lesson but this was a great one. And if anyone thinks they have this all wrapped up with a bow on it, they can check out the new record because you do a bunch of things differently on that so there's more to learn there. Personally, I'm at the point where I've got the basic notes and phrasing figured out but there's so much dynamic and tonal variation to key in on and also just keeping that swing. The rhythm is so infectious when you get it right, but if you slip and fall out of the pocket for an instant it stands out like a sore thumb. Demanding piece if you ask me. Thanks again.
B
Thanks Bill, I'm glad you dug the series, and yeah there's always lots more to learn, for all of us. As you know these lessons are just a means to a never ending end - They're just vehicles for growth.