Adapting Licks for improvisation
Thu, 02/04/2016 - 09:09
Hi David, when I'm apply the licks ive learnt from the study songs to say for example 12 bar blues rock track, should i be aplying licks that come from the blues scale or licks with half step and whole step bends due to the genre of the music. The reason I say this is, if I try and jam to a rock track with a lick that has no bends, then it doesn't sound quite right, the lick sounds to bright.
Also a lot of rock music doesn't use the 12 bar blues, it seems to use a progression of chords in the music which is alien to me for example the chord progression may be I iv iii V (just made that up), how would you play harmonica to that.
Thank you for taking the time to read this,
Many thaks,
Paul
Thu, 02/04/2016 - 09:27
#2
Adapting licks for improvisation
Many thanks David,
Have a great day,
Regards,
Paul
Morning Paul.
Yes, sticking to the blues scale is a wise choice.
You have lick vocabulary for the I, IV and V, but not the other chords. You're not going to easily find vocabulary for those other chords, you'll need to create them for yourself. This is done by studying the chords and scales they're associated with and spending time improvising within them to gain familiarity. Keep working through the Music Theory Lessons, when you get to Study 6 you'll learn how to approach non-12 bar progressions.
I also suggest you pick up the book/cd Rock Harmonica Method http://www.amazon.com/Mel-Bays-Rock-Harmonica-High-end/dp/0786682795