Posted Tue, 02/24/2015 - 08:55 by David Barrett Admin
Just announced today... I'm very much looking forward to this...
Saturday 7 March
9.45pm-10.15pm
BBC RADIO 3
Imagine a town of harmonica players; sounds a bit surreal?
Now Between The Ears gives listeners the chance to hear the harmonica as a truly virtuoso instrument, although never less than an instrument of the people - portable, affordable and playable. As acclaimed poet Kim Addonizio turns student, heading back to blues school - with pen, mouth and a stack of harmonicas at the ready - in search of the sweetest sounds made by the modern day ‘harp’. continue reading...
Posted Mon, 02/23/2015 - 12:00 by David Barrett Admin
Take a listen to the first lick of Little Walter's "Juke." Though there's some technique going on, essentially he's playing 2 3 4 5+ 6+ 6+. The 2 (or 3+, we don't know for sure) 3 4 5+ happens before the downbeat of the first bar... this is called a pickup. What is it picking up to?... 6+ in this case... the first note of Bar 1 and the Root Note of the I7 Chord. The second 6+ is a reiteration of the 6+, so it's not new information and not structurally important. continue reading...
Posted Thu, 02/19/2015 - 10:17 by David Barrett Admin
"What happens when you don't repeat your A lick... can it still be considered phrasing?"
Nope. Repetition is at the core of phrasing. Without repetition you're playing lick, after lick, after lick, after lick.. after lick.. after lick... after lick... after lick.... after lick. Get it? All change is sameness, boring. At the core of all that is melodic, or that which is story telling, a recurring theme must be present. Change cannot happen without repetition.
Posted Fri, 02/13/2015 - 09:40 by David Barrett Admin
I'm now releasing Section 5 footage of the actual studio recording session. It's taking about three hours to edit every ten minutes of finished footage (three cameras rolling), so instead of waiting until I'm done with the entire project I'll release one video a week for you. Thanks to volunteer cameramen Marc Graci, Gleidson Sousa and John Rafferty!
Posted Wed, 02/11/2015 - 09:36 by David Barrett Admin
In Little Walter's "Juke" you hear him play the opening one-bar lick for four bars (A), then repeats those four bars (A), and then move away for the last four bars (B). This is called the AAB Chorus Form. If the opening lick, labeled "A," does not take up the entire line, then there's room to throw in a fill, labeled "f." The last line's fill is a turnaround and is labeled as 't." This makes the Af Af At or Af Af Bt Chorus Forms. AAB is the standard rhyme scheme for blues vocals. In the space you play harmonica fills... this is the Af Af Bt Chorus Form idea. continue reading...
Posted Tue, 02/10/2015 - 10:12 by David Barrett Admin
In "Rocker" Little Walter plays the opening four-bar lick thee times. This creates the first of five common Chorus Forms, known as A A A. The lick is played (A) and then it's repeated two times (A A). Pretty cool that you can play one lick over all of the chords of the 12 Bar Blues and it still works.
Take a listen to LW's "Juke" and figure out which Chorus Form he's using in the opening chorus.
Posted Mon, 02/09/2015 - 10:26 by David Barrett Admin
I'm not speaking of the type of repetition where the player runs out of ideas and repeats licks from early in a song or set... this is called "gettin' old" and no player wants that.
The type of repetition I'm speaking of is the melodic, purposeful type... where you present an idea and then explore for the listener what you can do with that idea.
The first lick you play in every chorus is by default the theme of that chorus (the "A" in my Chorus Form concept). This can come by the way of simple repetition or fairly advanced transformations. continue reading...
Posted Wed, 02/04/2015 - 17:36 by David Barrett Admin
Join me for the latest release of the Professional Recording Series at BluesHarmonica.com for a 90m interview with master blues guitarist and recording engineer Kid Anderson. Videos include: How Kid Got Started; Plugins and Preamps; The Amp and Room; Miking Techniques; Amps and Amp Modeling; Setup and Prep; Error Correction; Mixing; Mastering; Using High-Level Musicians; Our CD Project