blues

http://youtu.be/Vijs5OOqELY At 7:15 he plays his famous "Hootin' the Blues"

The most basic way of playing with a vocalist is to play when they're not singing, called playing "fills." This naming comes from the idea that you're "filling" the holes left by the vocals.

The first challenge is to know when to start playing (this tends to be fairly intuitive) and when to stop playing (which is a little less intuitive... it's easy to play too long and step on the next line of the vocals).

There's a simple answer... sing the vocals. continue reading...

When students work on their improvising skills, they find it challenging to come up with cool fills for their Af Af At and Af Af B Chorus Forms. The easiest place to find lots of fills is in songs where there's harmonica playing fills between vocals. The study song "I Want You With Me" in Accompaniment Study 4 is a good example.

Take a listen at 25 minutes where they speak of our tendency to speed up for slower tempos and slow down for faster tempos.

The Power of Music
http://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/332637

Check out this hour-long program devoted to music, specifically at 34 minutes where they cover the lore of Robert Johnson and the Crossroads. The Power of Music http://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/332637