Skip to main content
Blues Harmonica logo

User Account

Username:*
Password:*
Forgot Your Password?

Visitor Menu

  • Sign Up
  • Sample Lesson #1
  • Sample Lesson #2
  • Student Recordings
  • Forums

phrasing

David's Tip of the Day: Value of Repetition, Part 9 (Target Notes, Juke and Scratch My Back)

Posted Mon, 02/23/2015 - 12:00 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

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...

  • improvising
  • ,
  • soloing
  • ,
  • harp
  • ,
  • blues
  • ,
  • harmonica
  • ,
  • target
  • ,
  • notes
  • ,
  • phrasing
  • ,
  • pickups

David's Tip of the Day: Value of Repetition, Part 8 (Is Your Playing Forgettable?)

Posted Fri, 02/20/2015 - 09:38 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

"Can what you play (when you don't repeat your "A" lick) still be cool if it doesn't use a theme?" Absolutely. This where the importance of using phrasing can be vague to new improvisers. They CAN play lick, after lick, after lick, and as long as the licks are cool (pitch, rhythm, texture, dynamics, etc.), the solo is cool. But, "Will it be memorable?" No. We can remember the experience of the solo, which in itself IS valuable, but if you want the listener walking away with a cool hook/melody, you need to repeat it enough so that it can stick with them. continue reading...

  • improvising
  • ,
  • soloing
  • ,
  • harp
  • ,
  • harmonica
  • ,
  • songwriting
  • ,
  • phrasing

David's Tip of the Day: Value of Repetition, Part 7 (Theme, Part 2)

Posted Thu, 02/19/2015 - 10:17 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

"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.

The Af Af At Chorus Form is a great example... continue reading...

  • soloing
  • ,
  • harmonica
  • ,
  • blues
  • ,
  • harp
  • ,
  • phrasing
  • ,
  • improvising
  • ,
  • song writing

David's Tip of the Day: Value of Repetition, Part 6 (Theme)

Posted Wed, 02/18/2015 - 10:01 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

We've studied five Chorus Form Types...

1) AAA
2) Af Af At (AAA with Fills)
3) AAB
4) Af Af B (AAB with Fills)
5) A B/A C

What do they all have in common? They all start with a lick, labeled "A." What you do with that "A" lick after it... in other words, how you repeat it... determines the Chorus Form type.

What happens when you don't repeat your "A" lick? Can it still be considered phrasing? Can what you play still be cool if it doesn't use a theme? Will it be memorable?

Ponder this and we'll discus this further tomorrow.

  • phrasing
  • ,
  • soloing
  • ,
  • harp
  • ,
  • harmonica
  • ,
  • improvising

David's Tip of the Day: Value of Repetition, Part 4 (Chorus Forms AAA and AAB with Fills)

Posted Wed, 02/11/2015 - 09:36 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

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...

  • phrasing
  • ,
  • improvising
  • ,
  • songwriting
  • ,
  • harp
  • ,
  • harmonica
  • ,
  • blues
  • ,
  • soloing

David's Tip of the Day: Value of Repitition, Part 2 (Each Chorus has a Theme)

Posted Mon, 02/09/2015 - 10:26 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

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...

  • repitition
  • ,
  • phrasing
  • ,
  • value
  • ,
  • soloing
  • ,
  • skill
  • ,
  • harp
  • ,
  • harmonica
  • ,
  • soloist
  • ,
  • blues
  • ,
  • little walter

David's Tip of the Day: Value of Repitition

Posted Fri, 02/06/2015 - 10:20 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

The listener wants more repetition than the player is usually willing to give.

  • improvising
  • ,
  • soloing
  • ,
  • phrasing
  • ,
  • harp
  • ,
  • harmonica

David's Tip of the Day: Chorus Forms & Tempo

Posted Mon, 10/06/2014 - 07:49 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

The faster the tempo of the backing (swing for example), the more repetitive Chorus Forms you'll use, AAA and AAB for example (listen to William Clarke's "Blowin' the Family Jewels," it's all AAA and AAB). The slower the backing, the more active Chorus Forms you'll use (listen to Little Walter's "Blue Midnight," the A B/A C Chorus Form is king in slow blues). So, the general guideline you can give yourself is that if the backing is active, you don't need to be. If the backing is slow and sparse, up your activity. As you can infer, it's about balance.

  • phrasing
  • ,
  • harmonica
  • ,
  • blues
  • ,
  • soloing
  • ,
  • harp
  • ,
  • improvising
  • ,
  • song writing

David's Tip of the Day: Lick Interchangeability

Posted Thu, 09/11/2014 - 06:59 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

A student asked this question this morning: "Can most bluesy licks be used over any of the three chords but are there some licks that are just more suitable for the IV chord?"

The answer I feel is worth sharing...

"Yes, you are correct, most bluesy licks can be used over any of the three chords, and there are some licks that are more suitable for the IV7 Chord, and especially the V7 Chord. continue reading...

  • lick
  • ,
  • improvising
  • ,
  • Interchangeability
  • ,
  • blues
  • ,
  • phrasing
  • ,
  • harp
  • ,
  • harmonica

David's Tip of the Day: Repetition - Tips from Observations at the Harmonica Masterclass Workshop

Posted Mon, 04/21/2014 - 07:26 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

Use more repetition. Students have a tendency to play lick-after-lick, not presenting a central idea for each chorus. This gut reaction is from the feeling that a solo should be exciting and full of fireworks. This may create an exciting solo for one or two choruses, but by the third chorus, or third song in that set, it gets old. Repetition is the only tool we have to tell the listener that something is important. By not using repetition, you're telling the listener that nothing you're playing is worth remembering. continue reading...

  • soloing
  • ,
  • tips
  • ,
  • harmonica
  • ,
  • harp
  • ,
  • improvising
  • ,
  • phrasing
  • « first
  • ‹ previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • next ›
  • last »

Sign me up!

The low monthly subscription of $16.95 gives you full access! We accept major credit cards and PayPal.

Subscribe

Free Sample Lessons

After watching the BluesHarmonica.com overview video, try one of the lessons below to experience a lesson at BluesHarmonica.com.

  • Tongue Blocking Study 2 – This study is for the newer player or the player new to tongue blocking
  • Bending Study 5 – This is for the advanced player looking to improve their bending skills

Contributors

  • Aki Kumar
  • Joe Tartaglia
  • Gary Smith
  • Mark Hummel
  • Joe Filisko

Site Links

  • About David Barrett
  • Accredited Instructors
  • Links
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact Us
Hohner
© 2009 - 2022 David Barrett and the Harmonica Masterclass Co. for Bluesharmonica.comSyndicate content