soloing

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...

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

Here's the other post in regards to yesterday's discussion that students asked to be re-posted...

Student continue reading...

There was a desire from some of the students to re-post this dialogue from the public forum in a more prominent place... they, and I, feel it strikes a common chord with many...

Student
"I am 53 years old and have wanted to play the harmonica since I was 15 but never knew how to approach it. I took it up two years ago, starting with lessons from Portnoy, Gindick and Gussow. I found your site last fall and found exactly what I was looking for; the rich full sound of tongue blocking in a well-structured progressing in learning. continue reading...

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.

Focus Notes and Texture go hand-in-hand. As each chorus passes, you're keeping track of what you've played. You're not trying to remember every lick, it's more of a simple scorecard of what focus notes and the textures you've used.

For example...

Let's say you've played three choruses so far. Chorus 1 focused on the 1 draw and you used single notes. Chorus 2 focused on the 2 draw and you threw in some dips, slaps and pulls. Chorus 3 you focused on the 3 draw, mostly emphasizing the bluesy sound of the 3' and didn't use any new textures. continue reading...

I stated yesterday that once you play a focus note for a chorus that it should be mentally crossed off... not to be started on again for the rest of the song. BUT, you can use it again after a number of choruses if you present it differently. For example, if you played the 4 draw earlier using the standard slap, you can present it later with a flutter, shake, octave or powerful two-note combination. So, presenting notes with different "textures" (combining a focus note with other notes) you expand your ability to keep your solo fresh and interesting. More on textures tomorrow.

To sum up the concept and importance of focus notes...

1) Focus notes are the notes of your I7 Chord, G B D F if you're in 2nd Position on a C Harmonica. This gives you the hole numbers 1 2" 2 3 4 5 6+ 7 8 9 9+ continue reading...

Join me for Intermediate Student Ryan Walker's latest lesson where we cover Accompaniment Playing Study 5 (bluesy 7th Chords), Improvising Study 4 (V-IV-I Transition Licks), Solo Harmonica Study 3 (Bass Lines with Pulls) and Music Theory Study 3 (Playing in Minor).

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...