Composition Skills
Hello David,
I would like to train my composition skills because I always try to create my own songs with a few playbacks. I have a few questions about this:
1. Why is the chord order in 12 Bar Blues I / IV / I / V / IV / I / V and in 8 Bar Blues I / V / IV / I / V / I / V?
2. What is the ii chord on the Blues Chromatic? There the order is completely different namely I / IV / I / ii / V / I.
3. How necessary is it to adhere to the rules for the keynotes or the hole changes? In "Accompaniment Study 5 - 7th Chords Ex. 2.3" a graphic with all holes from 1 - 10 is shown. How much do you have to stick to it? I mean do you always have to play a blow note in the IV chord? Could you also start with 3 draw, for example? Or do you have to follow the 3 draw rule and play 3 draw half step bend?
4. And what about “copying” licks? I notice that I'm always trying to invent and create new, cool individual licks. With pulls and slaps etc. But often it gets way too much and I can't manage to find simple licks, as is the case with "Artist Study 4 - Jimmy Reed" for example. And when I take licks of some study songs from the website or from other musicians, such as Walter Horton, I often feel bad. Because it's not mine. Is that bad? How do I handle this?
Well, that was a lot of questions. I hope there are some answers to this.
GreetingsRouven
Hello David,
thank you for your answer! That helps alot!
Now I know that it is important to use the chord progression and the key notes for each chord as a kind of a red thread which leads through the verses.
And espacially the answer to my 4th question was helpfull too! I never thought about that (or forgeot) that music is a language which "grammar" and "vocabulary" I need to learn as in every language. And I understand that the best way to learn a new language is, to wirte the words down over and over again and listen to the sound of the words till I speek the language fluently. I really like the picture!
Hello Rouven. Answers below...
"1. Why is the chord order in 12 Bar Blues I / IV / I / V / IV / I / V and in 8 Bar Blues I / V / IV / I / V / I / V?"
The common chord progression that we know of today developed over time... a product of what musicians preferred to play over time. There is a starndard 12 bar, but I woulnd't really say that there's a standard 8 bar. If I had to choose one, it would be I I IV IV I V I V
"2. What is the ii chord on the Blues Chromatic? There the order is completely different namely I / IV / I / ii / V / I."
The ii V I you refer to is a common substitution used in swing, which replaces bars 9 through 11 from V-IV-I to ii-V-I. This is for all blues… it’s not a chromatic harmonica-specific thing. As harmonica players we can ignore the change... the vast majority play it as a V-IV-I over the ii_V-I and it sounds fine (same licks).
"3. How necessary is it to adhere to the rules for the keynotes or the hole changes? In "Accompaniment Study 5 - 7th Chords Ex. 2.3" a graphic with all holes from 1 - 10 is shown. How much do you have to stick to it? I mean do you always have to play a blow note in the IV chord? Could you also start with 3 draw, for example? Or do you have to follow the 3 draw rule and play 3 draw half step bend?”
The key notes (notes of the chord) are the strong notes (best sounding notes)… if you hold a note, it should be one of those notes (unless you want to build some tension, but you will eventually need to go to a chord tone to resolve the tension). You will want to play 3’ Bb on the IV7, because 3 draw B does not match the chord (it will be dissonant… won’t sound good). To sum up, you can play any note you want, but if you hang on it, it should be a note of the chord, otherwise it will sound awkward.
"4. And what about “copying” licks? I notice that I'm always trying to invent and create new, cool individual licks. With pulls and slaps etc. But often it gets way too much and I can't manage to find simple licks, as is the case with "Artist Study 4 - Jimmy Reed" for example. And when I take licks of some study songs from the website or from other musicians, such as Walter Horton, I often feel bad. Because it's not mine. Is that bad? How do I handle this?”
Not at all bad… it’s expected. Blues is a language. To speak a language you have you to learn the words within the language and then put them into sentences. The words in our language are the cool licks of the great players that came before us… it’s our job to learn them and eventually place them in an order that sounds musical to us. So, copying is not only a good idea, it’s essential. Imitation is where we start, and stay for a long time… innovation happens later.