variation

Ryan Walker (Intermediate student on the site) and I play the examples for you in today's video post at https://www.facebook.com/bluesharmonica/ or at top left of the site in David's Corner for this month (November).

Our next variation via deletion is not as common, but very cool. Delete the first note. Make sure to rest on the downbeat of beat 2, where the first note was.

I7 = 2 2" 2 > 2" 2

IV7 = 4+ 3' 4+ > 3' 4+

V7 = 4 4+ 4 > 4+ 4

Or on your Bb Harmonica in 3rd Position...

I7 = 4 4+ 4 > 4+ 4

IV7 = 6+ 5 6+ > 5 6+

V7 = 6 6+ 6 > 6+ 6

Our first variation via deletion is the most common one for this hook. Delete the third note...

I7 = 2 2" 2 > 2 2"

IV7 = 4+ 3' 4+ > 4+ 3'

V7 = 4 4+ 4 > 4 4+

Or on your Bb Harmonica in 3rd Position...

I7 = 4 4+ 4 > 4 4+

IV7 = 6+ 5 6+ > 6+ 5

V7 = 6 6+ 6 > 6 6+

Give this a try while playing the song and listen to the effect it has. Have a great weekend everyone... see you on Monday.

Now that you've played the hook as it's presented in the song and experimented with adding textures for variation, how about using deletion as a way to bring interest? Experiment with this and see what type of ideas you come up with. I'll share some of my thoughts tomorrow.

The concept of variation is pretty straight forward... present an idea and then repeat it with some change. By repeating an idea you create a theme for a chorus or entire song if you carry it through to the end. If you repeat it through the entire song, then we call that idea the Hook of that song.

Our example for this series will be B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby" from the release "Blues on Blues," available on the iTunes store. This performance is in the key of C, so you'll need an F Harmonica (I prefer the Low F) for the following examples. continue reading...