soloing

How do you tell the listener that what you're playing is important?... you repeat it.

If you're not using repetition, you're telling the listener that what you're playing is not worth remembering.

If it's not worth remembering, then it's forgettable.

Who wants to play music that's forgettable?

The only way to tell the listener that something musical is worth remembering is by repeating it. If you don't use repetition, then you're telling the listener that what you're playing is not worth remembering. If it's not worth remembering, then it's forgettable. Who wants to play a solo or instrumentalist that's forgettable?

Let's continue with more memorable quotes from artists...

At my 1998 Harmonica Masterclass Workshop, Charlie Musselwhite was fielding questions from students and just answered a question about playing on the high end of the harmonica. The next student asked, "But what happens if you play a wrong note?" and Charlie said, "Well, I'm only one hole away from the right one." continue reading...

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

Whether you're improvising or accompanying, if your lick focuses on the 2 draw, you can play it through the IV7 Chord as well and it will sound good (like the A A B Chorus Form for example).

The simple theory is that the 2 draw (referencing a C Harmonica in 2nd Position, Key of G) is G, the Root Note of the I7 Chord. 2 draw is also the 5th of the IV7 Chord, so it works there as well. If your lick also includes the 3 draw, remember to obey the 3 Draw Rule and bend it down to 3' when on the IV7 Chord.

The 4 draw is the most over-used note on the harmonica in 2nd Position soloing for good reason... it can be presented in many ways (single, double, shake, slap, flutter, octave, etc.) and is a great launching pad to move up or down the harmonica. Today's law is that it's rare to play the 4 draw by itself, it's commonly presented with a touch of 5 draw in it to thicken its texture (what Joe Filisko calls "Dirty Notes"). The challenge is just to add a touch... too much and it becomes overly dissonant.

The theme in “Gary’s Blues” is presented in the first two notes, the 3+ eighth notes. This eighth note figure is restated throughout the song. You see this at the end of the first line, with the 4+ 3 played in the same eighth note rhythm. The second chorus starts with these 3+ eighth notes and you see them again in the third bar of Chorus 3… and at the end of Bar 4. This repeats in other places, but I think you get the idea. This type of thematic element is not commonly noticed, but it’s no doubt part of what makes a song cohesive. continue reading...

What is the soloist doing when he attempts to "build"? Actually the ideal process hardly ever takes place--that is, it is hardly ever the case that a conscientious soloist plays a thinking solo for a hard-listening hearer, but when this does happen, the key process is memory. The soloist has to establish for the listener what the important POINT, the motif if you like, is, and then show as much as he can of what it is that he sees in that motif, extending the relationships of it to the basic while never giving the feeling he has forgotten it. continue reading...

In the book Improvising Jazz by Jerry Coker there's a quote author by Richmond Browne that "The listener must come our right around 50% of the time" in regards to guessing where the music is going next. Ruminate on that important statement and I'll elaborate tomorrow.

Listening to Chorus 2 of George Harmonica Smith's "Juicy Harmonica" notice that the first and second line use the same rhythm. Though the notes are different, the rhythm remains the same. This is a rhythm sequence. He changes on the last line (last four bars). Focusing on pitches only, you would call this an A B C Chorus Form. Taking into account the rhythm, it's clearly an A A1 B Chorus Form (A, A variation 1, B Chorus Form).

Here's what he plays using TAB. I placed the pickup to each line in parenthesis so that you can see the main meat of the line he's playing. continue reading...