little walter

Pretty cool Muddy Waters Discography compiled by Phil Wight and Fred Rothwell in PDF form (give it a second to load, you'll see a blank screen while it does). I used it last week to research Little Walter recording dates http://www.bluesandrhythm.co.uk/documents/200.pdf

At a Chicago Harmonica Masterclass Workshop (I believe in 2005) David Waldman shared a cool tip in regards to phrasing like Little Walter. He said, "If you want to emulate Little Walter's phrasing, start your licks on beat 2." He then played with the guitarist and improvised with this in mind, and sure enough, all of us instructors (Joe Filisko, Dennis Gruenling and Scott Dirks) nodded our heads in agreement... it sounded like what Walter would do. I experimented with this concept after the workshop and it's now a tool I use in my improvising from time to time. continue reading...

For those that weren't able to make the CD release party, here's Aki and I improvising a tribute to Little Walter.

David Barrett and Aki Kumar pay Tribute to Little Walter
https://youtu.be/y0hCpyiBAmg

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...

Here's my basic handwritten TAB for the fist line of Little Walter's "Rocker." When a hole number stands by itself it's to be drawn (inhaled). When a hole number is followed by a plus it's to be blown (exhaled). Each slash that follows a hole number represents a half step of bend. If two notes are connected by a arched line, the bend is to be slurred (slides from one note to the next). I use a comma to separate phrases, making breaking down the phrase for study easier. This is also helpful for seeing how the phrasing works for dynamic presentation. continue reading...

It's now time to get to work. Take a listen to the first four bars of Little Walter's "Rocker." I would like you to figure out: the key of harmonica; the key Walter and the band are playing in; where he starts in time; and how you would count this song in.

I'll get you started...

1) He's playing in 2nd Position

2) He starts with a 2" (2 draw whole step bend) that quickly goes to 2 (2 draw)

Here are your challenges in regards to timing... continue reading...

Current blues harmonica players that can perform the vibrato well (Kim Wilson for example), choose not to use it to sound more classic. Since players like Little Walter, Big Walter Horton and George "Harmonica" Smith used tremolo, if a player is inspired by those players, they'll commonly choose to use their approach to tremolo as well.

A quick harmonica-related motivational article from fellow student and TEDx Talk speaker Bruce Turkel

Be the Best at Everything You do From Now on by Bruce Turkel
http://turkeltalks.com/be-the-best

Improvising to a non-12 bar blues can be very challenging for new improvisers.

How experienced players do it is by using 1st Position Licks over the IV Chord and 3rd Position Licks over the V Chord (for more information on this idea visit Understanding Position Playing in the Lessons section of the site). continue reading...

Now that you know the chord progression it's a good idea to practice your arpeggios to the progression. Listed below are the three chords, an example of where you can most easily play those notes on the harmonica, and their actual pitches. I've listed up to the flat-7th, though keep in mind that the flat-7th is not always appropriate (refer to past posts on when and why the flat-7th can sound good or bad). It's of course a good idea to try these notes across the entire ranage of the harmonica, but these will get you started.

Chord Name / TAB / Actual Pitches
I7 = 2 3 4 5 (G B D F) continue reading...