Rocker - What Did You Hear?
What did you hear differently with Mitch Kashmar’s “Rocker” relative to Little Walter’s original? How about Aki Kumar’s or Rod Piazza’s? What you hear in common is that they use the opening choruses of “Rocker,” some more than others, but they all start with the recognizable head and then they play “in the style” of Walter. To play in the style of another player is to have studied them well enough to be able to move and think like that player. For Walter, it’s the traditional tongue block playing style (slaps and pulls mostly); syncopated rhythms (general placing rhythms where they’re not expected); ghost notes (light chording, from a half beat to over a bar in some cases, in length); and repetitive, Jump & Swing Blues style phrasing (think Chorus Forms). Another great technique is to quote other well-known licks from Walter’s repertoire—they all did that as well. My Artist Study song of Little Walter, titled “Walter’s Mood” uses many of Walter’s great licks, in multiple positions.
So… the takeaway…
1) It can be as simple as just playing the head of a famous song and then improvising
2) Playing the head and the first three or four choruses and then improvising (the most common)
In both cases, when you go to improvise, try to stay in the spirit of the artist and song, adding your own influence, but not your stock licks into the mix, but try to play licks as if Walter were playing the song again, right at that moment… something Walter “might of played.”
3) Playing the song as a “Tribute” song by playing it note-for-note… this is good for study, though most players don’t go this rout—we want to hear what you have to say in this song. I did a tribute album where I played note-for-note, but that was for the concept of the concert for the students at my Harmonica Masterclass Workshop Concert (recorded on the History of the Blues Harmonica Concert 2xCD set). Though I did it that way, I generally never play note-for-note versions of other player’s songs… it’s a little boring truthfully.
References:
“Rocker” Little Walter, Confessin' the Blues
“Rocker” Mitch Kashmar, Crazy Mixed Up World
“Rocker” Rod Piazza, Featuring Rod Piazza
“Rocker” Aki Kumar, Tip Top, From Memphis To Greaseland
