Study Song "My Blues"
Mr. Barrrett:
Thank you for helping.
I have two questions about the opening's bar 3 and then a question about the whole song:
1. In Bar 3, on the dip 3 4, I'm unclear on where to start the 3 dip and how much to release it before incorporating the 4: Do I start the 3 at half step bend, release a quarter tone, and then incorporate 4 to make it a dirty 3? Or do I start the 3 at half step bend, FULLY release the 3, and then incorporate 4 to make a dirty 3? Or maybe both approaches are wrong and I'm clueless?
2. In Bar 3, on the 4 sliding down to the 4', I'm unclear on how far to slidedown. I heard your instruction to really milk the 4 bends to make them bluesy as possible. To do that, do I bend the 4 down past the half tone to a point as far as I can get it? A little unclear on how to make it "bluesy as possible."
3. On the whole song, I presume my goal is to start each bent note at the perfect pitch on HarpNinja, i.e., twelve o'clock. If I'm trying to be too perfect starting out, please let me know. I'm fairly consistent starting the bend at the top of the square, say in the 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock area, but starting at twelve o'clock is a frequent miss. Do you think I should keep at it until I consistently hit twelve o'clock before moving past the song's opening and Chorus 1? Any guidance on the level of precision that makes sense here is appreciated.
Sorry to be unclear on those 3 issues. Thank you for taking time to help.
Britt
Hello Britt.
"1. In Bar 3, on the dip 3 4, I'm unclear on where to start the 3 dip and how much to release it before incorporating the 4: Do I start the 3 at half step bend, release a quarter tone, and then incorporate 4 to make it a dirty 3? Or do I start the 3 at half step bend, FULLY release the 3, and then incorporate 4 to make a dirty 3? Or maybe both approaches are wrong and I'm clueless?"
The bend of the dip starts just a touch before the beat (the notated rhythm). Play, bend, both notes at the same time.
"2. In Bar 3, on the 4 sliding down to the 4', I'm unclear on how far to slidedown. I heard your instruction to really milk the 4 bends to make them bluesy as possible. To do that, do I bend the 4 down past the half tone to a point as far as I can get it? A little unclear on how to make it "bluesy as possible.""
Yes, bend "past the half tone to a point as far as I can get it" and hold it as long as you can without getting out of time.
"3. On the whole song, I presume my goal is to start each bent note at the perfect pitch on HarpNinja, i.e., twelve o'clock. If I'm trying to be too perfect starting out, please let me know. I'm fairly consistent starting the bend at the top of the square, say in the 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock area, but starting at twelve o'clock is a frequent miss. Do you think I should keep at it until I consistently hit twelve o'clock before moving past the song's opening and Chorus 1? Any guidance on the level of precision that makes sense here is appreciated. "
Bend the best you can...I'm not looking for perfection...strive for excellence. Go as deep as you can for the bottom bends (1', 2", 3''', 4', 5', 6' etc.) and shoot to be in the green for your middle bends (2', 3", 3', etc.).
Work to get the best bend that you can, but even if it's not perfect, move on to the next chorus...the chorus will get better, and the bends deeper, as you play it once or twice a day over a period of time.