I was sitting watching TV and got to thinking to myself, "When did playing music become about tricks and fancy stuff?" I mean, you do need a certain amount of technique to play but besides that as long as you can play a recognizable tune then aren't you making music? A person can strum a few chords on a guitar and sing along and be making music same as someone who plays all manner of fast and fancy stuff, it's just as real as anything else as long as you can make out the tune. It seems like we(musicians) have gotten caught up in doing fancy stuff and we've forgotten the main reason that we play music, to entertain and for the enjoyment of it. I listen to some of the stuff form the 20's and 30's and it was so simple, so raw and uncluttered but it was also so beautiful and enjoyable to listen to. Not everyone who picks up a guitar will play like Eddie VanHalen and not everyone who picks up a harp will play like Jason Ricci but does that make their playing any less as long as they're having fun doing it? I just think we get caught up in too much technique sometimes and we forget the heart and soul that has to be there in the music. We get too involved with being better then the next guy or out doing someone instead of just enjoying what we play and having fun with it. There are some pretty good harp players on this forum, I doubt that I'll ever be that good but should I really care? As long as I can join in with a jam and comp a bit and have fun isn't that the main reason why any of us play in the first place. I'm not here to try and out do anyone or to be better then anyone, I just want to hang out with fellow musicians and talk about music and other stuff that I like to talk about and have some fun. Oh well, I don't know, just started thinking and wanted to share. ---------- Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F Hohner Old Standby in A Hohner Special 20 in Bb Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
Last Edited by on Oct 11, 2010 8:30 PM
you cant recognize anything i play,Is it music? Ive had to deal with a bunch of guitar egos for 18 years cause i dont play much covers,not that im saying your 1 of them,but i can write a new song daily but it takes me forever to learn someone elses and when i do it will sound like me,I cant jam with no one in this town with guitar,and not very many know i play harmonica.
I think it runs in cycle. I saw a show on pop music that blamed all the current vocal extravagance on Mariah Carey. She popularized the recent trill crazy style (as opposed to a Whitney Houston). I think Grunge was a response to the style and guitar excesses of hair metal (some of the MTV Unplugged albums took it even farther, unplugging Grunge bands. I love the AIC and Nirvana Unplugged.)
I think it's not so much that an average player can't sound good, but that he can't stand out from the pack. (Rules may be different if you are one of the beautiful people.) So, if you can stand out from the pack by doing something that other people aren't doing you can make it big. I saw a video of Lady Gaga pre-Gaga. She was a good, but very forgettable performer. Bob Dylan, to me, sounds like the guy at every open mic that people politely clap for while they snicker as he walks off stage, that is until you hear his lyrics. Some people blind you with finger speed on guitar. Not everyone can do that, so they stand out.
Do you have fun playing? Are you expressing something that's inside of you thru your instrument? Does it sound reasonably pleasing to the ear? If you can answer Yes to the above questions then why should you care what anyone else thinks. I have fun when I play. Ok, so maybe I don't get all the single notes perfectly and maybe I'm not pulling a draw bend down as low as it can go and I'm not doing over blows. I'm expressing myself and having fun and really, that's all I care about. I'm not trying to impress anyone but myself, as long as I'm happy then that's all that should matter. I'm not trying to make excuses for poor technique or lack of practice all I'm saying is just how good does a person have to be in order to be called a "Harp Player" or a "Guitar Player" or a Musician? I don't think we have to be at Lee Sankey's level to be considered a Harp Player any more then we need to play like Steve Via in order to be called a Guitar Player. You play at a level that makes you happy and that should be good enough. ---------- Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F Hohner Old Standby in A Hohner Special 20 in Bb Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
Last Edited by on Oct 11, 2010 8:46 PM
yea i guess its fun,sort of,But i want money,women,sex,drugs,fame,fortune,fast cars,more women,more money for the women,and big exspensive cigars,and hydro,i want it all. http://www.reverbnation.com/hobostubs
Last Edited by on Oct 11, 2010 8:53 PM
Only way to get all that is to sell your soul to the devil at the Crossroads at midnight. You should know that by now, LOL And what is it about 27 years old? Robert Johnson died at 27, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison all died at 27. 2+7=9 which is a number of completion in some mystic circles. Kind of makes ya' wonder. ---------- Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F Hohner Old Standby in A Hohner Special 20 in Bb Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
(tried to sell my soul to the devil but the devil was broke guess ill walk this road alone (Going crazy) day by day)copyright Hobostubs Ashlock http://www.reverbnation.com/hobostubs
Last Edited by on Oct 11, 2010 9:18 PM
"yea i guess its fun,sort of,But i want money,women,sex,drugs,fame,fortune,fast cars,more women,more money for the women,and big exspensive cigars,and hydro,i want it all." -Hobostubs
It's been so long since I've had money I don't need it anymore. I've never been a drugs or fame or fast cars or cigars or hydro kind of guy.
The women, more women and more money for the women, well, yes please. Can I get a double order? ---------- Nate Facebook Thread Organizer
I see Frank's point very clearly, and I agree with him too a large extent. A lot of my favorite music is very simple, and there's some stuff that I like that is ridiculously simple.
I hear a lot of music where the musician is extremely talented, but it just sounds like noodling to my ears (Think hard rock guitar shreadding and a lot of jazz stuff).
But then there are more complex pieces that I enjoy the sound of. If a musician can do difficult stuff, well, that's great...but I won't enjoy it just because it's difficult. I want it to sound good, too.
Tricks have always been there. Nigel Kennedy is full of tricks, in the world of classical music. Paganini was full of tricks. Actors have tricks - especially Mel Gibson and even Jodie Foster. Perhaps Humphrey Bogart? You can bet your bottom dollar artists do, but I haven't got the energy to think of any. The reason is that only a small percentage of musicians/artists have real soul. Most of them are just jobbers. Van Gogh wasn't an artist, he was a freak - the man who designed your kitchen sink unit, or the bumpers on your Saab, was an artist. The man who painted the flowers that cover the damp patch on your wall was an artist. And, no offence, but the audience are mostly lower than the musicians, and most of these jobbing artists play down to the audience - they give them what they want. ---------- Andrew, gentleman of leisure, noodler extraordinaire.
Last Edited by on Oct 12, 2010 3:08 AM
What Frank is calling 'tricks' I would call colour or texture. At the risk of sounding a bit pretentious, it is what gives a piece what the French call je ne sais quoi. It's what helps add to a piece's aural confusion and makes it less pedestrian, less boring, less predictable.
And it's not always about huge amounts of technical skill; it is - at least in part - what Adam spent about a zillion YT lessons trying to explain, namely: the subleties. They are just that: subtle.
Eddy Van Halen or Franz Liszt, playing a thousand notes a second, now that is what I would call tricks; it's showmanship for its own sake, and, to me at least, has become as dull as staring at the ceiling. ---------- YouTube SlimHarpMick
I agree with the "tricks have always been there", but not with "Van Gogh was not an artist".
For the "tricks", I think it's not a question of periods of time but rather of audience and context. And playing with tricks doesn't mean you're not a "real" artist or you have no soul. As a child, Mozart was exhibited in the royal courts of Europe as a little musical prodigy, I bet he had to play tricky pieces to amaze the audience. Did the people listened then to the soulfulness of his playing, or rather to the apparent complexity of what he played ?
In the pieces he composed himself, there were some tricky parts designed to be flashy (think about "Queen of the Night" in "The Enchanted Flute"). Nevertheless, he was a genius, and one of the first rockstars.
"I agree with the "tricks have always been there", but not with 'Van Gogh was not an artist'"
That's partly your fault and partly my fault. My fault for being too brief. I could have said "Van Gogh was not a typical artist". I normally include Picasso when making this point. If you call Picasso an artist and tacitly imply there's anything typical about him, then you are brushing aside all those people who have been to art school and earn a living from designing or illustrating. It's better to consider art as a vocation and the tiny number of people who have made millions out of it as freaks rather than as representative of anything.
Perhaps describing Picasso as an artist is a bit like describing Howard Hughes as a journalist. ---------- Andrew, gentleman of leisure, noodler extraordinaire.
Last Edited by on Oct 12, 2010 5:18 AM
B.B.King doesn't use any "tricks", his style isn't all that hard to copy but the Heart and Soul that he puts into his music makes you listen in awe when he plays. On the other side of the coin you have guys that can do all manner of tricks, right hand hammer ons, fast, flashy fret work, stuff that'd make your head blow off but it's all just mechanical technique, there's no heart or soul. Who's the better guitar player, well, for my money it'd be B.B.King because it's not about how fast or flashy, it's about the music and how it moves you in your soul. I'll probably never learn to over blow, that's fine, what I want to play on the harp doesn't need an over blow. Think of the little pieces of harp you hear on "My Name is Earl" and you'll hear the kind of harp that I'd like to play. Nothing really fast of flashy but something that'll fit in with my guitar playing(once I get another one) so that I can fill out anything I record with a little harp.
---------- Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F Hohner Old Standby in A Hohner Special 20 in Bb Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
Last Edited by on Oct 12, 2010 7:49 AM
Well finally, several weeks and a whopping 450+ posts in (where does the dude find the time?), TNFrank has posted something I agree with.
On the harmonica, for me, what sounds like high end noodling to me is, for example, John Popper. I listened to a few of the blues traveler tracks and they did nothing for me. When one of their tracks comes on the radio, I'm like WOW that's pretty amazing playing, but i just don't feel it in any way. Hey, maybe it's a me problem, and that's cool. I'll live a life of musically ignorant bliss, listening to what I like. If I had to pick a harp player I'd most wish I could play like, it would be a three way tie between Magic Dick, Little Walter amd our own Kudzurunner.
On guitar, for me it's, for example, the difference between the tasty licks and solos that Mick Taylor played during his days with The Rolling Stones and the young shredders trying to squeeze as many notes as possible into as small a space as possible. Yeah, it might be technically more difficult but so what?
This topic has been debated on this forum almost ad nauseum, but hey, our boy TNFrank brought it up, so I figured hey, here's my rapidly depreciating 2 cents.
What is your definition of tricks? Do you mean warbles, tongue slaps, side to side tongue trills, vibrato, tremolo, octaves, overblows? Or do you mean playing fast and flashy? Or both?
Your way of expressing yourself may not require these "tricks", but for others it is part of their style. Style is a player’s preference on how to sound good, or the way they want. Todd Parrott doesn't use many chords, octaves, or slaps; but he is amazing and original. Buddha has said he doesn't like warbles. Dennis Gruenling uses "tricks" to stress or accentuate notes in well thought out phrasing. Jason Ricci can play fast and sometimes his phrasing is based on scale calisthenics. Singer song writers like Bob Dylan play huffy puffy to add small melodies.
Who is right? Who is wrong? Neither.
Should anyone be ridiculed for their taste, style, tricks, or lack of the aforementioned? No.
Should anyone be ridiculed for bad intonation, wrong notes, poor timing, laziness, unprofessionalism, cockiness, or stupidity? I think so
Tricks? Oh, you mean the stuff you have to work for--well, for some of us--that work to get better is also the fun of it.
Nothing at all wrong about sitting home and being pleased as punch about playing music and having fun--but you might need a little bag of tricks to get out there and be interesting to others.
There is only one really wrong thing in music (IMHO) that's being boring. A trick now and then can be a pleasant surprise and break the tedium--keeps it interesting.
Tricks carried to ad nauseum--like the shredders--that's just another form of boring--musically unforgivable.
Well, being out of tune is also unforgivable--and out of time is even worse--and then--being John Popper is hard to forgive--but mastering all that stuff is part of learning the tricks. . . ----------
@earlounge, I think you're missing the entire point of this thread. If someone, anyone played with bad intonation, wrong notes, poor timing then they'd not be playing the tune correctly but you also don't need a lot of flash to play a tune. If you can do it and it's part of your "style" great, more power to ya', but my point is for those of us who can't do it we shouldn't be told that we're "less" of a harp player because we can't do it. Is Bob Dylan a Harp Player? I'd say yes. Is he in the same league as Jason Ricci or Lee Sankey, NO but for him it doesn't matter, that's not his style of play, he plays to suite him and I think we need to quit beating each other up over our harp playing just because someone doesn't play to "our standards" or can do the things that others can do on harp. As long as I can express myself then I'm fine with what I play, if others don't like it fine, if my "technique" doesn't measure up to their standards, once again, fine. I play as a hobby for enjoyment, I'm not trying to make a million bucks playing music, it's all just for fun and I'm not going to lay awake in bed at night beating myself up because I can't do an Over Blow or because my draw bend doesn't go down 2 notes. It really doesn't matter that much in big picture. I'm 49 and I'm not going to turn Pro, just want to learn to blow a little harp between guitars, that's all. ---------- Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F Hohner Old Standby in A Hohner Special 20 in Bb Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
I'm with earlounge...Is vibrato a trick? How about fat tone, overbends, splits, double stops, blow bends ,growl thru a note, hand vibrato, chugs, etc..etc... To me, tricks are some of the stuff that Madcat Ruth does....very cool tricks I might add. Eddie Van Halen's "Eruption" is very fast..and one of the most popular guitar solos ever. Popper's high end stuff is noodling compared to Ricci's. Jason's is fast, yet clean, structured, and has direction. Don't misunderstand, I love the Jimmy Reed simple stuff as much as anyone. Honkin on Bobo says Kudzu, Magic Dick, and Little Walter. If I could pick 3 it would be Ricci, Cotton, and Sugar Blue (sounds like a new thread) If you want to hear "tricks" mixed in with heart and soul AND some fast licks...this guy is the total package...looks to me like he is having fun too. This video has been posted a bunch...I bet I've watched it 100 times+ and never tire of it.
I think alot of what people seem to describe as 'tricks' should be thought of more as a technique. Certain techniques alow more powerful(is that the right word maybe expressive..) playing, I don't think to myself 'I'm going to try and do some vibrato now to be flashy' I just do it when it feels right
Take overblows for example as frank as mentioned many times, my opinion, there's no point in playing overblows for the sake of playing them. Now if you can fit them in musically and it sounds awesome and it clicks just right, why shouldn't you use them?
Right now it sounds almost like people are asking the difference grade 3 violinist and an 8th grade violinist. Both are musicians, one simply knows more than the other.
---------- "imagination is more important then knowledge" - Albert Einstien
I get what you're saying Frank, and I mostly agree with you. The soul you put into music is very important. That is especially true of Blues music. If you don't put soul and emotion into it ,its not going to work very well. On the other hand, proper technique is also very important. There are two components to playing a harmonica or any instrument, one is physical and the other is conceptual. Technique is physical and soul is conceptual. Technique and tricks, as you put it, are building blocks and how you put them together is up to you. As a guitar player, you know that. If you can tongue block properly, then you can add chords, octaves and tongue slaps along with your lead notes when you choose to. If you bend notes properly and bend on pitch or in tune, then you've got the heart and soul of blues harmonica. If you can overblow properly (which I can't do by the way) then you can play in all 12 keys on one harp. So it's more than playing a recognizable tune and having fun. Some of the drunks I hear try to sing karaoke at the local taverns are singing a recognizable tune and are having fun but most of them are painful to listen to. I'm not a pro player. Far from it. But many on this forum are and I'm grateful for their advice. I hope this post doesn't seem like I'm putting you down, I'm not. Just trying to make a point.
If you are trying to entertain others or make money playing music, which requires others to spend money on it, then you have to take into consideration the need to be marketable to a target audience. That audience will come with a set of expectations for what will sound good and that will typically be different than what the average harp player considers good harp playing.
If you are playing for your own enjoyment, then it will probably be at the cost of your greater marketability. If that is of no concern, then don't worry about it.
However, if someone is planning on getting paid to take the stage, then the crowd MUST be taken into consideration along with other factors, in order to be successful...one factor would be musical competence.
Currently, the online harmonica community has increased in the amount of visible players concerned with harmonica playing versus harmonica performance, musical performance, and entertainment. Just look at the harmonica specific content on YouTube. For some, learning "tricks" is just as enjoyable as any other aspect, and therefore just as valid an approach as what the OP suggested his approach was. There is no right journey to take on harmonica, and if you're playing for yourself, then you're playing for yourself, etc. I am not of the opinion that any one form of harmonica playing is the "best". It all depends on what your individual goals are.
The number of competent front men/women or competent side men/women who can play harmonica and make a connection to an audience wider than the typical harmonica player is extremely limited. Take playing blues out of the equation and it is almost nil. A large part of that is the obsession with playing harmonica and ignoring the other factors that are important to live performance.
I mean really, how many harmonica players that are considered popular can say that the majority of their fan base isn't either 1.) other harp players, 2.) blues fans, or 3.) other musicians?
So I am in agreement that showcasing harmonica technique is at least the vocal majority of what is being shared now. I'd wager that it is the majority of harp playing in general, but that is a gut feeling and I don't have evidence of it (there are many more harp players than there are harp players sharing recordings).
Is that good or bad? It all depends on the person and what they have for wants and needs.
Personally, it was important for me to be able to play the styles I wanted to play, so I made it a point to learn them, which was technically demanding. However, I am at a point now where I can play what I want to play and spend just as much time studying other areas of performance as I do learning new stuff on harp. I am not the personality type to say I've learned all I need to know (on harmonica), but I have chosen to not invest as much time in development of new information on harmonica to pursue other interests in performance.
I realize that in many ways I am not serving the harp playing side of my ego, and therefore the competition side of harp playing, but the other side effect is gaining more mainstream appeal, recognition as a front man, and respect as a vocalist.
That rambling all being said, I disagree with the idea of rationalizing that someone of lesser musical (harmonica) ability is the same as someone of greater ability. I am sorry, but most of our playing IS lesser than Jason Ricci's (who was used in the OP as an example). While technique isn't everything, to say that all harmonica playing has the same weight is just plain wrong. You can enjoy playing all you want, which should be a priority, but there are people who are better at it. That is a fact. We even assign value of who has the most soul in their playing (which often involves the use of less technique) and who can express their soul best.
Not everyone who picks up an instrument will be EVH or JR, and that very fact proves that there are people who are better at things than others.
I may enjoy golfing and have fun doing it, but I flat out suck. Tiger Woods is way better than I am. In fact, just about anyone on this forum who golfs is better than me. My playing is lesser for sure. Can I enjoy playing still? Yes. Should I try to rationalize it by taking away from the accomplishments of Tiger and others? No.
TNFrank: I'm not sure what you mean by tricks. Do you mean when Sonny Boy Williamson would put a harp all the way into his mouth, or stick is straight in, the way Rick Estrin sometimes does?
Or are you talking about the great leap forward represented by Little Walter's at-the-time unprecedented technique?
Or are you talking about the incredibly fast stuff Sonny Terry throws into some of his slow blues?
Or are you talking about Magic Dick's fast, virtuosic high-end blow notes and bends on "Whammer Jammer," which he told me he got by trying to copy Benny Goodman?
Or are you talking about the high end pyrotechnics that marked Louis Armstrong's early playing?
Somehow I don't think so. I don't think you're trying to tell us that we shouldn't enjoy and respect any of those performers.
Instead, if I read you correctly, you're trying to do things:
1) Make yourself feel better about where you actually are as a player; and
2) Put down a handful of contemporary harp players whose playing you don't enjoy
I think you're judging both yourself and those harp players too harshly. It's extremely important that you enjoy WHATEVER music you're currently making at WHATEVER level of complexity you're currently making it. A desire to improve is great, but not if it leads a musician to dwell in negative judgments about where he actually is as a player.
By the same token, the "speed" thing has always been a part of musicmaking, from Paganini through flamenco guitarists like Paco de Lucia. Girls like it when boys show off. It's sorta like peacocks flashing their big iridescent feathers.
Girls--and real women in particular--also like guys who slow it down. It ain't the meat, it's the motion. And frantic motion is never a good idea--although a guy who plays as though he's got three hands and fifteen fingers working independently is, of course, also capable of intriguing the girls.
Maybe your thing is slow, sweet, and relaxed. Nothing wrong with that. But there are also any number of good reasons why blues played fast, with great technique and lots of intensity, is, or can be, great stuff, too. I played for many years with a guy named Mr. Satan, and he played like that. It's not the only way to play good blues. But it's one way.
.....My personal taste aside, I usually figure that the persons making the most money by playing music are, by definition, the best musicians. Same idea as figuring who makes the best hamburgers, cars, touchdowns or shoes. ----------
I think that argument works fairly well in certain aesthetic contexts: pop music, for example. But I don't think Doc Watson makes a whole lot of money, and in his own way he is surely one of the greatest living American musicians.
When it comes to blues, the category of "blues" encompasses a whole lot of different stuff. This is clear from the divergences between the Living Blues awards, the BMA's, and the Grammy. The Billboard blues charts make more space for the commercial stuff.
Your argument is essentially: the most commercial stuff--the stuff that stimulates the most commerce and accrues the most profit--is the best stuff. Or rather: the musicians who make the most commercial stuff are the best musicians. I disagree with you, at least where blues and other non-pop musics are concerned, and I suspect I'm not alone.
Last Edited by on Oct 12, 2010 10:15 AM
i tell you frank your so defensive on your posts that it puts me on gaurd,I was told on here over a year ago that i noodle not bad noodleing but noodle so ive worked my but off in 3 different schools sence then and try so hard not to noodle i listen to my stuff and i like the noodling better,somewhat its more free flowing,then some one mentions noodle and i might of jumped the gun ,on him or not im not sure but anytime im on your posts i start getting nervous maybe we both just need to relax and have fun with it noodle or not tricks or not ;-)
Last Edited by on Oct 12, 2010 10:43 AM
I'm not putting anyone down that can do all that cool stuff, I listen to it in awe. Let me try and put it another way. If you own a car or truck and want to take care of it then as long as you can change the oil, air filter and maybe the spark plugs you can keep it running for a long time. Unless you want to become an auto mechanic there's no need to learn how to tear the motor or transmission down for a rebuild. I just want to play a little harp, I'm not looking to turn Pro. There's no need for me to learn Over Blows and hit every note perfectly because I'm just playing for my own enjoyment and for fun. No one has any expectations for me to play like Jason Ricci or any of the High End players. I've been beating myself up over not knowing how to do all that stuff because many here keep telling me that I have to learn it if I'm going to be a harp player but do I really? Why can't I just be a Low End harp player and have fun with it? Why does everyone put the bar so high and expect EVERYONE to reach that bar? I'm just looking to have a little fun and talk harps with people, maybe learn a few things but I don't feel that I need to live up to anyone's expectations except mine. If some of ya'll want to be totally dead serious about learning every little thing about harp playing that's totally awesome, I admire you for that but that's not what I'm about and not why I'm here. I guess "tricks" may have been the wrong word to use, "High End Technique" would have probably been more to the point. I just don't feel that everyone needs to learn High End Technique to play harp or carry a tune on one. Lots of people have a great time around their camp fire playing simple stuff. ---------- Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F Hohner Old Standby in A Hohner Special 20 in Bb Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
TNFrank: "I've been beating myself up over not knowing how to do all that stuff because many here keep telling me that I have to learn it if I'm going to be a harp player but do I really? Why can't I just be a Low End harp player and have fun with it? Why does everyone put the bar so high and expect EVERYONE to reach that bar?"
==================
Dude, you seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time worrying about what each and every person on this forum thinks about your playing and playing in general. If you want to stay on the low end of the harp and have some fun around the campfire, do it. Who cares?
You have to understand that the board is populated by players of all skill levels; from complete novices to touring/regularly gigging professionals. Do you really expect someone who has complete mastery of the entire instrument to say: "Yes Frank, it's an absolute waste of time to learn overblows and to spend any time on holes 6-10, carry on."
C'mon, if you're half the musician you claim to be, you'd realize how ridiculous that expectation is and how tiresome this is starting to get.
You must realize that at some point the constant seeking of some sort of recognition from the forum, reaffirmation that "your approach is correct" is in itself an indicator of a certain amateurishness.
hey Frank sence your a guitar player did you ever think about playing with a rack,I just started trying the rack its a whole different ballgame,but i play guitar and thought its a waste not to try it,but i ve spent allmost 2 years trying to learn harmonica and left the guitar alone,now im trying both i have a friend who went the other way he's trying the rack from git go cause he's a guitar player 1st and for most its taking him a awhile,ive heard he aint doing to good from a harp playing friend,i havent heard him,I thought about saying try learning the harp alone for awhile then go to the rack, but im not sure thats good advise or not,its alot different,but it does add and you can do simple stuff and blend it with the guitar somewhat and it seems to work somewhat,but dont get me wrong ive heard some rack players that sound really good as good as someone playing just the harp,but from what ive read your just wanting some harp to go with your guitar,thats one way to add it or use multi tracks.I agree with shanster about man your becomming a star on here,with all the posts you get,i hadnt heard from him in awhile and he pops up on your post;-) I hardly get any kind of anything good or bad,Im jealous why cant i be as hated as you or loved i dont know which but you got there attention.
well no you dont need both E strings i love 3 string CBG's as a matter of fact they dont use any E strings:-) ADG but i see your point;-)
Last Edited by on Oct 12, 2010 11:53 AM
A lot of us are driven to learn as much as we can and be the best that we can be.
I know I will work until I'm 70 (or longer) and being a touring pro is not my goal. I would LOVE nothing more than to be in a local blues band and make enough to buy gas, a big steak, and a few beers once in a while.
This does not mean that I am not driven to play as well as I can.
Buzadero is correct. Overbends are just another technique to learn. I want to learn them all and hope to someday be creative enough to come up with my own.
Play soulfully and have fun at any level...but why put limits on yourself......
Nope, you don't need all the strings. Heck, you can even get a Baritone uke which is basically just the 4 high strings just like on a guitar and you even play chords the same way. I think you are right, I do spend too much time on forums and I do worry about what other people think. I guess it's time to cut the cord and grow up and be my own man. Thanks for the advice. ---------- Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E and F Hohner Old Standby in A Hohner Special 20 in Bb Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb,C and D
