Hi guys, Any pointers on to how to improve at jamming with a band/guitar. At the moment all I seem to do is string together riffs etc but I don't feel like I add to anything as a whole, just a bit of interest in the breaks. I tend to practice this with my brother in law on guitar or with a jam track. With a jam track it's easier as its normally pretty simple, but live it feels different. I was looking at buying Adams jam track mix with pointers of how to work within the songs, has anyone used this? Or is it just a case of listening to as many tunes as possible and assimilating the information?
I recently purchased a harmonica rhythm lesson from Ron Shellist. It's a series of rhythm exercises I think could aid in accompaniment. Easy to follow.
From june 2004 to april 2005 there are six articles on accompaniment. David covers the spectrum - fills, horn lines, bass lines etc. In part 6 there is a discography too. Excellent stuff. I've got a load of example mp3 tracks from it too, there must have been a link somewhere to download them in the text but I can't locate that right now.
I think this is available as book too, perhaps different materials though.
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Oct 14, 2015 11:30 PM
...and one of the key messages is about the amount of repetition vs innovation. The comping shouldn't be a quiet solo.
In this quest, I transcribed some patterns from an excellent book I have 'Blues Grooves for Guitar' by Rob Fletcher. A lot of them are based on single notes and double stops rather than big chords so come across to harmonica well, particularly played on the low end where you've got all the bends to emulate grace notes and string bends. Nice.
Ian, could I encourage you to report back what you find and any progress you make with it? Partly because I'm especially interested this topic and partly because, in general, I'm trying to nudge this bit of the forum away from straight Q&A.
I know there's not many of us on here at the minute but, you know, 'build it and they will come'.
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Oct 15, 2015 2:40 AM
For sure... Im working on using some of Adams stuff at the moment and seeing how I can integrate it in to generic jam tracks on youtube. It sure is a long and winding Road, but I do love it! David barretts stuff is great, I have his improvisation book, but I do find that as his teaching is so tongue block focused it can out me off a bit. Hence why I have gravitated towards Adams teaching. I was just thinking it felt a little quiet here... But you can't argue with Costner ;)
I can 100% vouch for what David Barrett has to say on this matter.
I believe that the book you are looking for is "Blues Harmonica Accompaniment Playing", by David Barrett and published by Mel Bay.
David teaches the importance of repetitive playing UNDER the vocals, using only chord tones (most often, the root, 3rd, and 5th, with the 6th or flat 7th only sometimes and depending on the song's feel). Use the "Charleston rhythm" and go for horn lines.
Get the book. Or better, join Dave's site and look at his lessons on accompaniment. Learn your theory. It pays off in a HUGE way. ---------- Marc Graci YouTube Channel
Thanks Micro. While looking around to confirm my understanding of the Charleston Rhythm I found this 10 Jazz Guitar Chord Rhythms. Ok, so it's jazz, but for instance they mention moving that rhythm around in the bar to vary it.
I'm usually playing amped with the band, and so chords can be a bit intrusive like that. I often find that a repeating, rhythmic, single-note-based phrase seems to feel right.
Micro mentioned using Chord tones, rather than chords. Chord tones are the individual notes present in the chord. Most commonly that will be the root, 3rd and 5th. If you play those notes, you certainly won't clash with the band. (If the chord is minor, you would use the minor or flat 3rd.) it's good to know the actual chords in the song, beyond say G C D...is it actually G7 C7 D7, is there a chord which includes a 9th, is there a major 7th anywhere? If you have that knowledge it can help you select notes which will emphasise the changes and support what the band is doing, similar to what the bass does
I think I might get that book of David's that you mention mirco. I feel like I can play solo pretty well for a beginner, but my accompaniment playing is boring and not repetitive in a good way. It wouldn't be fun if it was easy right,?!
