tobyteneyck
7 posts
Nov 07, 2015
9:21 AM
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The one video that turned me onto harmonica was Gusssow slapping his camera on YouTube and talking Buddhism. I had that experience yesterday. The day before I had been at my second ever harmonica lesson in which the instructor was talking about the 12 bars blues progression and asking me to play along, which I could not, or not very well. This led him to ask, "Grasshopper, do you have any idea of what you're supposed to do with that harp you are so uselessly holding?" OK, not those words but that is how I was feeling. I told him I understand the 12 bars concept, the chord change concept, etc., but had no idea of how to USE it in improvisation. He told me to keep working on it. The next morning I once again, for the umpteenth time, played Gussow's "How to Play a 12 bar blues" video and it was when he said, "You're having to do three or four things at once," that the proverbial hand of the master slapped the proverdial head of the student. I realized that I was trying to count both the bars and the chords, which led to things like, "1, two, three, four, 2, two, three, four, 3, two, three, four, 4, two, three, four, 4, two, three, four, 4, two, three, four, 1, two, three, four," at which point I was lost because I knew I was not on the first bar knowing I had lost some numbers along the way. I realized, as many of you probably recognize, that I was substituting the chord changes for the bars. Lesson learned -- if you run into a wall, break it down brick by brick, and chances are you will find that brick that is holding up the wall.
Last Edited by tobyteneyck on Nov 07, 2015 9:28 AM
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