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beginner forum: for novice and developing blues harp players >
Blues scale
Blues scale
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Truth2012
11 posts
Jan 03, 2016
12:01 PM
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Hi Everyone
I've been playing for 10 months now and I'm really trying to improve the fluidity of my blues scale playing.
I put on different backing tracks in different keys(playing the appropriate harmonica) and play the blues scale over the track, up and down, chopping it in half, half down then up, 1/4 notes, 1/16 notes and so on.
Will this help because it sure is fun!
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SuperBee
3178 posts
Jan 03, 2016
12:33 PM
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Yep, itll help. Theres a bunch of stuff you can do. One of my favourites which has been very useful is this...actually its minor pentatonic because it doesnt use the flat 5th, but its still very bluesy...statrt at 6 blow,
+6, 5, 4, 5, 4, +4
4, +4, 3', +4, 3', 2
3', 2, 2", 2, 2", 1
2", 1, +1, 1
And back up
+1, 1,
2", 1, 2", 2, 2", 2
3', 2, 3', +4, 3', +4
4, +4, 4, 5, 4, 5, +6
Sorry had to do an edit because id left ghd plus off ghe final 6 blow
Once you get that down, get a track which is fairly straightforward like a jimmy reed shuffle and try playing it. You might have to adjust the timing but itll get in your bones. There are a few good little riff sections in
It that you will hear as you play, and it takes you down to 1 blow so you get very used to playing all around that area and some interesting things on 1 and 2 draw which wi?l blow your mind at some point when you realise you just do that stuf without thinking
Last Edited by SuperBee on Jan 03, 2016 1:56 PM
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Killa_Hertz
82 posts
Jan 03, 2016
12:44 PM
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Watch Jason Ricci's Newest Youtube Video. It has a great exercise and explanations of how to incorporate it into your playing. Helped me alot. I think it's titled pentatonic meowing. He posted it on the main forum about two weeks ago.
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"Trust Those Who Seek The Truth...
Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
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SuperBee
3179 posts
Jan 03, 2016
12:47 PM
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One neat riff i get out of this is not actually in that exercise (edit: i mean the one i spelled out above) but it comes from the familiarity with those holes..look at what youre playing there from the 3rd line on until you get back to the 3'. You get so familiar with playing 2 and 2" in rhtyms its just lkke you live there...
I like stuff like this 2", 1, 2, 1, 2", 1, +1, 1
And then take it up an octave 5, 4, +6, 4, 5, 4, +4, 4
Which is neat because you get the rhythm goin in tge low octave and then get to wotk it higher and instead of ghe 2 draw bend, you have to deal with that little jump between 4 and +6 and back, and it also reminds you how that bend in 2" should be sounding so you can be tuning your bend referencing youf same harp
But trust me, thatcscale exercise is a beauty
Oh yeah, JRs video was neat too because its get the idea of where the root notes live bedded down at yhd same time, and addressing the idea of harmony, ryhtm and time, so putting a scale exercise right into context
Last Edited by SuperBee on Jan 03, 2016 12:50 PM
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Killa_Hertz
83 posts
Jan 03, 2016
12:51 PM
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Super bee that's an interesting way of practicing it. Had to double take. Do it in sets of three climbing down n back up. Imma give that a shot.
Do you play it in a triplet rhythm or do you play it just straight?
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"Trust Those Who Seek The Truth...
Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
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SuperBee
3180 posts
Jan 03, 2016
1:05 PM
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Pretty tripletty for me. If you do it with a track it sorts itself out but i think you gotta get it in your head first.
I tell you the true story. Jimi lee gave me that exercise and another major scale version...i was playing it until i had it memorised, or thoughg i did...and then i took my dog for a wslk, and a harp and it was dark and no traffic about...i could focus prety well..and i played that thing until i could go down anf up without messinb up. When i got home i put a track...from jimi lees groovetrax of course. And i just tried playing that over tgd entire progression and it sorted itself out as far as time and rhthm. So it all pretty much happened in one day. I spoke with jl in thr am and by bedtime i had it down. I started using it in my playing at jam next band practice. Not the whole thing but gradually it starts chopping itself up and sometimes you can actually usr ghd whole thing but maybe once in a session...but yeah just practice it and it will get in your bones. You can make up your own versions of ghis dort of pattern too. Or turn it indide out. Ive got anoghd one i do tgat starts on 5 draw and goes up to 6 blow, tgdn tgd next note is 4 draw and up to 5 draw, 4 blow to 4 deaw, 3' to 4 blow..you get thd idea, 1 up 2 down...and on thd way up its from 1 draw to 1 blow, 2" to 1 draw, 2 draw to 2", 3' to 2 draw. He said " im tryinb to teach you to catch a fish"
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Killa_Hertz
87 posts
Jan 03, 2016
4:44 PM
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Do you ever fall back on pieces of these excersises while you're improvising?
I need to add more variance to my practice. I like the different patterns you put within the scale. I skipped over all that kinda stuff when i was first learning. Just wanted to learn the cool stuff u know.
The pent. And the blues scale is all i really ever practiced. As far as scale work goes
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"Trust Those Who Seek The Truth...
Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jan 03, 2016 5:10 PM
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SuperBee
3186 posts
Jan 03, 2016
5:36 PM
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yep absolutely...like to get to a target note...you can step up or down through the scale or slip to it in one of these patterned ways...i use them all the time. and you can play it in different beats or counts like 1/4 notes or 1/8th notes, swing it or pplay it staright, triplets, 16ths if you can manage it. listen to 'walter's boogie' by horton and see how what he does at the start is a variation on this kind of thing...or several variations...its maybe not 'the' key, but its one of the keys. you can do this from the 9 blow too, if you want to mess your head up...and OB the 6 or jump up to the 10"...or down to the 3'...if you time it, that is pretty cool...to start a chorus up there for like 1 bar and continue in the lower octave...as long as you can get the 10" reliably...you need that to have the real impact i think, although just using the 9 blow, 9 draw, 8 draw 7 blow and picking it up again in the lower scale is still pretty good (i think) because it changes things up. like everything, dont overdo it except in practice sessions
Last Edited by SuperBee on Jan 03, 2016 5:37 PM
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Killa_Hertz
91 posts
Jan 03, 2016
5:50 PM
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Right. I'm pretty weak on the upper end of the harp. But its something I'm starting to mess with now that I'm solid on the first 7 holes. Overblows i can do, but i don't spend much time with because it's a lil ahead of where I'm at.
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"Trust Those Who Seek The Truth...
Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
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SuperBee
3188 posts
Jan 03, 2016
8:02 PM
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man...the top end ive been 'just getting to' for so long but at last i'm getting somewhere with it...thats one of the good things about ob 6 though which i think makes it worth getting down even if you dont bother with the rest...is that it gives you that flat 3rd in the middle of the harp and in 2nd position that joins you up with the bottom and the top...if you can get the 7 overdraw which is the flat 5th, thats cool too but not as important...the flat 3rd there though can take you from 9 blow down to 1 blow in minor pentatonic 2nd...which is also major pentatonic in 5th...so its a cool trick...even if you dont use it that much...i read paul oscher writing about how that was his thing with the overblow and now he doesnt even use it, prefers to use the 3' i think he said...but yeah anyway...
the top end...i'm not great at many things but the one thing i am great at is procrastination and i put it off for so long, because i read it would take years to get good at it and even then maybe you wouldnt...this book said it was really difficult...so of course i did the sensible thing and avoided it...until one day my teacher tried to show me how to do the ob 6 and i couldnt get it and he said its a lot like the blow bend 8...well, i could do that, badly...but thats why i set out to get better at it and he was right, by the time i could blow bend 8 well, i could also overblow 6...but by then i was right into playing 1st position stuff. ive been at it a while, well over a year, maybe 2...i can tell the ten is starting to work for me now, at last...8 and 9 came pretty easy...but what really worked for me was finding some songs to play and just doing 5 minutes in the morning, before i got in the shower...id go to the shower room, put the heatte on and just spend 5 minutes on the top end of the harp. it was good becausei went there every day, so i practiced every day, and after a little while i started to be able to do it every time...only a couple weeks and it started to come together...im off work right now and thats why i keep hitting the boards hey...between building an amp...
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Truth2012
12 posts
Jan 04, 2016
12:48 PM
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Thanks for your help/ideas
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