The Unwound Third > Phonograph Blues

What I've learned recording myself (so far)

<< < (3/3)

Johnm:
Hi all,
I'm enjoying hearing folks weigh in here.  I just thought I'd pitch in something I've been thinking about a lot lately, which is to consciously choose to play less, not just behind singing, but in solos, too.  I'm becoming hooked on the appeal of repetition as time goes by.  A quality that always draws me in when I listen to a musician is feeling that he/she has a lot in reserve, so that everything has a "tip of the iceberg" feel.  If a player tries to stick every lick he knows in a single twelve-bar solo pass, too often I get the feeling that I'm watching somebody try to pour five gallons of oil into a quart can.  Save something for the next solo or song, and remember, anything worth saying once in music is worth saying more than once.  Think of how repetitious some of the greatest country blues are:  Son House' "My Black Mama", Rubin Lacey's "Hamhound Crave", et al.  Just something to think about.
All best,
Johnm   

a2tom:
Lesson #4 - Rhythm is everything

Nothing will make playing sound worse than a jumpy beat.? I have a lot of questions about rhythmic issues in the CB, but for now I'll just drop this as an observation.


Lesson #5 - I play everything too fast

This is really a problem given Lesson #4.? But in fact, I think that is why I play everything too fast.? It makes it SEEM easier to keep a steady beat, but I think that's a fallacy.? ?I need to sit in a corner and repeat the Stefan Grossman mantra "slow and loud, slow and loud...".


Putting all the lessons together so far has led me to start working on something new.? The St. Louis Blues, very familiar words, straightforward melody, sung over the simplest guitar accompaniment I can create.? "slow, with feeling".? We'll see if I can get through an entire CB song...

tom

frankie:
Hi Tom - I hear you about Lesson #4.  In my experience, the thumb is how you really articulate the rhythm with this kind of music.  It's not going to matter much what flashy stuff is going on under your fingers if you can't hear what the thumb is up to.  The more time you spend learning how to articulate a strong, fat beat with your thumb, the better off you'll be in the long run.  I was just listening to Luke Jordan a few days ago - Pick Poor Robin Clean and Cocaine Blues - I was struck by the fact that *all* the flashy, cool stuff in those tunes is executed with the thumb.  OK, maybe not all, but 99.5%

Re: Lesson #5 - at its best, speed is a byproduct of confidence and accuracy.  At its worst, it's an effect that often gets used to mask other musical deficiencies - poorly articulated rhythm or a dearth of expressive ideas.  Since speed is just about purely physical, it's easy to address it through practice.  To make the musical stuff better, you have to dig deeper and address issues that are less well defined in most cases.  I have a recording of Alberta on the Back Porch somewhere.  Frankly, I fudge the singing over the repeat of the initial line, never really hitting the notes I'm supposed to hit.  The speed of the recording might distract you from the other pitfalls in the performance, but the truth is, if I worked on singing it better, I wouldn't be in such a rush.  Those notes ought to be savored, really, and I'm just rushing past them on my way to the next.  My lesson?  If you know what you're doing, there's no reason to hurry.

a2tom:
While I can't say the concept of the importance of the thumb is a new idea to me (I recall Stefan Grossman in one lesson played I think it was Louis Collins with only his thumb) Weenie discussion has caused me to really pay attention to my thumb recently.? I have observed that I am dropping, as in omitting, bass notes with my thumb more often than I realized.? Sometimes I do this intentionally, since I think it can get monotonous if the bass is TOO regular.? But I think I have unknowingly been doing it too much and losing some of that pulse that keep the country blues going along.? My more recent work is on trying to improve the consistency and feeling of the bass drive in a couple of tunes.? Two of them are intentionally simplified in the treble/fingers.? My hope is that I'll get back to where I started with guitar - the rock steady alternating bass of Mississippi John Hurt - as a foundation that will allow me to start bringing the voice in effectively.?


--- Quote from: frankie on December 01, 2004, 12:24:47 PM --- If you know what you're doing, there's no reason to hurry.

--- End quote ---

I love that!? I ought to write it across the face of the guitar.? It reminds me of Rev Gary Davis Walking Dog Blues where he says at the beginning "sometimes you just gotta take your time, know what I'm saying".? In fact, that song is one that I recall when I went back and listened once, that I was amazed at how relaxed the tempo is.? But, then the Rev knew what he was doing!

tom

frankie:
One thing that (imo) did wonders for me was playing backup for fiddle tunes.  The neat thing about it is that your role is, in fact, very circumscribed.  You *are* the rhythm.  Once I'd done that for a while, I had a much better sense of what it means to articulate the pulse.  I guess it doesn't sound all that interesting to guys that like to play solo guitar, but I still love to do it.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page