Category: Blues

Learn to play harmonica. MUSIC 100 Put the video on pause and read these side-bar notes before you watch. There are two aspects of music that particularly interest us – melody and harmony. In blues, the melody will be played by a lead instrument (for us on a harp) and the harmony (chords) will be played -usually – by a guitar or a keyboard such as a piano or organ. Playing blues has to do with improvising. What you want to avoid when improvising are ‘sour notes’ –ie notes that sound discordant! THE FACT IS you can play ANY note ANY TIME! ~ But there is a ‘trick’ to it! There are notes that sound right and some that definitely sound ‘wrong’ ! YOUR EAR TELLS YOU WHICH NOTES ARE HARMONIOUS AND WHICH ARE INHARMONIOUS! HOW TO DEAL WITH SOUR NOTES ~ DAMAGE CONTROL – Trick #1 -ooo- HOW TO PLAY RIFFS THAT ‘FIT’ EACH TIME ~ Trick#2. One of the skills you have to learn ~ is how to cover a mistake. Whenever you play a discordant note, what some call a ‘wrong note’ – you get off it right away! You certainly may use them as stepping stones, meaning when you play it (or them) you just touch them and quickly move to the next note. Another way of saying this is ~ you can use discordant notes as links to bridge one harmonious note to the other. Again, let it be clear: the trick is to not dwell long or linger on the discordant note. In real terms ~ you may use all notes when you play, but discordant notes you use as passing tones. Yes! DO use ‘discordant notes’ – they give your music …