Blues harmonica players only spend between 5-10% of the time on stage soloing. Therefore, it is important for every harmonica player once on stage to play tasteful accompaniment.
That means sometimes playing something continuously while others might take a solo or sing, and adding to the sound. Never get in the way of the other musicians by creating counter-rhythms or stepping on another performer’s solo. Playing something at a lower volume underneath the rhythm section can add another level to the sound. Either using rhythmic or non-rhythmic chordal accompaniment, we can lay down something solid that the rest of the band can fall back on and enjoy playing over.
Being very careful to control our volume is the best way to make other members of the band happy and want to play with us again. Using extreme repetition and/or creating a quiet layer within the music allows for the harp player to be playing all the time while actually adding something beneficial to the overall sound. Do you think playing accompaniment is Important? Do you enjoy doing it? I love it. I think it’s more fun than soloing.
I really enjoy being the harmonica equivalent of the rhythm guitar. You’ve just got to be careful about treading on the vocalist -but that doesn’t mean you can’t play while they’re singing.
If you can arrange in advance with the singer and others how to do it playing counterpoint on harmonica can work well, it takes a bit of care not to overlap but it makes for some interesting music. It works especially well on solo tuned and chromatic
With Chicago southside blues (harmonica style bands) – Muddy, Jimmy Rodgers, etc. harmonica was integral to the sound. Constant backing fits the style. You might be playing behind a vocal part.
Chicago’s westside sound (tough economics, sparse bands, often 3-piece) – Freddy King, Magic Sam, Otis Rush, Jimmy Dawkins, Hound Dog Taylor, etc. harmonica wasn’t typically part of their sound.
If the band is guitar centric blues aka B.B. King, Albert King, Little Milton, Elmore James or similar you learn to do a lot of comping – playing the horn parts or piano fills. You don’t play over the vocals.
Definitely agree with you. This applies to any instrument in a band. Blend everything together until it’s time to be a little outstanding. Dynamics is the key factor here and, never use effects constantly. Good taste is something that is acquired and, cannot be bought. Just the right lick at the right time can be more entertaining than wailing all the time. If a musician of any kind does not learn to do this it can ruin any performance. Less is More!!!
While some of what you said might apply for old school Chicago blues, we all need a reminder that not all harmonica players want to play that kind of music. Taking myself as an example, I was told to play like Little Walter when I did a cover of a Sawyer Brown (they’re a country band) song featuring Terry McMillan on harmonica, and he certainly didn’t try to imitate Little Walter. 100% tongue blocked Chicago Blues harmonica does not have a place in a upbeat, fast song like that.
This is why you need to look for the players you like the best in the genre(s) of music you’d want to play and listen to their accompaniment styles. What the Chicago guys did will not fit into every situation.
This song, “I’ve Got to Praise Him” by The Nelons, has Terry McMillan on the harmonica. I like to use his playing on this track for an example for good non-blues accompaniment playing. Note the simple licks that he’s playing in between the vocal lines instead of stepping on it. These sort of fills are a great way to get something in while not stepping on the vocals. People used to tell me that Terry was a bad harmonica player because he played simple licks. So? I don’t get why that is such a bad thing because he was mainly accompanying vocalists rather than being a show-off or doing solo works. Also keep in mind to fit the notes in your licks with the chords and use your music theory knowledge.
It shouldn’t be surprising that responses addressed blues accompaniment since the thread started with that topic – “Blues harmonica players only spend between 5-10% of the time on stage soloing…”
If the original post had referred to bluegrass, country, and gospel accompaniment, maybe people would have brought up some of the really exceptional players like:
Charlie McCoy
Mickey Rafael
Mike Stevens
P.T. Gazelle
Kirk “Jelly Roll” Johnson
Rachelle Plas
Darrell Mansfield
Jazz? A whole different group of great players. But that can wait for a different thread.
My post’s first two words were “Blues harmonica” and that is what I am referencing. Not sure what you are trying to say. No one is telling you who to like or what to play here.
Great post @davidkachalon yeah it’s all about listening to the whole and augmenting it.
Sometimes a rhythmic addition is just the ticket, like this:
I learned from listening to James Cottone that you can do a -45 shake through a whole blues form, changing to the blow 45 over the IV chord. (Just make sure you expel all the air out your lungs!)
Splits are a lot of fun to use as jump chorus horn-line kind of accompaniment.
Also in the drone kinda sense the -25 is so nice on the I going to the 25 on the IV and 14 on the V. I gotta remember to do that more.
Roly Platt has a great workshop on rhythm playing:
And one of the things that he points out is that playing rhythm well will really help your lead playing, and he demonstrates that principle really convincingly!
I wish Jerry Fierro’s Mudbone album was online - totally different genre - but he does this one part where he’s using a +1 octave pedal and just going from the -3 on the I chord to the the -3’ on the IV chord on a Soul tune, and it sounds like a Moog or something cos it’s so high. So unique.
Anyhow, there are so many options, and I agree it’s tons of fun to be creative, and the key is to always stay QUIET and SUPPORTIVE.
The best way I’ve found to figure out what the harmonica should contribute to the band is to work with the band - sounds obvious! Thru the local Blues Society Jam Workshop I met some guys and we decided to see what we could do. With two guitars, vocalist, bass, drums and harp in a rehearsal studio for 4hrs you can evolve a song to how the group wants it to be. I find this activity is just great fun and forces me to use the harp in ways that I perhaps normally wouldn’t. Two more sessions (spread over a couple of months) and we were ready to play a 3-song set at the Blues Society Pro Jam - with the harp as one of the lead instruments, playing rhythm, fills and solos. A crowd of about 200 folks - and they know their music! A great education and great fun. Pic is at that Jam - our first ever appearance outside a studio.
I would actually start with Sonny Boy Williamson the first, and urban harp players of that period Snooky Pryor would be another before Little Walter ( Walter started here) I would also take a look at Lazy Lester, Raful Neal and a few of the Louisiana harp players, as they have a different melodic approach on some of their songs mainly due to the Cajun and Zydeco influenced.
I would also like to address the fact that Chicago players could only play Blues? This is totally untrue, little Walter listened and copied everything he heard, and Big Walter was also the same ( I heard from Johnny Shines who told me Big Walter could pick up a glass or a can a make his harp sound like a trumpet).
No one could play Gospel like these guys ( My babe was originally a gospel song called My Lord) and I’ve lost count of how many blues players I’ve spoken to listen to Jazz, Country, Rock and Roll, Funk Soul and even classical. Bluesmen and women, might play a particular genre, but the vast majority started off in the church and went secular. They were basically polymorphs absorbing everything they heard
This is great advice @davidkachalon and good timing for me. I’ll be jamming with a band monthly starting next week. It’ll be my first time.
They play more accoustic and folk style. But the tips are still great a reminder. I’ve been a bit nervous - it’s excitement. Yet I don’t want to over do or under do. I just want to add, as you say, “tasteful accompaniment.
Long time lurker here. This is a great topic. Though I have played harmonica off and on for several years it is now my main instrument now that my guitar and keyboard playing is limited by my right arm impairment, I play mostly one handed- While at an Americana Jam recently I really enjoyed holding off at the beginning of some songs, then coming in on the second verse with low volume but solid chording, then singing along on the chorus, and then doing fills and occasional solos, adding dynamics to each song. Seems like some of the piedmont harpists I have heard played continuously in a song but I like the “dynamic” style of playing like Mickey Raphael while also playing my second position Little Walter blues on many country blues songs, whatever the song calls for. I loved chording when we played “Tupelo Honey” by Van Morrison and when the singer gave me a first position solo, I thought that song was one of the highlights of the jam. The harmonica can do many wonderful “musical” things with chording, phrasing, fills, call - response”, soloing, and sometimes just sitting out, then coming back in. Thanks for this great topic.
@Catapaw - great post here! And thanks for coming out of the shadows. Mickey Raphael is a GREAT example of someone who NEVER over-plays (sometimes I actually wish he would play just a TINY bit more!! )
Yeah man, love your description of how you approached the Americana jam.
If your intent is to serve the song, you can’t lose. If your intent is to steal the spotlight, you’ve already lost.
)
Mickey Raphael is a GREAT example of someone who NEVER over-plays (sometimes I actually wish he would play just a TINY bit more!!