[Harp-L] Re: What to do during the guitar solo



Gary Hodgson writes:

"as i'm starting to play with other people, i could use a little
advice about what to do when i'm not soloing. that is, how
to acompany well. when the guitarist is soloing, should i not
play at all? or play occasional accents? quiet rhythm patterns,
following what the drummer and bass are playing? octaves
following the chord progression? or what?"

Gary,

I've read the other guys posts answering your question, most of which  I
agree with, and wanted to add a couple of comments to the mix.

There are some guitar solos that you just can't add anything to.  Sometimes
this is easy to see, sometimes it isn't.  If it's a Steve Ray song than
you'll have to sit it out entirely. Guitar players of intermediate skill
LOVE Steve Ray solos because the whole dynamic of his sound is guitar front
and center. There is lot of blues like that and guitarists who want to play
it - there's no room for harp here.  This is a shame because it discourages
any development of dynamics. Everybody has to take their turn and the grove
is usually very one dimensional.  The interplay of different instrument
voices is suppressed almost entirely.  The songs all have this flat, linier
quality.

At the other end of the spectrum is blues where you get a lot of integration
and interplay of the different voices.  You hear this a lot on older blues
recordings and especially on blues recordings that feature a harp player
like Piazza or Wilson or Little Walter or Howlin Wolf. I used to think I was
biased toward these bands because there is a lot of harp there for me to
dig. But more and more it's has occurred to me that I also like these sounds
because there's more depth to them, more dynamics, more counterpoint.
Because of the harp, the other musicians have had to make room for it and in
doing so they often end up with a more complex, satisfying sound, not just
because of the harmonica but because everybody is more careful.  The
resulting sound feels more carefully fit together. If there is one thing
about blues harmonica that people don't appreciate this is it.  In fact, I
would go so far as to say that the Chicago sound was defined by this dynamic
and that the harmonica was what brought it about for a better portion of the
cannon of that genre.

So what you have to do is get a feel for what the guys you're playing with
know and want from this approach.  A few weeks ago I posted comments about
leaning into the vocals at jams and how one guy I was jamming with really
"got" it.  You are going to find that most of the time, even it you're
subtle as hell, everybody is going to think you're stepping on them.  How
can they think otherwise? This is how most jams are shaped I think.  It's
not anybody's fault so much as a function of four or five people who don't
play together often and don't have time to plan what they are doing.

I've played with some guitarists who aren't that good and the better of this
group stay in the  rhythm mode a lot and you can really get in there, sort
of syncopation style, getting short, two note riffs in between beats. The
worst of this group solo all over the place in spite of not really knowing
what they are doing and you just have to stay out of it.

So that's my take on this subject - sorry if it went on too long.

Sam Blancato, Pittsburgh





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