Tales from the pub (again)

Last Wednesday (20.11.12) I played at the pub for what will probably be the final time this year (because of L having theatre commitments). At the end this chap who'd listened to the set came and had a word. He was glowing in his praise and really full of warmth about my playing. It was a really nice confidence boost. As I was about to leave, he said he had a chromatic from way back which he would like to give me! Whether that materializes is unimportant, I just took it as a huge compliment to my playing. Yay!

Tudhoe gig

Played last night at the Tudhoe Victory Club. We were the first of three bands. It worked out pretty well and I think a good sound was created overall. I was feeling fairly confident and the B/Blues lead and solo worked out well. The solo for Grapevine was good too. I think I'm doing ok.

Yay

I finally plucked up courage and sent a short message and video clip (of the solo in Grapevine) to the outstanding harmonica player and teacher Adam Gussow. I was really pleased that he was kind enough to reply and also greatly encouraged by his comments.

Thanks for your thanks, and the clip. You've got a strong groove and decent tone--loud, solid. Actually, you've got very good single notes. You're definitely not playing mush-mouth harp. What you need next is some vibrato. I'm glad I helped you find your way to third position. You're definitely the sort of player whom I would urge to keep at it, rather than somebody who I would point towards basket-weaving or the like. Not everybody inspired by my videos actually has enough talent to make it worth their while, but I think you do. Keep having fun! Thanks again.

Yay!

A quick review

The Saturday gig went well and sounded good.

Birthday gig on Saturday

So we are playing a gig for a 50th (I think) birthday party on Saturday. As a result I have been trying to squeeze some practice time in. I've taken old songs from the set and worked them through. The surprising thing is that despite having played them many times before, I've never really worked out a harp line. So it have been very useful to sort things through. Now I have a fairly simple but decent part for Black Magic Woman, In repair, I will Survive and A better Man. Also I have worked out the solo/fill thing to This is the Life but I doubt we shall use that on Saturday. I've decided to largely leave the AC/DC thing alone, just the odd 4/5 draw here and there. So that's the state of play today.

No beer, just cars

So another 2 nights 2 gigs goes by. The first was at the pub and was supposed to be a beer festival except the landlord hadn't ordered in any novetly beers, so it was instead, the pub. It proved to be good fun and although I couldn't be heard -again- in the first half, I still enjoyed it.

The second night was the Morgan owners yearly get together. Average age appeared to be around 60. I was delighted that we were well received. Folks got up to dance. Nice moves! Confidence levels are on the up and the chromatic worked well for And She Was (although it is hard to play 1 handedly).

Plus I got some money out of the gigs!!!!!! Yay!

Chromatic

I've worked out some very simple parts for some of the key changes in And she Was. I think it will sound ok, kind of brass style fills really. I'll see tomorrow night with the band whether it fits.

I've also started to practice major scales on the Chromatic (for the common keys the band plays in) and I am going to learn each blues scale as well (I know F so far). It's a fair bit of work but I think in the long run it will be worth while. The main problem is that I am so used to thinking in terms of flats. The flattened 3rd, 5th or 7th are often referred to in blues music but everything is sharp on a chromatic so I'm starting to try and think of it as sharp 2, 4 and 6. Confusing. I'll get there. I hope...

Chromatic woes

The next two gigs are next weekend. We are going to do a version of Talking Heads' And She Was. Good song but it goes through 3 keys. So I picked up the chromatic I bought at Christmas time and...

...found it really hard. Sure it can play in any key but trying to establish where I IV and V are between 3 different keys was a huge headache. I am going to persevere because it will make a difference to the song but I need time to go wrong a lot.

Watch this space.

Okey Dokey

Nice work tonight. Really enjoyed playing. Had a blast! Feeling above averagely groovy.

Practice makes...

Been practising like billy-o ready for a gig on Thursday night (a work night!) in front of the mayor of somewhere or other. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to play with the band due to family commitments. I hope that Thursday comes off!

I wish myself luck!

New projects

Although I haven't been updating this blog recently, I have been playing a fair bit. I have worked up a version of The Old Grey Whistle Test theme which I intend to record when I get a camera which sounds half decent.

Also I have started to work out the St Louis Blues. Good fun.

Chromatic

Just a quick note. I picked up a 12 hole chromatic just before Christmas and am having lots of fun learning how to play it. Very complex. I need to learn my scales. I am trying to learn For Once in My Life (Stevie Wonder version.)

Very excited. Very excited indeed!