accompaniment

[rusty]

OK folks here goes

Harmonica players are often referred to by non harmonica players as well............using every opportunity to be heard  is a nice way to put it  .

Accompanying others is the art of making someone else sound good. Support and that sort of thing. Kind of what my wife does for me everyday.
It requires such unmanly skills as listening and patience. Still it is fun to master and sometimes you may be invited back!

a good foundation in chord structure and harmony can be helpful I'm told
counterpoint, figured bass lines, and rhythmic support are all buzz words that may also be useful. Really the possabilities are endless. That does not however suggest that you need to use every possability all the time

[Grizzly]

Rule of thumb: hire an accompanist who plays better than you. They make you sound good, and it relieves you of the burden of teaching them how to do it.

I speak from experience.

Tom

[landztranz]

I love accompanying my guitarist and drummer; it adds body and depth to many of our songs, most of which are mostly pop and rock so the chord structures aren't so complex.

In my case, all it really requires is a good ear and familiarity with the instrument.

Barry
P.S. Maybe I'll be crazy enough to buy a chord harmonica one day -- that would be really cool...I think.

 

[A.J.Fedor]

Accompaniment as a side man, in my opinion is an art that needs to be "mastered." I'm working at it!  It's one of those things that a lotta folks do, but not all of us do it well  )  Once I realized that, my personal efforts at accompaniment became more challenging and indeed more fun. If you have just one creative bone in your body, you find yourself resisting the temptation to "take off" cuz taking off, (while fun) is usually counter productive to the "total piece."

Playing a solo instrument as accompaniment requires restraint and encourages me to "plan my shots" and play to enhance the "whole number" not just my own gratification. Turns out, the sideman ain't the "steak," but rather a side dish. As such, it should allow us time to prepare our best licks for the "ands" (where our little "noodles" go) as well as where we get to solo.  IMO 

Bottom line is: "less is more"


SM

[Grizzly]

Chord harmonica is FUN. You don't have to go the whole nine yards (or 23 1/2 inches) for one of the Big Boys; I've gotten a lot of mileage out of a simple Chordet 20. I'm using it to accompany fiddle tunes at contradances.

(My triple-decker 48 [actually, 64 ] is still in pieces, waiting for me to have, or make, the time to reassemble it.)

Tom

[landztranz]

Accompaniment as a side man, in my opinion is an art that needs to be "mastered." I'm working at it!  It's one of those things that a lotta folks do, but not all of us do it well  )  Once I realized that, my personal efforts at accompaniment became more challenging and indeed more fun. If you have just one creative bone in your body, you find yourself resisting the temptation to "take off" cuz taking off, (while fun) is usually counter productive to the "total piece."
Playing a solo instrument as accompaniment requires restraint and encourages me to "plan my shots" and play to enhance the "whole number" not just my own gratification. Turns out, the sideman ain't the "steak," but rather a side dish. As such, it should allow us time to prepare our best licks for the "ands" (where our little "noodles" go) as well as where we get to solo.  IMO 
Bottom line is: "less is more"
SM

I agree with everything you said, SM!
Case in point: On Saturday night, at a party, I played with my guitarist on three songs: "The Boxer," "The Bricklayer's Song" and "I Should Have Known Better." On the first one, I only played the interlude (I don't know what instrument played it on the original S&G recording; on the second one I simply played chords (my guitarist did all the singing 'cause I don't know the song and it's an Irish song so his accent fit it much better); and on the third one I played the John Lennon chords. I didn't overdo anything and people liked the whole performance. I was even told by someone that I'm an "excellent harmonica player" -- and I didn't really do very much. Conclusion: Less is definitely more!!!

To Griz:
Thanks for the Chordet 20 idea! Maybe I'll check it out!
Does it give you all the chords?

Barry

[iowaplayer]

Chord harmonica is FUN. You don't have to go the whole nine yards (or 23 1/2 inches) for one of the Big Boys; I've gotten a lot of mileage out of a simple Chordet 20. I'm using it to accompany fiddle tunes at contradances.

(My triple-decker 48 [actually, 64 ] is still in pieces, waiting for me to have, or make, the time to reassemble it.)

Tom

hi tom,

before i forget to mention it, when you do get that triple-decker chord put together, please go easy with it.

i was talking to al smith about that four-decker monster he used to play, and he told me he had to quit playing it because he ended up with really bad carpal tunnel problems (and i mean REALLY bad) from it.

use good technique, which means using your arms, not your wrists, to sling the thing around, and don't play it if you feel your wrists starting to ache.

the solid, non-hinged brackets you'll be using will help some, but the human wrist just wasn't built for that kind of activity.

take care of yourself, k?

iowaplayer

[Grizzly]

Barry: Nah, it has chords for the keys of D, G, C, F and Bb, their relative minors, their dominant 7ths, and some auggies and dimmies. Good enough for fiddle tunes, although I really miss an E7 occasionally. We're mostly in the Keys of G and D.

Iowaplayer: thanks for your advice; I'll be careful. I've already had both wrists operated on because of other activities, so I'm already aware of potential problems.

BTW, the Chordet 20 has bass notes, and only four reeds for each chord. It's fun, and small, but doesn't have the punch of a 48.

Tom

[A.J.Fedor]

You need a bass to really have fun with "The Boxer" 

[Rich35]

  Speaking  from my own experiences
 My real desire too play well,and get serious was when i got together with a guitarist ,not ready to go on tour
 but it really was enjoyable and that is half the recipe for improvement.

[A.J.Fedor]

You don't have to be on stage and or "in public" to have a great time making music. In fact, you'll probably have more fun jamming and trading licks than you ever will on stage. The music is probably going to better too cuz there's no real pressure.

[Grizzly]

I got reprimanded (not too strong a word, giving the context) for calling a pianist an accompanist. He was the pianist, one of the musicians, and so forth. For some reason, The Powers That Be (or were, in this instance) deemed "accompanist" a real putdown. He was playing a piano reduction of the orchestra score for a choral group, so I can see the point. But I'm still a little conflicted about the term.

Tom

[RolandTumbler]

I got reprimanded (not too strong a word, giving the context) for calling a pianist an accompanist. He was the pianist, one of the musicians, and so forth. For some reason, The Powers That Be (or were, in this instance) deemed "accompanist" a real putdown. He was playing a piano reduction of the orchestra score for a choral group, so I can see the point. But I'm still a little conflicted about the term.

Tom

Maybe that's why some pianists are such lousy accompanists! 

[Grizzly]

Accompanying takes a collaboration of equals, and is a special and sensitive talent. Maybe this is why the professors bristled at the term. They're not "employees," but partners.

Tom

[RolandTumbler]

Accompanying takes a collaboration of equals, and is a special and sensitive talent. Maybe this is why the professors bristled at the term. They're not "employees," but partners.

Tom

I pride myself on being a decent 'sideman' (accompanist). There is a real knack to fitting the right thing into the empty spaces (IF the empty space NEEDS it) - or being disciplined enough to lay out.  In some ways it's harder than leading the band.

A number of the pianists I've heard utterly lack the ability to leave enough space for the other instruments, as do a significant majority of diatonic harmonica 'blues players'.

[Grizzly]

Again: collaboration, not competition.

Tom

[A.J.Fedor]

If both are being paid by the "management" the argument might have some legs, but not if the lead instrument player is the one who's actually paying the piano player. Technically, if the piano player's being paid by the lead instrument player; sorry, but he's being paid to be called anything the lead player wants to call him. If he don't like what the lead player calls him, he should simply not "work" for the lead player.  Thats the new "Golden Rule."   Doesn't mean its right, but if the lead player has the gold; he gets to make the rules.

[jimgrant]

I'm liking this thread very much! I play with 2 different groups; one has lead, rhythm and bass guitar and the other is a duo with a lady who plays keyboard and sings. My stock response to praise is "they are doing all the work, I just fill in the cracks".

I really mean this. My job, as I see it, is to play harmonies, etc. that enhance the music that the others are generating. I usually take a lead in a number but that's secondary to what I feel is my main function. This is very satisfying to me and I hope to keep it up as long as breath lasts.

[A.J.Fedor]

Yeah, that's what I do on our church worship team. Yeah, I love it too.

[John Broecker]

Hello, sidekicks.

Roland Tumbler's reply #14 describes an accompanist precisely.

As a "side-man" since age 8 (as a drummer-percussionist), I've developed the art of accompaniment to a high level. I can perform with anybody, experienced or non-experienced, anytime, anywhere.

The idea is to keep the music moving, but stay in the background, and provide musical support in the style of the music and the style of the performer-soloist.

On a slide chromatic harmonica, the use of a standard solo system slide harp is severely limited for chords, but many arpeggios are available. Richter system harps are more effective for chords than a standard solo system slide harp.

Best Regards

John Broecker