Tuesday, December 6, 2011

What Did You Miss This Week? (Week 248 #291)

Hate To See You Go!!!

By special request Joe's moving on from Temperature to full-blown one chord study and this week it is Hate To See You Go. You can trace one chord roots back through tunes like She's Alright, Rollin' Stone, and Still A Fool all the way to Catfish Blues recorded by Robert Petway in 1940. As Joe says, you have to look hard for "original" songs and frankly, they don't tend to exist. The blues is a rich, layered history!

As for Hate To See You Go, this is wonderful call and response between Muddy Waters and Little Walter on guitar and harp. Yes, that's Walter laying down the guitar riff that makes this song powerful. Joe has transcribed an harmonica-friendly version of the riff in case you need to teach it to a band on the spot or want to make it part of your arrangement.

When working to solo over one chord tunes, keep these things in mind:
  • Note the tone and mood of the song. Typically one chord tunes are very minor pentatonic or blues scale based. If that's the case, you should keep your note choices in those scales as well.
  • Think (and play) in 1, 2 or 4 bar phrases. One chord tunes are organized and you should be too.
How to practice this song? As luck would have it, our own Shoji Naito has a play-along track ready for you: Hate To See You Goal.
                Ron Sorin and the Blue Coast Band CD Release!!!

                We're excited to announce that our local harp legend, Ron Sorin, has released a new CD, Lake City! This disc is loaded with special guests: Tad Robinson, Mark Skyer, Marty Binder, Harlan Terson, Mark Wydra, Ken Saydak, John Brumbach, Pete Benson and James Wheeler! You can find this on CD Baby if you can't wait for his visit and CD release party in B1, January 16!

                Congrats Ron!
                Band Communication!!!

                - Confused about how best to communicate your songs to the band? Here's a nice offer for help from Al Taylor:

                "At the upcoming recital, it is important that performers give the band concise instructions. It's best if you give a card with your song information to the band right before you perform, as well. Feel free to contact Al Taylor (taylorar2010@gmail.com) for advice on reducing your band instructions to a minimum."
                Class Notes
                • Recital #17 happens on December 17 (wow, #17 on the 17th!) starting at 7:30pm. Here's the Set List! Impersonate a professional by being early for your time slot and work to make your between song and between performer transitions quick!
                • Next Monday, December 12, 2012 is the last class of this session. Classes resume January 9, 2012.
                    Holiday Blues!!!

                    Need some Christmas blues? How about these hot releases from Kid Anderson that feature some terrific harp players: Rick Estrin, John Nemeth, Paul Oscher and Mark Hummel. Kid plays guitar with Rick Estrin & the Nightcats and runs his own recording studio. You need these discs to make your holiday listening complete!


                    Kid Andersen & Friends - Christmas At Greaseland, Red Volume

                    - Grant Kessler, B1 Blues Crew