Tuesday, May 14, 2013

What Did You Miss This Week? (Week 312 #356)

Te Ni Nee Ni Nu!!!

That's right, it's Slim Harpo time! Inspired by RJ Mischo's visit recently, Joe shared his transcription of Te Ni Nee Ni Nu with class last night with two purposes in mind:
  • First off, it's important to think about the construction of your sets to be sure you're playing different grooves to entertain your audience. Pulling out a boogaloo like this will definitely break up your set and possibly get 'em up and dancing! (Thanks to our friend Buzz Krantz for visiting last night, by the way, and showing us his boogaloo dance moves!)
  • The other nice thing about the song is that you could easily learn to play the groove on harp and use that to launch the tune. RJ is a master of kicking off songs this way, especially with a band he doesn't know well. You'll see on the last page of Joe's transcription that he's written out the one chord section of the groove for you. (Note: the song is a first position tune but Joe's groove transcription is written in second position. Be careful to pick up the right harp to launch this and switch to play the Slim Harpo stuff!)
The boogaloo groove is certainly in the "tramp" family, but sometimes called a reverse or backward tramp. Where else can you hear this boogaloo groove in action?
  •     The Avalon Boogaloo, George Smith
  •     Crosscut Saw, the later recorded version by Albert King
  •     Funky Miracle, The Meters
Drum Beats Plus App!!!

Harmonica Einstein Says:

Improve your timing, independence and freedom.  Practicing with a metronome alone can be, well, lonely.  Drum Beats Plus will do a few better things for you that will improve your confidence.

Often we use certain rhythms as a crutch in performance thinking that as long as you hear that shuffle or rhumba rhythm behind you, your sense of timing is solid.  The real test is if you can play your song not only at different tempos but along with totally different grooves. 
 
Drum Beats Plus for iPhone/iPad is a clean interface that makes it so easy to change rhythms and tempos.  For example, start with your basic shuffle rhythm at a comfortable tempo.  Simply select another rhythm or let the randomizer do it for you and continue to play your song. Perhaps not as easy as you may think!  Jump around tempos or let the randomizer do that for you too.  This focused type of practice will strengthen your assuredness with any song you are working out.
 
Drum Beats Plus is available for iPad and iPhone users only.  On sale for $3.99 now.  Download extra Beat Packs too.
 
http://www.ninebuzz.com/beatsplus/

2013 Blues Music Awards!!!

There are some harp players in the 2013 Blues Music awards! Thanks to Bob Corritore for passing these along:

Instrumentalist-Harmonica: Rick Estrin
Soul Blues Male Artist: Curtis Salgado
Soul Blues Album: Soul Shot - Curtis Salgado
B.B King Entertainer: Curtis Salgado

Class Notes
  • Joe will be away June 3. Group classes proceed as regularly scheduled with teaching provided by Zoe Savage, Grant Kessler, Shoji Naito and Highway RickEy.
- Grant Kessler, B1 Blues Crew