At my lesson today, I suggested to Jim that we go back to Magic Slim and the Teardrop’s “Early Every Morning” (Grand Slam, 1982). We had started going over it two weeks ago. I asked specifically about chords and choosing voicings. He showed me several chords and ways of using them to create interest. In showing me the bass line for the song’s shuffle rhythm, he said he preferred to play the C7 chord at the 12th fret so that the notes stayed on the wound strings. He thought it sounded stronger than remaining at the 7th fret. That made sense to me.
Archives
22
Jul 10
Laurie Morvan Band
A band comes to town that you’ve never heard of. You check out their video on the Web. They’re playing at a club a few blocks away, so you take a chance. It pays off.
I saw the Laurie Morvan Band at Fitzgerald’s and was impressed. She’s a skilled guitarist, a good singer, and a lively performer. She had a tight band with Pat Morvan, her ex-husband, on bass, Tom Salyers on electric keyboard and Lisa Grubbs on backing vocals. They put on a good show, one that CDs can’t capture.
Laurie Morvan Band plays the blues at Fitzgerald's
Morvan mostly sang original songs, but also covered two Albert Collins songs (“If You Love Me Like You Say” and “A Good Fool Is Hard to Find”), as well as “Messin’ with the Kid” and Muddy Waters’ “Got My Mojo Working.”
Her approach to the blues struck me as in the modern rock-pop vein, with less Delta than I like. It’s hard to explain, but it has a different feel to me. I thought she was very good at what she did. I also liked some of her original songs, but her style of blues is not one I aspire to. Needless to say, I’d love to be able to play at her level someday.
She has recorded four CDs, including Out Of The Woods (1997), Find My Way Home (2004), Cures What Ails Ya (2007), and Fire It Up! (2009).
Gear: Laurie Morvan played a 1956 reissue black Fender Stratocaster with gold pickguard from the Custom Shop. She used several effects pedals including a wah wah plugged into a 2006 Tone King Meteor II 40-watt head & cabinet.
Additional photographs of the Laurie Morvan Band are here.
25
Jun 10
Second Anniversary
Friday, June 25, 2010 is the second anniversary of my first electric guitar lesson with Jim Goelitz at Kagan and Gaines in Forest Park, IL.
When I began taking lessons, I had no idea what I was getting in to. In retrospect, I was very naive and seriously underestimated the length of the learning curve. In spite of the years I’d spent listening to blues, I didn’t realize how challenging it was to play blues. It’s not just a matter of learning a few chords. The most common 12-bar blues form is based on “only” three chords, which might sound simple, but then there are such matters as string bends, vibrato, hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, riffs, rhythm and all the other things that contribute to the tone and sound of the blues. Putting all that together in an improvised solo is an even bigger challenge.
On the one hand, I thought initially that I would be “farther along” (whatever that means) than I am. On the other hand, I can clearly see that I have learned a lot and can now do things easily that were difficult or impossible before. One of the things that has kept me going is that I can tell that the more I play (practice, practice, practice), the better I get. Practice really does work. At the same time, I’m constantly reminded of how much I still need and want to learn.
Sometime in January, I started working on songs in Kenny Sultan’s book, Introduction to Acoustic Blues (2001). In spite of the word “introduction,” it’s not a book for beginners. I’m glad I didn’t attempt it any earlier, though I did learn the “Blues Shuffle in E,” “Single String Shuffle” (in E) and “Shuffle in A” in the early months of my lessons.
Since the first of this year, I’ve been practicing the first seven songs and still don’t feel like I’ve mastered them. I’ve definitely improved and can at times get through some of them without stumbling, but they all need more practice. There are a couple of songs (“Unknown Blues” and “The N-B Blues”) that have a few gnarly, knuckle-busting measures that may take months more to play reliably. However, I enjoy what I can play so far and look forward to improving.
One of the satisfactions of learning this country blues style of music is that the songs are intended as solo music (one plays both bass and melody), so they sound appealing without other musicians. I also want to learn what it takes to play with others, but practicing a bass line from a song isn’t as satisfying on its own.
At the moment my primary focus is learning these fingerstyle blues, but I’m also working on a parallel track of preparing for–someday–playing with other musicians. I continue to fantasize about performing both solo and as part of a group. On the fingerstyle solo track, my model is early John Lee Hooker. On the blues band track, my models are Albert Collins, Howlin’ Wolf and Magic Slim and the Teardrops. I can’t imagine playing at their level, but that’s what I’m aiming for.
29
Apr 10
4 Blues Rules
1. Have fun.
2. Play loose.
3. Play with feeling.
4. Don’t worry about mistakes.
—Kenny Sultan. Blues Guitar Legends (1996)
23
Dec 09
Albert Collins and the Icebreakers: In Concert: Ohne Filter (1985) [DVD]
I finished watching Albert Collins and the Icebreakers: In Concert: Ohne Filter (1985) on DVD. It was the first of two 60-minute concerts Collins did for the German TV series Ohne Filter. It was good musically, but it wasn’t well shot, especially for anyone interested in Collins’ guitar playing. The use of red lighting wasn’t well suited to the TV cameras and the shot selection was often not what I would have liked. They often focused on someone other than the player who was soloing and didn’t show enough of Collins when he was playing or showed him from an angle that obscured his hands on the guitar. The 2003 Ohne Filter concert has similar problems, but was more successful.
Among the songs Collins played were “Listen Here,” “If Trouble Was Money,” “Skatin’,” “The Highway Is Like a Woman,” and “That Thing I Used to Do.” Southside Johnny joins the band on some numbers. I admire Albert Collins enormously and am a huge fan of his tone, so I’m glad I saw the DVD, but I don’t need to own it.
05
Sep 09
Music Listening Analysis
My guitar teacher, Jim Goelitz, suggested that I listen to songs I’m interested in learning and do a music analysis of them. He said this would be good ear training and would help me learn to pay attention to more elements of the music. Based on his input, I developed a form that I use to record my analysis. The elements include the name of the song, the composer, the performer or band, the instrumentation, the time signature, the tempo, whether it’s “swing” or “straight” rhythm, the form of the song (e.g., 12-bar blues), the key of the song, the chords in the song, and the tuning. I also add the source album, release date, record label and length of the song.
On early recordings such as those of Howlin’ Wolf on Chess Records, it can be a challenge to hear all the instruments. It can also be difficult, especially in the beginning, to hear the chord changes and work out the progression. It’s much easier on recent recordings where instruments are on separate microphones. To determine the key, I work my way up the neck of the guitar until I find something that seems to fit. I missed a few at first, but have gotten better at it. It’s a very useful “exercise,” but requires having a good teacher.