Totally essential for the approach I have (I very rarely use written music). A great place to start is by learning chords: the first building block is the Major chords - then the minor chords, then the sevenths (the Major, minor, and dominant sevenths), then the augmented, diminished, and half-diminished chords, then ninths (major & minor), sixths (major & minor), then thirteenths and elevenths, and so on.
I encourage everyone to then study music theory, which is how these chords relate to each other – the tendencies, and the “rules”, which you can then break. It is an excellent way to understand and memorize music. You can then analyze written scores (I always analyze recordings – when learning a song, I usually like to hear many versions of it, and as many different versions by the same artists as possible as well – sometimes I take the uneducated route first, just playing what I remember of a piece, and making variations, then educate myself later – I find I often keep my variations).
Many Northern American musicians who play jazz, rhythm & blues, rock, and folk use music theory extensively. I recommend asking your music teachers to teach you music theory, if they don't already, and, again, the best place to start is with learning the chords.
I use the Marantz PMD-201 2-speed monaural Music Study Recorder. It has a speaker so you don't have to use headphones, pitch control to vary the speed and (most importantly for me) a half-speed switch which lowers the music one octave in the same key. It may not be exactly in pitch at half speed (it's often a half-step or a quarter-tone low), but you can use the pitch control to tune it to the piano. It also has a built-in microphone for taping, and a built-in speaker (it is a mono machine). They also make similar machines for CDs, and I haven’t tried them, but I have heard good things about them. Good sources for getting them are: Homespun: PO Box 694, Woodstock, NY 12498, phone 800-33-TAPES or www.homespuntapes.com/, and search under “Marantz” ; and also the Martel Company www.martelelectronics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv, and search under “Tape Recorders”, and then under “Professional Recorders.”
The nine-foot Steinway concert grand works best overall for what I do. It really depends on the individual instrument though.
About 80% - 90% of what I work on are R&B, slow dance songs, Soul, Rock, a bit of Latin, etc., for the solo piano dances I play. The other 10% - 20% are songs for the concerts: melodic pieces, stride piano, and Vince Guaraldi’s Peanuts soundtrack pieces.
About 95 % of all the pieces I play are by other composers almost all North American. My temperament is much more that of an interpreter than as a composer. The composer who I have played the most songs of is Vince Guaraldi (46 songs). Very few of the pieces I have arranged by other composers were originally solo piano pieces – only 13 overall ever.
I compose 1 or 2 songs a year, and it happens occasionally, without any planning or intent to compose, as I am practicing, and it always happens at the piano, as opposed to in my head away from the instrument. Sometimes it happens when I am inspired by the Season, Montana, etc., and sometimes it just happens without any feeling at all. Most of the songs I compose, however, evaporate away in a day or a week. The ones that stay get used for a concert, or a recording, or a dance.
Most of my practicing is working on the musical languages of R&B piano - most specifically the great New Orleans pianists Professor Longhair (the founder of the New Orleans R&B piano scene in the late 1940s), James Booker (whose language is basically the way I think of playing in terms of), and Henry Butler, who is the pianist I am studying the most.
Also, on the guitar the languages I improvise in are Hawaiian Slack Key, Appalachian/American folk music, and popular standards. On harmonica, I play songs from three traditions: Appalachian, Celtic, and Cajun.
Some songs just get used for one function. I just see where each song goes, what it is to be used for. I have no personal mythologies or philosophies, or any connection to any movements, etc. - I am simply dealing with just these three elements: the music (the songs on the three instruments), the seasons & the places which give me the inspiration to play, and gratefully, the audience to play for.
I had a few piano lessons as a kid, but wasn’t interested and quit. I was always an avid listener when growing up, especially to instrumental music, and especially to organists. Finally, in 1967, when I heard the Doors, I had to start playing organ. I learned chords and music theory, and studied recordings of organists, especially the great Jazz organist Jimmy Smith. Then in 1971, when I heard recordings of the great Stride pianist Thomas “Fats” Waller (1904-1943), I switched immediately to solo piano. I never played any music from the great European classical tradition, nor have any desire to. My approach is entirely North American, rather than European and I treat the piano as an Afro-American tuned drum.
"Stride" piano basically means that the left hand "strides" between a bass and a chord while the right hand plays the improvisation. It is an older jazz piano tradition, played most predominantly between the 1920s and the early 1940s. Stride piano came some out of the ragtime tradition of Scott Joplin and the other great ragtime composers from the early 1900s, but the tempos are much faster, there is much more improvisation, and more harmonic development. Some of the greatest stride pianists were Thomas "Fats" Waller (1904-1943), James P. Johnson (1891 -1955), Willie "The Lion" Smith (1897-1973), and Donald Lambert, just to name a few. The great post-stride pianists Teddy Wilson (1911-1986), Art Tatum (1909-1956) and Earl Hines (1905-1983) could play fantastic stride piano as well. Three of the pianists who are the bridge between ragtime and stride are Eubie Blake (1883-1983), Luckey Roberts (1887-1968) and Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941).
Some great later and contemporary stride pianists are also Dick Hyman, the late Ralph Sutton (1922-2001), the late Dick Wellstood, the late Joe Buskin, Mike Lipskin, Jim Turner, Tom McDermott, Brad Kay, Judy Carmichael, Marcus Roberts, Butch Thompson, and Barry Gordon (note -there are two pianists with the name Barry Gordon – the one referred to here is a different person than the one who has some recordings out).
Good sites for stride piano are:
http://members.aol.com/midimusic/stride.html,
http://stridepiano.com/index2.html
http://www.redhotjazz.com/
Five music books covering covering stride playing are available from Songbooks Unlimited, Music Books Now, Dept. 903807, P.O. Box 639. Holmes, PA 19043, phone 800-527-6300, online at www.musicbooksnow.com:
I play three styles:
Primary Direct Influences (extensive studying of their musical languages):
{Keep in mind that each musician is really their own category, and that categories only tell you what someone doesn’t do, and that only narrows things down a bit – one has to hear each one to get a cognition}
Professor Longhair (Henry Roeland Byrd 1918-1980) was the founder of the New Orleans R&B piano scene in the late 1940s. His influences were the blues and Boogie Woogie pianists of the 1920s and the 1930s, especially Meade Lux Lewis (1905-1964), Pine Top Smith (1904-1929), and Jimmy Yancey (1898-1951), as well as blues pianists in New Orleans, such as Archibald, Sullman Rock, Kid Stormy Weather, Robert Bertrand, and Isidore “Tuts” Washington (1907-1984), as well as New Orleasns music in general, and the Caribbean music he heard. He was the reason I began playing again in 1979, after I had quit in 1977, when I heard his album with his first recordings from 1949 and 1953, NEW ORLEANS PIANO (Atlantic 7225), and especially his beautiful track from 1949, Hey New Baby. Called “Fess”, and beloved and inspirational to all who heard him, and the foundation of it all to me and many others, he had many inventions (as they were called by the great New Orleans pianist and composer Allen Toussaint) on the piano. He always put his own deep, definitive, unique and innovative way of playing on every song he composed or arranged. His playing, and his whole approach speaks volumes. New Orleans R&B piano starts here.
Called “Fess”, and beloved and inspirational to so many who heard him, Professor Longhair inspired and influenced many pianists, including Dr. John (Mac Rebennack), Henry Butler, Allen Toussaint, the late James Booker, Fats Domino, Jon Cleary, Huey “Piano” Smith, Art Neville, the late Ronnie Barron, Harry Connick, Jr., Tom McDermott, Amasa Miller, Josh Paxton, Davell Crawford, David Torkanowsky, Joe Krown, and others.
New Orleans has a wonderful and incredible R&B piano tradition, beginning with the late Professor Longhair’s recordings in 1949, and continuing today. Some of the other great R&B pianists playing there today are Alan Toussaint, Jon Cleary, Art Neville, Fats Domino, Davell Crawford, Joe Krown, Joshua Q. Paxton, and others. Professor Longhair also influenced and inspired the late James Booker, and the late Ronny Barron, as well as these great new orleans piansts who are living outside new orleans now: Dr. John (Mac Rebennack ), Heuey Smith and Harry Connick Jr. For listing of live performances and information on New Orleans music in general, see OFFBEAT MAGAZINE.
Fess had many inventions on the piano (as they were coined by the great New Orleans pianist and composer Allen Toussaint.) He always put his own completely unique and innovative stamp on every song he played, whether it was an original composition or a masterful interpretation of another composer’s song. At least 11 of his inventions are:
Extended notes from the ROCK 'N' ROLL GUMBO album.
[Note---occasionally the record labels are listed here---but usually not----they are listed as needed to differentiate them from other albums of Fess and others that have the same or similiar names]
Fess is lovingly featured in the late Stevenson J. Palfi's great documentary PIANO PLAYERS RARELY EVER PLAY TOGETHER along with the great New Orleans pianists Alan Toussaint and Isidore “Tuts” Washington- Video available from Alligator Video at 1-800-344-5609. Alternate Professor Longhair site is http://www.offbeat.com/fess/fesshome.html
My favorite albums of his are:
James Booker (1939-1983) was the late/great New Orleans R&B pianist, who has been my overall biggest influence of how I think in terms of playing the piano. He was the first one to take R&B, soul music, New Orleans music, the blues and more and make a whole solo piano style out of those traditions. I learned more from his album JUNCO PARTNER than any other album ever. Some of his influences were Professor Longhair (1918-1980), Ray Charles (1930-2004), Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Art Tatum (1909-1956), Erroll Garner (1921-1977), Meade Lux Lewis (1905-1964), Albert Ammons (1907- 1949 ), Pete Johnson (1904-1964), Jelly Roll Morton (1885-1941), and many others.
He was musically fluent in all 12 major and minor keys. He was an outstanding organist as well, and his piano playing reflects that especially in his left-hand bass lines and his use of right hand, full-sounding chords and voicing. His unique, innovative, and deeply soulful arrangements of the songs he arranged often became the definitive and standard way of playing that song. His playing covered at least seven separate styles, and he had many inversions on the piano (the notes and the songs referred to here are from his JUNCO PARTNER album [Rykodisc 1359], which is the album I have learned more from than any other):
Henry Butler is the great New Orleans R&B/jazz pianist, who has been the main pianist I have been studying since 1985, and I am still just scratching the surface of what he does. He is the only pianist I know of that plays the deep blues and R&B and mainstream jazz, two extremely different mind-sets and technical approaches. In my opinion, he has taken the R&B piano to its farthest heights, and he is a phenomenon to experience live. Each performance is deep to the core, and they are all very different from each other as he is an absolute master of improvisation. They are impossible to describe – you just have to see him. His musical languages are very complex yet he always takes one on the journey with him. I realized the first moment I heard him, that I would be studying his playing forever.
Some of his influences have been Professor Longhair (1918-1980), James Booker (1939-1983), Ray Charles (1930 -2004), McCoy Tyner , Art Tatum (1909-1956), John Coltrane (1926-1967), George Duke, and many more.
One of his greatest and most amazing inventions, one of many, is a percussive style that I call two hand conga playing where he plays very powerful syncopated rhythmic figures up and down the keyboard with both hands and/or with two hands answering each other in phrases. A great example of this is Henry's Boogie on his recording HOMELAND (BSR 0802 - 2). Another major invention of his is the funk stride bass, with the feel of a whole funk band with the solo piano.
However, you need to see this artist live to fully experience his music. Some of his styles are rhythm & blues/funk, deep slow blues, mainstream jazz, impressionistic/classical influences, and stride piano.
His website is www.henrybutler.com. You can also see www.offbeat.com, the site for the New Orleans magazine, OFFBEAT, for live performances in New Orleans in general.
Some of my favorite albums of his are:
Teddy Wilson (1912 -1986), was the great swing and stride pianist who was best known for playing with the Benny Goodman (1909-1986) Trio & Quartet from 1935-1939. This incredible group also featured the late Lionel Hampton (1908-2002) on vibes and the late Gene Krupa (1909-1973) on drums. Teddy also backed up singer Billie Holiday on some of her first recordings in the 1930s. He also made his first amazing solo recordings in 1934, 1935, and 1937, and he made many recordings up to his passing in 1986.
Teddy Wilson was not only the most influential jazz pianist of the late 1930's to the early 1940's, he was also the first one to break the color line, playing the first integrated public concert, with the Benny Goodman Trio in Chicago on Sunday, April 12, 1936. One of his many inventions was to play moving bass lines with his left hand in tenth intervals. Another was his flowing right hand lines, played at the same time. He told me that in 1928, he had heard Fats Waller, and that influenced him to play jazz piano rather than classical. I was thrilled to be able to tell him that in 1971 I had heard Fats Waller’s recordings, and that made me switch from organ to piano. His other main influences where the great pianists Art Tatum (1909-1956), and Earl Hines (1905-1983).
Some of my favorite recordings of his are:
Solo piano: Especially his piano solos in 1934, 1935 and 1937. These are available on the following recordings:
Some of these piano solos are also available on the following five recordings:
With the Benny Goodman Trio & Quartet (with Benny Goodman on clarinet , Teddy Wilson on piano, Gene Cooper on drums, and as quartet Lionel Hampton on vibraphone - Teddy's incredible left hand playing 10th intervals provided the bass for the trio & quartet):
Earl Hines
Thomas “Fats” Waller (1904-1943) was, in my opinion, the greatest of the stride pianists. He had an amazing combination of power and yet effortlessness and finesse in his playing. He grew up in Harlem and his main influence was the great stride pianist James P. Johnson (1891-1955). Some of his greatest playing is on the instrumental breaks of his tracks with his band Fats Waller & His Rhythm, especially between 1934-1936. He also composed many songs, including Ain't Misbehavin’ and Honeysuckle Rose in 1929, his signature instrumental piece Handful of Keys, and many others. He was my inspiration, upon hearing his recordings in 1971, to instantly switch from organ to piano. Fats Waller websites include - Fats Waller - A Personal Tribute, Red Hot Jazz, Fats Waller & His Rhythm, and www.fatswaller.org.
Some of my favorite recordings of his are:
I like that situation, as each piano is very different and each one brings something different out of the songs. I also like playing in different places, as each town also affects and brings something new and different to the music.
I am currently working on a sheet music book of 20 songs – originals and interpretations of other composers’ pieces, to be tentatively released in 2006. Other transcriptions that have not been approved by me all have varying degrees of inaccuracies, due to the unusual way I play (such as sustained notes vs. played ones, and what is played with the left hand vs. the right hand). Other future anniversary albums may have sheet music for one song on each one.
At this point there is one song each on the 20th anniversary editions of the recordings AUTUMN, DECEMBER, WINTER INTO SPRING, and THE VELVETEEN RABBIT. The 20th Anniversary Edition of AUTUMN includes a bonus track, and is an enhanced CD with the sheet music to the original song Longing/Love. The 20th Anniversary Edition DECEMBER album includes two new bonus tracks and is an enhanced CD with sheet music for the arrangement of Variations on the Kanon by Johann Pachelbel. The 20th Anniversary Edition of WINTER INTO SPRING includes one bonus track and is an enhanced CD with the sheet music to the original song Reflection. The 20th Anniversary of THE VELVETEEN RABBIT enhanced CD, includes a new bonus track, as well as sheet music for The Velveteen Rabbit.
Guitarist Ed Wright, a good friend of mine, has transcribed 10 songs for a book titled GEORGE WINSTON FOR SOLO GUITAR, published by the Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation.
In addition, the original sheet music for the song Graceful Ghost, by composer/pianist William Bolcom, (George rearranged and recorded a shorter version on his album, FOREST) is available in a booklet THREE GHOST RAG and is published by Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation.
Two good books of Vince Guaraldi’s peanuts pieces are: THE VINCE GUARALDI COLLECTION - This has the most accurate transcrption of Linus and Lucy available. It also has Cast Your Fate to the Wind, Christmas Time Is Here and Vince's wonderful arrangement of Greensleeves and five other songs. The other is The Peanuts Illustrated Song Book which has a nice introduction by Hank Bordowitz and 30 Peanuts songs including Skating, The Great Pumpkin Waltz, Christmas is Coming, and Christmas Time is Here.. Both are by the Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation
This is not sheet music, but the Taliesin Orchestra also did an album of interpretations of George Winston’s compositions called FORBIDDEN FOREST - THE MUSIC OF GEORGE WINSTON, available on CD & DVD through Intersound Records and online through amazon.com.
I either use Hohner Big River Harmonicas or the Lee Oskar Major Diatonic Harmonicas. I play solo harmonica pieces in these three keys on a C harmonica: C (the Major scale – C, D, E, F. G, A, B C), G (the Mixolydian mode - G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G) called "cross harp" playing and D Minor (the Dorian mode – D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D). The cross harp playing in the key of G is the most common way of playing by harmonica players in America. I also play one song in the key of F (on a C harmonica), which takes advantage of the nice D minor voicing which are available.
I have often used the Lee Oscar Melody Maker, key of G, but I take it apart and replace the top reed plate with the top reed plate of a regular C Diatonic Harmonica, then I play it cross harp style in the key of G with the Major scale (G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G), with the Major 7th F# note [instead of the normal Mixolydian mode with the flat 7th, the F note). I also tune the 10th hole draw from C down a half step to B – (Lee Oscar Harmonicas also offers tuning kits and directions on tuning and retuning the harmonica). And, for this, using a Melody Maker and replacing the top reed plate is much faster than tuning the 2 F notes up to F# on a C Diatonic harmonica.
I am now using Hohner Big River harmonicas in the low key of D for playing in the key of A, and here I do have to tune the holes 5 & 9 draw up a half step, as well as hole 10 blow down a half step. Most recently Rick Epping has made me a 12 hole harmonica with an extra high note and an extra low note. Here is the tuning:
Low D Harmonica – played in the key of A (and occasionally the keys of E and F# minor)
|
Hole
|
1
|
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|
Blow
|
A
|
D | F# | A | D | F# | A | D | F# | A | C# | E |
|
Draw
|
B
|
E | A | C# | E | G# | B | C# | E | G# | B | D |
For reference---the same tuning on a C harmonica – playing in the key of G (and occasionally in the keys of D and E minor)
|
Hole
|
1
|
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|
B Blow
|
G
|
C | E | G | C | E | G | C | E | G | B | D |
|
Draw
|
A
|
B | G | B | D | F# | A | B | D | F# | A | C |
I also play one song in the key of D in this tuning (on the Lee Oskar key of C harmonica), which takes advantage of the nice D Major and C Major chords that are available. I also play two songs on E minor in this tuning (on the Lee Oskar key of C harmonica), which would yield the Aeolian mode (E, F#, G, A, B, C, D, E – and one of the songs uses the C note, and the other one does not).
For playing concerts, my main harmonica is a low D Hohner Big River with holes 5 and 9 draw tuned up a half step and hole 10 low tuned down a half step, for playing in the key of A.. For these low D harmonicas I use Hohner low D Cross Harp reed plates with the cover and the comb of the low D Big River, as recommended to me by Rick Epping. I also occasionally use the Big River low E flat, to play in the key of B flat with again the same tuning, as well as occasionally the low E Big River with the same tuning. I occasionally use the cross harp reed plates for low E flat Big River harmonicas and very occasionally for low E Hohner Big River harmonicas, but not for higher keys as it doesn’t seem to make a difference.
I also sometimes play the low D Hohner Big River harmonicas (with the low D Cross Harp reed plates) with just hole 10 low tuned down one half step played in key of A with the Mixolydian mode (with the 7th flatted) instead of the major scale (with the sharp 7 note), and the same with occasionally the low E flat and the low E Big Rivers. I also very occasionally will use the Lee Oskar major diatonic harmonica in the key of G to play 2nd position cross harp in the key of D with the same tuning. I also often play the drone technique (see the How do you get the constant drone note that you play on the harmonica? Question in this section, and go to the first and fourth paragraphs for how I do this).
For playing Appalachian tunes that are in minor keys, and tunes inspired by the Mongolian Matouqin (or the Morin Hurr, the deep two-stringed bowed instrument that got it’s name from it’s horse-head carving by the tuning pegs), I retune a low D Hohner Big River harmonica (with the low D Cross Harp reed plates), lowering holes 3 & 7 down a half step, yielding the Dorian Mode (in the key of A minor the scale is A, B, C, D, E, F#, G, A – and I sometimes avoid the sixth, the F# note). Holes 2, 5, & 8 blow could also be tuned down a half step, yielding the Aeolean Mode (in the key of A minor the scale is A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A). For more on Chinese music influences, see the Have you been inspired and influenced by Chinese classical and traditional? music question in this section. I also again often play the drone technique (see the How do you get the constant drone note that you play on the harmonica? Question in this section, and go to the first and fourth paragraphs for how I do this).
For first position playing, sometimes called straight harp, with nothing retuned and playing in the key that is stamped on the harmonica, I usually use Lee Oskar major diatonic harmonicas in the keys of C and A.
For third position playing, in the Dorian mode, in the key of D minor on a C harmonica (with the scale D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D), I use a tuning that Rick Epping showed by with holes 2 & 3 tuned down two half steps. I usually play Lee Oskar major diatonic harmonicas in the key of A to play in the key of B minor (with the scales B, C#,D, E, F#, G#, A, B), or sometimes in the key of A flat to play in the key of B flat minor (with the scale Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb).
I also play some Eastern European influenced tunes on the Harmonic Minor tuned harmonica---I usually the key of C# minor (for reference, in the key of C minor the scale is C, D, E flat, F, G, A flat, B, C). I sometimes retune this harmonica as well: I lower the holes 3 & 7 blow a half step, yielding the Aeolean Mode (with the scale C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C); as well as also sometimes lowering the holes 6 & 10 a half step, yielding the Dorian Mode (with the scale C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb, C).
I also sometimes use the Hohner XB-40, a wonderful harmonica invented by Rick Epping where you can bend all the notes, especially the keys of A flat and G. I also occasionally use the Hohner Autovalve harmonica, a double reed harmonica where each note is an octave, especially the keys of D, E, and F.
Lee Oskar Harmonicas offers a tuning kit with instructions on how to tune and retune harmonicas. It is best to practice tuning and re-tuning on old harmonicas at first, since it is easy to make damaging mistakes when you first start learning to tune.
SITES
1. To learn more about Lee Oskar Harmonicas and to find a distributor in your area, his website is www.leeoskar.com or contact them at Lee Oskar Enterprises, Inc., PO Box 50255, Bellevue, WA 98015, phone 206-747-6867, fax 206-747-7059.
2. The Hohner Harmonica company’s website is www.hohnerusa.com
E mail: info@hohnerusa.com, Phone: 804-515-1900
Address: Hohner, Inc., P.O. Box 15035, Richmond, VA 23227-0435
The Hogner newsletter: "Easy Reeding" has current harmonica news and information. The subscription is free and current issues are available on the Hohner website. Write to Hohner or send a request to info@hohnerusa.com.
3. See the great harmonica site by Pat Missin - www.patmissin.com
4. A good site for tuning and other information is the Diatonic Harmonica Reference site www.angelfire.com/tx/myquill - and for tuning information go down the index on the left side to “Maintenance”, then to “Tuning”.
5. Also see the Harp On site at www.angelfire.com/music/harmonica
I play extra notes - octaves, double notes, and chords wherever possible, since I am always playing solo. I get these by what is called "tonguing", which means to put the front of the tongue on the harmonica, blocking certain holes so they don't sound. Then when you lift your tongue off those holes a cord will sound. This is the way to play the melody with the right side of the month accompanied by a chord.
To get the "stride harmonica” with a bass and chord and melody, playing in the the first position (the key that is stamped on the harmonica) - play a low note with the left side of the mouth on the first beat of the measure while the tongue is in the middle of the harmonica blocking notes. Then you play out of both sides of the month with the low note on the left side of the month on the first beat of the measure, then release the tongue on the second beat to produce the chord. Place the tongue back again on the harmonica on the third beat, while playing out of the left side of the mouth for another bass note, then release the tongue for the fourth beat, getting another chord. The right side of the mouth plays the melody while this is happening.
A good way to practice getting a bass note with the left side of the mouth and a melody note with the right side of the mouth is to practice octaves in the low part of the harmonica – for example, blowing out with the breath and blocking holes 2 and 3 with the tongue and playing holes 1 and 4 with the left and right side of the month respectively. You can hold this octave and lift the tongue on and off the harmonica, and then the next step would be to practice playing the note with the left side of the month on beats one and three, and then lifting the left side of the mouth off the harmonica along with lifting the tongue off the harmonica on beats two and four.
I have had two major influences for playing solo harmonica. My main harmonica mentor has been Sam Hinton, who plays mainly in the first position, otherwise know as straight harp (playing in the key that is printed on the harmonica). Sam was the first one ever to play the stride harmonica, with the bass and chord accompanying the melody. Harmonica players had played the melody with an accompanying chord which is played by holding the tongue on the harmonica, and then releasing it to let the air flow through to get the chords in whatever rhythm the player wants, but no one before Sam had put the bass in also. We have just finished recording Sam Hinton's whole solo harmonica repertoire, and it is released as a double CD set, titled MASTER OF THE SOLO DIATONIC HARMONICA (Eagle’s Whistle Records). It features studio recordings and live recordings, including a radio broadcast from 1937 when Sam was with a vaudeville troupe.
Here is an excerpt from some of the notes from Sam’s recording:
It is wonderful to have this document of Sam Hinton’s harmonica playing available. I have been working on this project in my mind ever since I first heard him play “Bonaparte’s Retreat” live on April 16, 1975 (see disc 2, track 27). The series of songs (# 13-28) shows how Sam evolved this marvelous harmonica version of Bonaparte’s Retreat”. He has been my main harmonica mentor ever since (along with the great harmonica player and inventor Rick Epping (who helped get Sam’s chordomonicas repaired for the recording sessions.) Sam also inspires me in all other aspects of music and life.
Sam has invented three major innovations for solo first position harmonica playing:
1. “Stride bass” harmonica, created by Sam around 1935, where he is playing the bass, chord, and rhythm simultaneously. (See the songs “Haste to the Wedding” on disc two, track 14,“Ach Du Leber Augistin on disc two, track 4, "Simple Gifts" on disc two, track 43, “Bobby Shaftoe” on disc one, track 52, the third version of “Bonaparte’s Retreat” on disc two, track 28 and the 1937 version of "Swannee River" on disc two, track 59.)
2. Playing a drone note through part of the song, invented by Sam in the late 1930s. (See the songs "Bonaparte’s Retreat" "Bobby Shaftoe” on disc one, tracks 26-28 and “Bobby Shaftoe” on disc one, track 52.)
3. Playing counterpoint melodies -- two melodic lines played at the same time, -- invented by Sam in the 1970s. (See the song Simple Gifts on disc two, track 43, Oh Dear, What can the Matter Be on disc one, tracks 4 and 5, Pufferbillies on disc one, track 22, Mississippi Sawyer on disc one, track 2, Au Claire De La Lune on disc one, track 50, and some on Mr. Tunstall’s Hoedown on disc two, track 12, and Hick’s Hornpipe on disc one, track 40; as well as moving bass lines on, Oh Dear, What can the Matter Be on disc one, tracks 4 and 5, Mississippi Sawyer on disc one, track 2, and Downfall of Paris on disc one, track 7.)
My other main mentor has been Rick Epping, who also was the product manager with the Hohner Harmonica Company for eighteen years and still serves as a technical adviser for them. He currently lives in Ireland, and he records and plays live with the great Irish fiddler Frankie Gavin, with the Celtic/American band Scuttlebutt, the harmonica trio Iron Lung with Brendon Power and Mick Kinsella, and with many other Irish musicians. I am currently extensively recording his repertoire, both solo harmonica, and his beautiful playing of the harmonica and concertina at the same time (and occasionally harmonica and mandolin at the same time, as well as harmonica and banjo at the same time).
Rick plays cross harp a lot, the 2nd position - for example the key of G on a harmonica that has the key of C printed on it. He plays this with the Mixolydian Mode, with the flatted 7th note (with the scale G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G).
He also often tunes holes 5 and 9 draw tuned up one half step – on a C harmonica this would be with the fifth hole draw F note and the Ninth hole F note an octave higher both tuned up a half step to F#, yielding the Major scale, with the sharp 7th note, while playing in the cross harp position, in the key of G (with the scale G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G).
He also often plays in third position, yielding the Dorian mode - for example, the key of D minor on a harmonica that has the key of C printed on it, and he does this with a tuning of lowering holes 2 and 3 draw two half steps - on a C harmonica this would be with the third hole draw B note tuned down to A, and the second hole draw G note tuned down to F (the scale for the Dorian Mode on a C harmonica is be D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D). Rick also plays a lot in the first position (in the key of C on a C harmonica), in this tuning, which yields a nice ii minor chord (the D minor chord in the key of C).
He also plays a lot in first position (“straight harp”, the key that is stamped on the harmonica), and occasionally in other tunings as well. He favors low pitched harmonicas, usually from the key of G all the way down to the low D harmonica (and he has created a low C harmonica as well).
Rick has recently designed a new harmonica, the result of decades of research and experimentation, the XL-40, for Hohner Harmonicas, that you can bend every note on. It is the first major innovation for Hohner Harmonicas since the chromatic harmonica came out in 1924 and it is altogether a new class of harmonica, a true fusion of the diatonic and the chromatic harmonicas. Information on this new harmonica is available at: www.hoerusa.com/heaturing.htm.
I have also been inspired and influenced by the late Deford Bailey,the great harmonica player who broadcasted on the original Grand Ole Opry and made his recordings in the 1927 and 1928; and the great Cajun harmonica player Artelius Mistric who made his recordings in 1929, and others as well, especially the great solo harmonica players who recorded in the late 1920s and the early 1930s. The first harmonica solos I heard and were inspired by, before Sam Hinton and Rick Epping, were by the great Appalachian guitarist/ banjoist/ harmonica player Doc Watson (also see the INFLUENCES section, under GUITAR for Doc Watson, and under HARMONICA for Sam Hinton and Rick Epping).
Here are the main traditions I draw from for harmonica playing and some of the great players who have influenced and inspired me:
Again using the tonguing. For holding the low drone G note on the Scottish and Irish tunes, basically I play a C harmonica, playing cross harp style in the key of G, playing a low G drone note for every high melody note. This low G note occurs on both blow and draw holes (the same G note on hole 3 blow and on hole 2 draw). I keep the tongue blocking the middle of the harmonica the whole song, so that just the drone and the melody note sound.
For the Scottish pieces and some traditional American Appalachian pieces, I play a regular C Diatonic harmonica cross harp style, playing in the key of G, yeilding the Mixolydian Mode which has the flatted 7th note that so many Scottish tunes have, here the F note (with the scale G, A, B, C, D, E, the flatted 7th note F, and G). For Irish tunes in the major scale played with the drone, I use the altered Melody Maker harmonica mentioned three paragraphs above (with the scale G, A, B, C, D, E, the major 7th note F#, and G).
An example of this can be heard on the song Farewell Medley on my benefit CD Remembrance. For the first two songs I use a Lee Oskar C Major diatonic harmonica and play in the key of G, in the Mixolydian Mode, with the flat 7th note, the F note. For the third song, I quickly switch harmonicas, to a C harmonica with the 5th and 9th draw holes raised up a half step from F to F sharp. [Currently, I also have the the 10th hole blow note tuned down a half step from the C note to the B note].
I also sometimes use the C Diatonic harmonica with the G drone notes played the same way, but playing in the key of C, with the 5th note of the scale, the G notes, as the drone, just as the Scottish bagpipers do when they occasionally play an Irish tune with the major scale. This is a technique I learned from Sam Hinton, who was the first one to do it. He used this drone technique for a section of his version of the traditional fiddle tune Bonaparte's Retreat (on the key of C on a C harmonica, holding the G note, the 5th of the key, as Scottish bagpipers do when they play Irish tunes in the Major scale). We have recently recorded all of Sam's harmonica solos, and they will be issued in the future. I later then moved this technique to the key of G (the cross-harp key), and retuned the harmonica as described at the end of the previous paragraph.
I also sometimes play the harmonic minor tuned harmonicas with this same technique of holding the fifth note of the scale as a drone.
I am now working on a tuning where I can play a constant high drone note. This would also be playing in the key of G where I retune the 9th hole draw up two half steps (so that the F note is now a G, the tonic note playing a C harmonica cross harp style in the key of G). G note now occurs on the 9th hole blow and draw. I use the same tougue splitting technique but now the melody is on the left side of the mouth and the contant note is on the right side of the mouth.
I have no solo harmonica recordings, but I have recorded on 10 albums:
Slack Key is a guitar tradition, like Blues guitar, Flamenco guitar, Jazz guitar, Brazilian guitar, Classical guitar, Africian guitar, and Folk guitar - it is not not a type of guitar. Slack Key can be played on any guitar. I play a 7 string guitar because I wanted an extra low C bass string. Currently I am playing a new Gibson Guitar with a low 7th string added, which is off the fret board, tuned to low C (I somtimes play a 1965 Martin D-35 guitar as well). I mainly use the open G tuning, which is very popular in Hawaii, mainland America, Europe, and it is also played some in the Phillipines, and Africa. The tuning from the lowest pitch string, (including the 7th string), to the highest pitched string is [C]-D-G-D-G-B-D. This way I can play in the keys of G and C. I sometimes also play in the key of D, and sometimes I tune the 7th string down to A for songs in the key of D.
I sometimes play in four other tunings:
Statement by George Winston at the John Fahey Memorial on March 4, 2001.
"John Fahey has been, is and will continue to be a great influence on music as we know it - as a solo guitarist, a composer, and as an independent label owner & producer. He started his own label, Takoma Records, in 1958 to record his unique solo guitar compositions, which was unheard of at the time. His other great contributions include locating some of the great pre-war country blues guitarists from the South, such as Bukka White (Parchment Farm), Robert Pete Williams and Skip James (I'm So Glad). He was also instrumental in locating many old recordings of these great musicians for re-issue so we could all be inspired by them, especially those of great Mississippi bluesman Charley Patton, the main inspiration for Robert Johnson. And he brought forward the great solo guitar artistry of the late Brazilian guitarist Bole Sete. And he issued albums on his Takoma label of the great contemporary guitarists Leo Kottke, the late Bola Sete , the late Robbie Basho, Rick Ruskin and Peter Lang. And he was also a great writer. The list goes on. It is a very long story. I would need 5 books to tell it, but suffice to say things would be very different without him and he was my very dear friend, and the world is very different without him here.
I would not be doing anything that I am doing now--solo piano albums, solo instrumental concerts, and recording the great solo Hawaiian slack key guitarists on my own label - without his influence and inspiration. And he is the only person in the world who would have recorded me as a solo pianist in 1972, which paved the way for all that I do now. I thank you John, but just knowing you, or hearing you would have been great enough.
I share with all of you here a love of the whole person, of which his great unique music is just a part, as you all well know. We will never see the likes of one like him again. And I had the supreme privilege of knowing him for 30 years.
He taught us to be ourselves--even not to even care what he thought---but in the end what he thought always DID matter to us anyway, didn't it? We never know if he was going to attack or tolerate our nonsense. The lingering problem, besides not being able to hear him play or hang out with him to hear his slant on history, music, many other subjects (and on what was happening right there IN THE MOMENT), is: how do we explain him to the uninitiated???
One of the greatest things about knowing John, and there were many things, was that I appreciate the individually of everyone else more. Everyone has this great things in them, even if it is covered and repressed by societies, groups, etc. Nothing ever stopped him for a second. May we all become ourselves. He was and is a teacher, maybe even more so because he didn't claim to be one. I owe much to many, but without question, he changed my life more than anyone else. Aloha John, and to all of you. Thank you all for loving him too."
CHINESE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
There are many, many more wonderful musicians, and there are many deep traditions of the bowed, plucked, wind, and percussion instrument families, and many in these first three families of instruments are listed here below. These instruments are used for traditional music, classical music, folk music, and modern music and compositions (there are also many other older instruments used by the many Minority groups in China).
(NOTE - all of the tunings listed in the bowed and plucked instruments are from the lowest pitched strings to the highest – and the word “Qin 琴 means “instrument”):
Chinese music is some of the deepest and longest running traditional music on the planet. I have for decades been very inspired and influenced by many of the beautiful and incredibly expressive Chinese music traditions, particularly by many great players of these five instruments:
The Gu-Zheng 古筝 (pronounced “goo-jung”, and sometimes spelled Guzheng, or Zheng, or Cheng), the Chinese zither/ harp with 16 to 25 strings and a moveable bridge. The 18 string and the older 16 string ones have metal strings, and the 21 to 25 string ones have metal strings wrapped with nylon. Traditionally the older instrument had 13 strings made of silk, and that one is the ancestor of the Japanese Koto. I am especially inspired by the playing of these five artists:
And especially inspiring my harmonica playing, the Matouqin 馬頭琴 (and also known in Mongolia as the Morin Huur, the Morin Khuur, the Morin Xuur, the Morin Khor, the Marinhur, the Igil; and the earlier version of the instrument is called the Chaoer, where the low string is on the opposite side), the Mongolian deep sounding bowed instrument with two nylon strings tuned a fourth interval part, that got its name from the carved horse head up by the tuning pegs. Traditionally the strings were made of horsehair and were tuned a fifth interval apart, as well as sometimes a fourth interval apart, and it was used to accompany singing. Around 1980 it became standard to tune the two strings a fourth interval apart.
I am especially inspired by these musicians and recordings:
Also inspiring my harmonica playing is the Xianzi 弦子 (and sometimes spelled Xuanzi, or the Kuangxie, or the Biban, or the Xie, and sometimes called the Ox-horn Erhu, or the Ox-horn Qin), the Tibetian two string bowed instrument, shaped somewhat like the Erhu, with strings made of horsehair, and a bit similar sounding to the Matouqin 馬頭琴. especially the Tibetan artist Xu Guang-ping, 徐光平 from the compilation album with various artists, SONG OF SHANGRI-LA (Hugo Productions HRP 7226AG) - he is especially featured on songs #1, #28, & #29, as well as some on # 9, #14, & #17)
And also inspiring my harmonica playing is the Sheng 笙 , the bamboo mouth organ, blown both in and out, with the notes produced by the fingers covering the holes. It is the ancient ancestor of the Western German harmonica. Unlike the German harmonica, where the breathing in and out produces two different notes (and the German accordion, where the bellows pushed in and pulled out produce different notes when the same button is held), the notes on the sheng are the same with in and out breathing. Traditionally it had 17 notes and more recently it has 21 and 24 notes, and most recently 36 notes.
A is great recording of sheng and orchestra by Hu Tian Quan 胡天泉 on the recording THE YELLOW RIVER SHENG – CHINA FOLK INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC COLLECTION (Canton Audio Productons 廣東音像出版社出版 ), phone # in China 02-8385-4729; it is also available at the Chinese Art and Music Center in San Francisco at 415-666-3001, and their site is www.camcsf.com.
(this recording is also issued under the title MIN ZU YUE QI YAN ZOU ZHUAN JI (NIGHT OF THE FRONTIER), Vol:2, on the Canton Jiesheng Record Company (ISRC CN-F18-97-347-00/AJ) – their website is http://gdjs.cnave.com (this site is in the Chinese language, and it can take awhile to open), and their e mail is jsxsc@163.net; [NOTE – on this CD, songs #2-8 are only on one index mark, the #2] - NOTE: this is fairly common for Chinese albums to be issued with different covers, and with the artists sometimes not listed.
The Pipa 琵琶, the Chinese four string lute, played with five fingers of the right hand, especia