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When you want to learn some music, it is practical to
The technique of Sony Boy is very easy to copy. Note how he repeats the same strophe again and again.
Your job is to learn his simple strophes and play them as rythmical as he does.
It is a good ide to learn how you bend the note, and how you make wha-wha on your harp, since Sony Boy uses these techniques extensively.
When you have learnt these simple techniques you whould work with your rythm and feel, the easiest way, to get the blues feel is to listen a lot to Sonny Boy Williamson II,
And then try to play exatly what he is playing. Turn down the speed uising the 9-4 keys on your keyboard and make a good loop isolating exatcly what you want to learn.
(It may be the whole song, or 12 measures, or 4 measures, or maybe just one strophe)
Make sure you make the strophes rythmical. Do not increase the speed untill you have the feeling that you play the strophe more or less exactly like Sonny Boy.
Do not be afraid loosin your own individual feel of playing in the process. It is a fact that no musician can copy another musician 100%, there will always be an
individual feel to what you are doing, but if you want that feel to sound like a pro: copy it from a pro!
Make an "endless" loop using the A and B function (A keyboar short cut for the start and B shortcut for the end). Once you have made the loop,
chech the loop using the D-shortcut which jumps just before the end of the loop, and you can hear if you done the splicing rythmically correct.
If not: Adjust tbe B:-point by pressing F-key just after you pressed D, and then press B-key at the correct time. If the A-point needs adjusting,
click on the C-key which takes you 3 seconds before the A-point, and click on the A-key again at the correct timing for the starting of the loop.
The easiest is to put the A and B points exactly on the measure bar, but you may do it differently and put the A point a little bit before the bar,
and then putting the B-point the same amount of time before the ending.
Once the loop is set right, set the speed down, to where you can follow his playing, and try to copy his rythm and feel as exactly as you can.
You may use the "Gem Strofe" button (Save strophe) to save the strofe. Make sure that you have given the strophe a proper name in the text box, before saving.
You may delete the strophe agian using by selecting the strophe in the "gemte strofer" (Saved strophes) list box and press "Slet" (=delete).
Please do not delete strophes you have not made. (there is no backup, so you will make somebody very sad by deleting strophes)
The D-harp plays blues in A-major. Most of the Blues' that Sonny Boy are playing on the "Keep it to ourselves" record are either in E-major (when backed by guitar - requireing an A-harp)
or C-major (when backed by piano - requireing an F-harp)
I have transposed all the blues' of the Keep it to ourselves record to A-major, so you can play it on a D-harp.
Click on the picture to start. Or click on the start of the little player.
There are several keyboard shortcuts, these shortcuts makes it easy, to maneuver the player while holding your instrument in the other hand.
If you are using an IPad or telephone for playing it is recommended to connect a bluetooth keyboard or similar whan using the player.
P: Pause/Playing
S: Go to the start and play
N: go to next melody
1: 100% speed (normal speed)
2: 200 % speed (for faster browsing)
4: 40 % speed
5: 50% speed 6 : 60% speed etc.
9: 90 % speed
A: mark start of loop
B: mark end of loop
C: go to (3 seconds before A-point)
D: go to (3 seconds before B-point)
E: Make short 3 loop ending at the point of clicking
F: reset B-point (play on)
R: reset loop
N: Next melody
T: measure the speed in beat per minute (tap on each beat)
Keyboard Arrow keys move three seconds forward backward
3: browse three seconds forward