Quote Blog Oct 30
211-234
Leading up to this point in the book, BB has talked about his rise to fame and all of the gigs that he had played throughout this time. Through the huge amount of playing that BB did through 1956 and 1957, he created his own style. (According to BB, in 56' he played 342 one night stands!) Style is something that BB has talked a lot about since the beginning of this book. The way that BB played the guitar and sang meant a lot to him. According to BB, the guitar is like an extension of the human voice. He said that blues is a call and response type of music. This means that one part of the music is creating a call. That is then responded too melodically or rhythmically by another part of the music. To BB, his voice was the call and his guitar was the response. You can see this in the quote that I chose for this blog. BB talks about connecting his singing to his guitar playing as if the two were talking to one another. To further this, BB also has talked a lot about the way that he plays the guitar. He stated that he tried to make the guitar sing like the human voice. BB achieved this through vibrato and bending.
This call and response technique that BB used was taken from the church. The idea of call and response was commonly administered when the priest would call out in song and the choir would respond in song. In that sense, the choir is BB's guitar and the priest is BB. The best part is the way that BB did this. Phrasing is the device that BB used to achieve the voice like sound that he got out of his guitar. Phrasing is how you administer the notes of your choosing through rhythm, register and dynamics. Almost like the way that you and I can say something. We can say the same idea, but with different words, volume, punctuation and spacing. BB's phrasing was extremely simple and very spaced apart. This technique really worked with trying to mimic the way that a person sings/ talks. If you were to take the pitches and spacings of a paragraph that someone was to talk, you would find that it only contained about five notes with very little register change. This is the way that BB played which allowed for him to sound extremely punctual, just like the human voice.
"I tried to connect my singing voice to my guitar an' my guitar to my singing voice. Like the two was talking to one another." (BB King 209)
This is something that I really have come to learn in the past two years. It is something that I have been told by the people that knew BB King personally. These people who learned this lesson have gained huge success with it in their playing and their careers. I am very thankful to have learned this lesson as I now feel as though my personal phrasing is much more effective than it use to be. Due to this lesson, I now teach my own phrasing through online Skype lessons to people who are my students from as near as Boston and as far as England! However, phrasing is something that I am constantly trying to improve in both my jazz and blues playing. Mastering call and response is incredibly hard! Thankfully, I and others can access the recordings of BB King and others to learn how to phrase most effectively! Above are some videos of vibrato and bending and how they differ!
Leading up to this point in the book, BB has talked about his rise to fame and all of the gigs that he had played throughout this time. Through the huge amount of playing that BB did through 1956 and 1957, he created his own style. (According to BB, in 56' he played 342 one night stands!) Style is something that BB has talked a lot about since the beginning of this book. The way that BB played the guitar and sang meant a lot to him. According to BB, the guitar is like an extension of the human voice. He said that blues is a call and response type of music. This means that one part of the music is creating a call. That is then responded too melodically or rhythmically by another part of the music. To BB, his voice was the call and his guitar was the response. You can see this in the quote that I chose for this blog. BB talks about connecting his singing to his guitar playing as if the two were talking to one another. To further this, BB also has talked a lot about the way that he plays the guitar. He stated that he tried to make the guitar sing like the human voice. BB achieved this through vibrato and bending.
This call and response technique that BB used was taken from the church. The idea of call and response was commonly administered when the priest would call out in song and the choir would respond in song. In that sense, the choir is BB's guitar and the priest is BB. The best part is the way that BB did this. Phrasing is the device that BB used to achieve the voice like sound that he got out of his guitar. Phrasing is how you administer the notes of your choosing through rhythm, register and dynamics. Almost like the way that you and I can say something. We can say the same idea, but with different words, volume, punctuation and spacing. BB's phrasing was extremely simple and very spaced apart. This technique really worked with trying to mimic the way that a person sings/ talks. If you were to take the pitches and spacings of a paragraph that someone was to talk, you would find that it only contained about five notes with very little register change. This is the way that BB played which allowed for him to sound extremely punctual, just like the human voice.
"I tried to connect my singing voice to my guitar an' my guitar to my singing voice. Like the two was talking to one another." (BB King 209)
You have your own students online? Do you get paid to teach them? That is really cool.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you learned this lesson and take the time to study these musicians in this way. I know that the amount of live playing time they get in front of audiences makes a huge difference in their long term success. I've read about this several times with the Beatles.
I do have students online! I also get paid money to teach them. It is such a fun way to pay the bills!
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