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Old May 30th, 2007, 05:07 AM   #9 (permalink)
Tim Bowen
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Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Age: 52
Posts: 5,277
My acoustic duo does a I chord vamp of Howlin' Wolf's "How Many More Years" in 'E'. While I've not heard this recording, I think my partner was inspired by the Nighthawks' cover. We can usually count on playing the tune for fifteen minutes or more, and we usually introduce it after our listening patrons have collectively developed a full head of steam (that is, dancing on the bar and such).

My partner and I treat it differently every time, otherwise it would be boring, which is not our inention. We'll both play acoustic guitars, or either of us wiill play bass. We'll trade harmonica rides, or if I'm feling goofy, I'll trade fours, call and response style, on kazoo, while my mate plays harp. It's a handful of E, so I'll treat it as anything from major to minor to dominant to altered dominant. I play it stupid simple or a bit sophisticated, whatever I feel like the room is open to. I'll grab a slide if it feels good. I'll quote line cliche's such as "Secret Agent Man", and while there's no "turnaround" per se, I've superimposed unlikely choices, such as my read on Tadd Dameron's "Lady Bird" turnaround. It's a handful of 'E'.

That's about the only one chord vamp that I do at the moment. For dorian mode and whatnot, there's "Smilling Faces" and "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed". A great E minor to A vehicle is Neil Young's "Down By the River"; you can treat it simply, or you can hear the intervals as though you were playing over Dennis Yost's "Spooky" or Steely Dan's "Josie". A great I7-IV7 vamp is Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon".

All music is blues if you wish it to be.
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