Dark Country Blues on MM Resonator

[thinline72]

Hi everyone,

I've been practicing slide playing for about a year now after getting my MM Blues Resonator. I was mainly digging into Justin Johnson tunes as I really love them.
That being that, I should probably have chosen something simpler to start with lol  But what else you can do if you really like some particular songs, right?


Anyway, here is my attempt on recording "Ghost of the Mountain" tune. It's overall one of my first recordings, so any feedback on both playing and recording would be greatly appreciated!


BTW, huge kudos to pete1951 for fitting that Lace pickup for me! I think the sound from it mixes well with natural acoustic sound to get some of those dark-ish tones.

[Michael Messer]

Hi Sava,

You two sound fantastic together. That's really good. I can see, hear and feel the passion and hard work that you have put into your playing. You have good hands and your tone is very nice. I remember some of the music we talked about in our emails and the eastern vibe that you were, and are still into, comes through. You are relaxed, but still there is a little tenseness in the left hand which makes some of the vibrato a little tight and not as loose and liquid as it could be. You have nothing to worry about, just keep playing and all that will fade into the past. Beautiful.

Cool guitar too!

Shine On
Michael

[thebluesbear( al)]

sava
that was really together , you had the bass line working , once of the most important things is that you were not in a hurry . keep on going for sure ....


best regards

al

[thinline72]

Hi Michael and Al,
Thank you for your feedback, I greatly appreciate that!

Yes, I'm working on improving my vibrato. So far it was one of the most challenging slide techniques to learn for me! The left hand might get tense and stiff very easy. Especially when I'm getting too nervous while making a recording. Don't ask why I'm getting that nervous, I don't know either There is no even public around, just the camera! So I found out in the hard way that working on your mental state and performance practice isn't less important than doing everyday practice routine.

Thanks for noticing that I wasn't in a hurry, Al! That's also something I, as many others, have a tendency to do and had to overcome in this tune too.

Michael, yes, I'm still into those eastern vibes. I was recently told about Mixolydian b6 (or Hindu/Aeolian dominant/many more names) scale. I really enjoy noodling with it now. Hopefully, one day I'll be able to mix such vibes into the blues at least a bit that good as you do

Thank you,
Sava

[Michael Messer]

My pleasure Sava.

You are right about the mental state and performance practice being as important as the music itself. Well actually it is the music itself. The other bit is a physical muscle memory dexterity.

That mental and physical relaxed state is so important and can be the most difficult to achieve. To get a great slide tone and vibrato, your whole body needs to be relaxed, especially from the shoulder to the slide.

The scale you mentioned is very cool. On an open string it is > 0 2 4 5 7 8 10 12 / Another one I like to use is 0 1 4 5 7 8 11 12 / Then there is 0 3 5 7 10 12 pentatonic blues scale, in Indian music is known as Dhani (as in Dhani Harrison). There are loads of them!

You are playing really well.

Shine On
Michael

[thinline72]

> Well actually it is the music itself. The other bit is a physical muscle memory dexterity.
Very well put!


> On an open string it is > 0 2 4 5 7 8 10 12
Yes! And although it has so many fancy names I remembered it as a natural minor with major 3rd. It's probably not "theoretically" right, but it was the easiest way for me to remember it

> Another one I like to use is 0 1 4 5 7 8 11 12
Oh my this one is amazing, pure instant eastern vibes! Right away I've got lost for an hour playing around with it!
Took me a while to google its name. Looks like it's called Byzantine Scale also called Maqam Hijaz Scale, Gypsy Scale or Double Harmonic Scale. It is a major scale with b2 and b6.

Thank you a lot for sharing it!

[Michael Messer]

Here you go. The one I shared with you is Bhairav

Guitar Frets of a few Scales / Ragas

Asavari- 0 2 3 5 7 8 10 12
Bilawal- 0 2 4 5 7 9 11 12
Bhairav- 0 1 4 5 7 8 11 12
Bhairavi- 0 1 3 5 7 8 10 12
Bhupali- 0 2 4 7 9 12
Dhani- 0 3 5 7 10 12
Kafi - 0 2 3 5 7 9 10 12
Kalyan - 0 2 4 6 7 9 11 12
Khamaj - 0 2 4 5 7 9 10 12
Purvi - 0 1 4 6 7 8 11 12
Todi - 0 1 3 6 7 8 10 12

Shine On
Michael

[thinline72]

Oh my, that's some sacred knowledge! Thank you for sharing that, Michael! It'll take some time to learn and get a feeling of each of them for sure.

I'm curious if you are adjusting the tuning to something more exotic to more easily use any of those Scales/Ragas on other strings? Or do you stick to Standard/Open D/Open G?

[Michael Messer]

Hi Sava,

Sacred knowledge!

I tend to play most of the ones I use in D and G major tuning, but the minor sounding ones are cool with a minor tuning.

I also sometimes tune the top D (in open D or whichever sebastopol key I'm in) down a semitone so the root note is on the first fret. For example D-flat into D is a characteristic way that Indian improvisations begin.

Shine On
Michael