If there were a word similar to chameleon, which refers to a trait of being able to change colors to fit into the environment, I would say that is how my friends name our band. I've heard of a number of names they have used. One which I thought was illuminating was "Bob and The Hip Replacements" Read that slowly and take it apart. There is a lot going on inside of that moniker. The more generic name or maybe I should say geriatric, was, "The Old Man Band." Lately, we seemed to have settled on,"The Expansion Band."
Now, The Expansion Band sounds cute but it also is descriptive. The group gathers on Wednesday evening and plays for about two hours. The makeup of the group depends on who can show up. I've played with a few as six and as many as fourteen. So, as you see, it will like the watch band expanding or contracting in size. It would be silly to call it the Expansion and Contraction Band. Or would it? I'll ask.
The group has been meeting for years. It began as a small group of people who just wanted to play music. The interesting feature of this group is the various levels of competence and experience. It contains professional musicians, music teachers, and people who love to play but have never performed There are guys who have been in a lot of bands and guys like me who had never played in front of anyone including my family. Truly the only thing you need to join and play with this group is a desire to play music.
I was invited to play by my longtime friend, Bob Van Astin. He surprised me at a lunch we were having with our wives. He asked me if I still played the harmonica. I couldn't believe he remembered that I told him I played and I know he never heard me play. My first night with the group was like walking to the edge of a cliff looking down into a rushing river and jumping with the hope the river was deep enough.
I play by ear, which means I've never had serious training. I can't read music and to be honest, I don't believe I could teach anybody how to play. I just hear something and I make the sounds I think will fit. So far so good. But then, you'll have to ask the other guys to be sure.
I tell everyone that I play second chair harmonica in The Expansion Band because I do. First Chair is my friend Lee Nimmer. Lee is a great "harp" player and particularly good blues harp player. He's played with a number of bands and groups. He's mentored me.
It's one thing to be welcomed into a band when you've never played with a group before, but like a lot of things in life, there are rules of etiquette about playing in a group. Harmonicas can be solo instruments. When do you play the introduction to a piece? When do you play solo? When do you play rhythm? When are you that liting sounds that float through the melody and maybe helps to set a mood for the vocalist? I am still learning those concepts and they are a lot of members that help me grasp and perform all of that inside info.
What else did I learn? Practical stuff like how to listen as well as play. Guitar players, ukelele strummers, keyboard , violinist, and percussionists in the group have no idea how much I've learned from them about rhythm, pace, innovation.
Then there is setting up the PA system at gigs we do. Now, to be clear I do not know how to do that kind of thing. What I've learned is to bring my microphone, microphone cord, and my mic stand. Hand my cord to the guy setting up. After plugging me itno the amp he nods at me. I test it by speaking nonsense or playing my harmonica into it until he nods again. That last nod means I'm amplified, which is whole other cliff to jump off of. Clearly, if I make a mistake, I've just consented to allow everyone in the audience to hear it magnified. We were talking about blind jumps off of cliffs, remember.
The experience of playing with the Expansion Band has been one of the most rewarding accidents in my life. The sharing, teaching, enjoying invironment is inhanced by the willingness to try new music, new players and any venue. Sincce I've joined the group we've played at a fishing tournament, a benfit for housing and soon we're going to play at a church service.
From the 2nd Chair Harmonica in the Expansion Band, this is Poppa Jeff. Rock On
(I'd drop my mike, but it's the pnly one I have.)
Now, The Expansion Band sounds cute but it also is descriptive. The group gathers on Wednesday evening and plays for about two hours. The makeup of the group depends on who can show up. I've played with a few as six and as many as fourteen. So, as you see, it will like the watch band expanding or contracting in size. It would be silly to call it the Expansion and Contraction Band. Or would it? I'll ask.
The group has been meeting for years. It began as a small group of people who just wanted to play music. The interesting feature of this group is the various levels of competence and experience. It contains professional musicians, music teachers, and people who love to play but have never performed There are guys who have been in a lot of bands and guys like me who had never played in front of anyone including my family. Truly the only thing you need to join and play with this group is a desire to play music.
I was invited to play by my longtime friend, Bob Van Astin. He surprised me at a lunch we were having with our wives. He asked me if I still played the harmonica. I couldn't believe he remembered that I told him I played and I know he never heard me play. My first night with the group was like walking to the edge of a cliff looking down into a rushing river and jumping with the hope the river was deep enough.
I play by ear, which means I've never had serious training. I can't read music and to be honest, I don't believe I could teach anybody how to play. I just hear something and I make the sounds I think will fit. So far so good. But then, you'll have to ask the other guys to be sure.
I tell everyone that I play second chair harmonica in The Expansion Band because I do. First Chair is my friend Lee Nimmer. Lee is a great "harp" player and particularly good blues harp player. He's played with a number of bands and groups. He's mentored me.
It's one thing to be welcomed into a band when you've never played with a group before, but like a lot of things in life, there are rules of etiquette about playing in a group. Harmonicas can be solo instruments. When do you play the introduction to a piece? When do you play solo? When do you play rhythm? When are you that liting sounds that float through the melody and maybe helps to set a mood for the vocalist? I am still learning those concepts and they are a lot of members that help me grasp and perform all of that inside info.
What else did I learn? Practical stuff like how to listen as well as play. Guitar players, ukelele strummers, keyboard , violinist, and percussionists in the group have no idea how much I've learned from them about rhythm, pace, innovation.
Then there is setting up the PA system at gigs we do. Now, to be clear I do not know how to do that kind of thing. What I've learned is to bring my microphone, microphone cord, and my mic stand. Hand my cord to the guy setting up. After plugging me itno the amp he nods at me. I test it by speaking nonsense or playing my harmonica into it until he nods again. That last nod means I'm amplified, which is whole other cliff to jump off of. Clearly, if I make a mistake, I've just consented to allow everyone in the audience to hear it magnified. We were talking about blind jumps off of cliffs, remember.
The experience of playing with the Expansion Band has been one of the most rewarding accidents in my life. The sharing, teaching, enjoying invironment is inhanced by the willingness to try new music, new players and any venue. Sincce I've joined the group we've played at a fishing tournament, a benfit for housing and soon we're going to play at a church service.
From the 2nd Chair Harmonica in the Expansion Band, this is Poppa Jeff. Rock On
(I'd drop my mike, but it's the pnly one I have.)
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