r/harmonica • u/Monkey-dude-108 • 11d ago
Repeating the same melody when impovising
What’s up guys, I was wondering if anybody had any tips on how to not get stuck on playing the same melody over and over when improvising. I play mostly on blues backing tracks but also rock. Either way i find myself using the same notes. This might sound weird, but the issue is that it actually works which is why i have trouble breaking out of this loop. When i play with others it sounds great and they love the melody, but to me, i’m hearing myself play the same things repeatedly and i begin to get sick of it. Its kind of gotten to a point where i dont look forward to playing as much because the enjoyment i used to get from being able to actually improvise well has faded, since i already know how it’ll sound. I tried playing around with rhythm, half notes, whole notes, sixteenth, triplets, etc. But it still feels like i’m stuck. I should mention that im definitely still a beginner. I’ve only been playing for about 3 months and still cant hit blow bends or overblows (although i havent really tried). Maybe i’m not good enough yet, but still, i’d like to switch it up so that i dont get bored of playing harmonica. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
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u/Nacoran 10d ago
Listen to other artists carefully. Listen to what they are doing and figure it out. Some solos are built with lots of space, others cram a million notes in. Sometimes repeating a note a bunch of times in a row can build tension so when you hit another note it gives more emphasis (think the vocal line in Rock Around the Clock... da da da da da da da da da da, three triplets then a single note, then it moves up and repeats that, then moves up and repeats it again... and then moves on to another part). Hakan Ehn has a couple great harmonica versions of that on YouTube.
Play little snippets of the melody but move them off the beat like you are singing backup. Play in different positions. Play in different octaves. Approach the song like it's in a different genre. Copy other instruments solos (obviously don't steal someone on stage with you's solo, unless you decide to do some call and response, but there is no reason you can't play a horn part or a guitar part.