[Harp-L] Diviseness at SPAH - Diatonic and Chromatic Players

[Robert Coble <robertpcoble@xxxxxxxx>]

I've been privileged to attend a few of the Virginia HarmonicaFests. The
last one (2005) was the best one so far. The Harmonica Classics (Frank
Warner, Bud Boblink, and Don Klein), Jia-Yi He (solo and also accompanied by
John Savas and another gentleman whose name I can't recall), Al and Judy
Smith (duo and also accompanied by Gene Hansen, Rudy Michelin, and Doris
Michelin as Harmonica Junction) and the Virginia Harmonichords ("Pete"
Peterson, George Eide, Frank Deans and Tom McCraig) all gave great
performances. Al and Judy performed "Steel Guitar Rag" with Al playing an
XB-40 diatonic! There were also other occasions when the "greats" played
diatonics for some songs. The genre of music and the preference of the
players for particular instruments does NOT mean that these same players
disrespect the diatonic harmonica or do not play it. Most of them are
multi-instrument virtuosos!

Although I'm just a beginning/intermediate diatonic player, I gave a blues
seminar, supported by Doug Puls of Coast2Coast Music (who is totally AWESOME
on guitar, and highly skilled on the diatonic). There were not many seminar
attendees, but there WAS a mix of diatonic and chromatic players. I think
the reasons for the small number of attendees was the extension of Jia-Yi
He's seminar, the closeness to the dinner hour, and the fact that I am NOT a
"known" player (no false modesty there; just being realistic). If I had NOT
been scheduled to give the seminar, I would have been in Jia-Yi He's
seminar, listening to words of wisdom from one of the world's greatest
harmonicists. After the seminar, I'll never forget how encouraging Smokey
Joe Leone was as my wife and I left the seminar room. Thanks for the
encouragement, Smo-Joe!

I've learned a lot from my chromatic friends (including lessons on bass
harmonica from Tom McCraig and "life lessons" from Buddy Wakefield), and
have been encouraged to continue playing both diatonic and chromatic.I'm now
privileged to be getting chromatic lessons from Larry Stutz. (He played with
Al and Judy Smith at one time, and was the harmonicist for the TV show "In
The Heat Of The Night" after production moved to Atlanta.) Who would have
thought that a great chromatic player (who also plays diatonic, chord and
bass harmonicas) would be living in my small hometown in the backwoods of
NC?!?

Personally, I don't think there is a widening gap between diatonic and
chromatic players. When I first attended Cardinal State Harmonica Club
meetings, I had never played a chromatic. I was gently "encouraged" to play
along on the chromatic for the club songs, but nobody "pitched a fit" when I
played diatonic. Not surprisingly, some of the chromatic players started
playing diatonic again (after hearing me mangle some tunes). The Virginia
Harmonichords included "St. Louis Blues" in their repertoire, with "Pete"
Peterson playing those cool blues on a diatonic! There's a time and place
for everything, including all kinds of instruments.

I think that most players are more interested in improving the musicality of
the playing much more than being concerned about the type of the instrument.
If you can lay down some chops, they don't care what instrument it is. I
suspect that the problem most musicians (regardless of their instrumental
preferences) have with diatonic players is that they play as if blowing and
sucking through as many holes as possible with no sense of melody, harmony,
or rhythm is the same as playing "music". In short, those diatonic players
have never learned much about either music or the instrument.  I'm no
expert, but even I get turned off when that happens. However, I try to
remember how badly I "sucked" harp, and try to not be judgmental. Helping
each other learn to be better musicians is a "Win-Win" situation for
everybody!

Crazy ('bout harp) Bob
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