[Harp-L] A question



I have very different views on "the question," depending upon which question it is that JR is really asking. I have carefully read his lengthy and provocative posts, and I cannot tell. He is questioning either whether it is a dead end to attempt to play anything and everything on a single harmonica or whether it is a dead end to try to play sophisticated music on the diatonic at all.

If JR is talking about the former, I think he is venturing into the realm of origami. He has fashioned a paper tiger and then run it though with his sword. I say this because, with the notable exceptions of Tinus and Ironman Mike Curtis, no one I know of plays everything on a single key harmonica or has doing so as a goal. The vast majority of the people working on playing chromatically will practice in all keys but choose one for performance in which the tune lays out well (unless they are trying to stretch themselves or prove a point). I say more power to Tinus and Iron Mike, but it's a big handicap to take on, in my view.

I have watched Paul Messenger's videotapes of the Howard classes from The Golden Ager Of Augusta, have attended seminars at which Howard taught, and took a week of private lessons with him. He does *not* advocate playing everything on a single key of harmonica. Much instruction time was spent on how to figure out which positions a song will lay out well in and on the importance of choosing wisely.

Turning to the question whether it is a dead end to try to play sophisticated music on the diatonic at all, we have a simple aesthetic disagreement. If JR finds Howard's live version of "Masquerade" musically unsatisfying because of intonation or timbre issues, there will never be a meeting of the minds between us. I think it's great music, and whatever technical issues there are do not get in the way of the music for me at all (Chris M. has posted a link to this performance twice now).

I believe it is not a dead end, but I also believe that anyone who wants to follow this path has to work very hard on the intonation and timbre issues. I agree with JR to this extent: If you want to play music requiring chromatic facility and don't want to work very hard for a period of years, I believe that you and your listeners will be happier if you try another approach (alternate tunings, XB-40, retuned XB-40, button chromatic, saxophone...).

This is not elitism, it is the basic process of learning to play an instrument well. Horn players spend hours and hours working to get their notes in tune and to get the timbre of the notes in the high register sounding more like the notes in the low register. Even at my high school, which did not have a strong music program, the band room had a Conn strobe tuner for the band kids to use to work on their intonation. I understand that it is fairly standard practice for horn players to work with a strobe tuner over a period of years. I practice my intonation using both a piano and a strobe tuner. There are no shortcuts. The diatonic harmonica, to be sure, presents some especially difficult intonation challenges, but I'm not at all sure that they are any harder than those presented by the oboe.

JR's impatience with the progress to date is regrettable. I have said this before: I think the non-Howard person with mastery of the full range of the diatonic harmonica will emerge from the ranks of those who have been exposed to the requisite techniques from a very early age. The person who is going to change JR's mind, or blow Richard's, is probably seven years old now.

I'm sorry that JR finds fault with my intonation/timbre. I'm working on these issues, hard, every day. I would point out that, although I have been playing harmonica for many years, I have only been working on playing chromatically for nine or ten. Half of that time was spent wandering in the wilderness, trying to learn without a teacher on stock Special 20s. With good instruments, good instruction, a robust and consistent practice regimen, and an uncompromising approach, I believe the technical issues can be overcome. I am confident that irreproachable intonation can be achieved through a combination of ear training and practice on the instrument. The timbre issues are different. A bend is never going to sound exactly like an open note. But the differences can be reduced to the point where, for me and many others, they are no impediment to the musicality of the performance.

Give it time, JR.

About David's question: Carlos is reported to work on his own harps, and Chris M. has stated on the List that he now uses mostly Golden Melodies that he has worked over himself.

George





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