Re: [Harp-L] Timbre, pitch, intonation

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Plenty of people write to this list all the time to say that they don't see why anyone needs to read music, know theory, etc., etc.   When I listen to a piece of music, I don't ask to see the guy's diploma either.  I enjoy plenty of music that was written and played by people who didn't have much knowledge of theory.  But there are plenty of good reasons why a musician should know that stuff, starting with the fact that you get more and better-paid work if you know it than if you don't.  That's all been been said more times than I can count, and I'm not going to rehash it all here.  

The biggest flaw in the unschooled-musicians-are-best argument is this: most of the guys who fall in that category were terribly oppressed people who never had a chance to get formal training, in music or anything else.  The fact that they made great music in spite of these dreadful disadvantages is proof of their genius; it is NOT proof that the path to making great music is to avoid all formal training.  Most of the people on this list have much, much more fortunate circumstances than those poor souls.  Why not take advantage of the opportunities?  You can bet that those musicians would have if they could have.   

Anyway, if you want to approach the harp from the point of view that it's best when you don't know what "pitch" or "timbre" is, you have my blessing.  As to your never having heard from other musicians that harp players suck in general: the disrespect harp players get from other musicians is a near-constant theme on this list.  If you think I made it up, check the Harp-L archives.    

Regards, Richard Hunter

Haka Harri wrote:
>Richard Hunter wrote in response to my post:
>"Just don't act surprised when other musicians tell you that harp players aren't musicians.
>Why be ignorant?  Ignorance sucks."
>
>I must have  been talking to the wrong musicians because haven't heard that comment before in 37 years. Looks more likely that "sophisticated" harp players tell me that "musically undereducated" harp players aren't musicians.
>I may be ignorant in your opinion but I'm going to keep listening to the music I love. Without discrimination for or against what the musician knows about theory.