Re: Why lay out?

[chapman@xxxxxxxx (Robin Chapman)]

>  This topic is a tangent to the one that has been very big recently on 
>this list.  I agree that the harp does need restraint to sound well in a 
>band situation.  However, the bass guitar is playing throughout the 
>song.  The rhythm guitar plays throughout the song.  Even during the 
>vocal parts.  Why is this so?  I mean, what is it about these instruments 
>that they play all the time whereas the harp does not seem suited to this.

I think it has to do with the fact that the harmonica tends to be a lead 
instrument -- that is, it carries a melodic line and has, let's face it, a 
rather piercing tone.  The bass and rhythm quitars play constantly because 
they are important to the continuity of the music.  Lead instruments can 
become monotnous in they try to do the same thing.  In an ensemble, playing 
a leading line on the harp without let-up doesn't leave room for any other 
lead instruments to play a solo.  When the sax plays a solo, the lead guitar 
lays out (or plays rhythm), and so on.  If more harp players knew how (and 
especially when) to play back-up or rhythm, however, they might be more 
welcome as sit-ins.  I find this to be true with my fiddle playing.  The 
fiddle, too, is primarily a lead instrument, but in an ensemble it's 
important to know how and when to play unobtrusively in the background.  If 
you want to play continuously, learn to play background (quietly), learn to 
enjoy it, and be content with showing your stuff in the occasionally break.

Robin Chapman
chapman@xxxxxxxx