Re: What constitutes "blues"?

[Gatorharp@xxxxxxx]

ironman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:

<< My purpose in posting was not to argue, but simply to point out (as Charlie
 did rather succinctly - "...if it feels like blues, it's blues - period")
 that blues is much more than a fixed format of chord changes and bars.  I
 also hoped to start a discussion of what constitutes "blues", and
 specifically some things we all can work on specifically to improve our
 blues.>>
i will take mike at his word, but having read (and re-read) the intitial 
post, i couldn't find any evidence of these being the intended goals.  it 
reads, to me, like someone who wants to debate what is or isn't blues.  
there's no mention of anything harmonica, except the ~idea~ of microtones, 
which weren't directly connected to harp technique in the post, and which 
aren't limited to harp, anyway.
 
 <>
re-reading the first post, i find no exercises to help improve this area, 
unless listening to recordings of field hollers is meant to be an exercise (i 
think of it as enjoyment).

i guess my point (which at least one other evidently agrees) is, that the 
first post answers a question that nobody asked.  it offers no new 
information...no information at all, really.  certainly nothing that pertains 
to harmonica.  
what it does do is resurrect an old thread that's been beat to death, and 
that really belongs on a different list.  and i say that as someone who has, 
in the past, perpetuated too many discussions that didn't belong here.

steven j gatorman