Re: Bluesharp Tone

["IronMan Mike Curtis" <ironman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

One problem I see surfacing here is confusing "tone" with "emotion", "mood",
"cuteness factor", "technique", "taste", "what I like", and a plethora of
other things that relate to *music* but *N*O*T* to the absolute TONE!!!

Dylan and Young strike my emotions with their gawdawful squeeky harp
playing.  I love it.  BUt it's NOT TONE!!!  I've heard some classical
harmonica with marvelous tone from heaven that just left me cold.  Sorry,
but classical just isn't my cup of tea, generally, tone or otherwise.
Whether we LIKE it or not is not the point.  Whether it makes us cry (for
whatever reason) is *not* the point.  Whether it has thin wavering vibrato
is not the point.

TONE is just ONE of MANY qualities that make up harmonica.  Tone does not
encompass all that is harmonica.  It's simply, elegantly, and ONLY one
single facet of our instrument.  It has variety, and yet it is also
surprisingly consistent.  There's a very good reason Gary Primich sounds
pretty much the same through many vastly different mics and amps.  His TONE.
And yet Gary has an amazing palate of different harmonica sounds.

If we can't (or refuse to) quantify what makes up "good tone", how can we
ever learn to *have* good tone?  The simple answer is, we can't.

I know good tone when I hear it.  And fortunately I've learned over the
years (I've been playing harp for over 50 years) what PRODUCES this tone.
I've *defined* what produces good tone, at least in my own opinion.  I see
this in the top harmonica professionals, the guys that get the session
calls, the guys who can play louder than a stack of Marshalls with NO
feedback, the guys who amaze other harmonica players with their tone even in
the most benign settings.

Do I know EVERYTHING about tone?  Nope.  Never made that claim.  Never will,
either.  I learn new stuff all the time.  (That's one reason I read as well
as post ;-)

If you've ever taken a course, one of the first things the professor will do
is outline the course - in other words, DEFINE the subject.  As they say
(speaking of lectures, but it applies to many things in general), "Tell them
what you're going to say, then tell them, then tell them what you just said"
(introduction, body, and conclusion).

To learn, you must FIRST *define*.

If you ask most harmonica players, they will tell you that they feel they
have great tone.  And yet the fact is that only about 1% of all professional
harpers have *that* tone.  Cotton.  Primich.  The Walters.  Musselwhite.
William Clarke.  And a VERY few others.  A sheer handful.

I know which "great tone" *I* want ;-)


http://www.billhouse.com/songs/StormyMonday.mp3
- -IronMan Mike Curtis Band  http://www.ironmancurtis.com *Southland Blues
Magazine http://www.SouthlandBlues.com