RE: Who's Better Whos Sucks War

["Steve Shaw" <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

<<<<Gang Of  Wind Walkers & Talkers :

Some of these heated battles of who is a legit harmonica player and who 
isn't . I see this enter these forums  constantly .

Truth is :

The School of experienced harmonica players who have spent the time and 
improved to the point where they know who has taken the time to become a 
great master of the Harmonica and who obviously has not .

To you's guys I have to comment this :

There are degrees of accomplishment & sophistication  that brings 
enlightenment  and helps you to progress beyond those who are still hard at 
it trying to get to where you are .

Something happens along the way to some of these harmonica musicians that 
needs to be re-addressed and this is simply put , " You were once an 
uniformed beginner and couldn't asses a great harmonica player from a shoe 
and that includes me when I first became aware of the harmonica .


Those that fit this description will not like what I just wrote , but the 
fact bears  out that some of these types really lay into the beginners for 
their likes of certain harmonica players like Bob Dylan , Neil Young 
etceteras . You who fall into this category do nothing to improve the the 
mind set of these other  " novices " players of harmonica who are not in a 
position to make a qualified distinction of why or how these players are not 
considered true virtuosos . That being the case , it would be more 
constructive to not disrespect those afore mentioned players , by saying 
they are this or that in a negative way . I will agree the right to your 
opinions and support it but you might consider using a tad more tolerance . 
Now , as I see it these harmonica forums are to promote and improve the 
player correct . Well friends bashing a persons favorite harmonica player is 
not going to get any novice to improve and is truly counter productive .

- - - Seek another manner or approach to express your feelings , do it in a in 
more positive manner is my point - - - <snip>

Hurricane Ramon  >>>>>>>>



Hurricane:

If the debate degenerated into a who's-better-who-sucks war I'd jump off 
straight away.  I thought we'd got into discussing the influence of various 
artists (seems that three in particular have got themselves wedged in the 
frame - I have mentioned no names as yet!) on the standing of the harmonica. 
  Of course there's a danger in these discussions that we set certain people 
up as Aunt Sallys, and maybe they deserve that or they don't, but therein 
lies the slippery slope to negativity.  These people are or were mass-market 
phenomena, unlike most of the great harp-players who are what they are 
because of their harp-playing and who nearly all appeal to a much narrower 
audience.  Whether we like it or not the mass-market people are the ones 
which give the harmonica its public image.  The public image of the 
piano/electric guitar/hammond organ/you name it (well, not kazoo maybe...) 
is formed generally by people who are consummate players of the instrument, 
not casual picker-uppers.  Is that a worry or not?  For every hundred people 
who've heard of Dylan (and I'm not necessarily calling him a casual 
picker-upper, though I've heard him called worse) there'll be one who's 
heard of Big Walter (a guess).  Maybe it matters a lot less than some of us 
think here in the woods where we can't see the trees.  But it seems to me 
that this is still a legitimate concern for us to debate on this forum 
(whether we've debated it to death is entirely another matter, but in the 
very nature of these things issues like this are going to keep coming back, 
what with new members coming in all the time and so on) and in any proper 
debate there will be positive and negative aspects coming up.  What is 
important is that we stay constructive, even if expressing dislike or 
disapproval of someone's (and I mean the professionals) harp-playing.   I 
think we should feel free to express that dislike and to unashamedly name 
names as long as we can back up our opinions with reasonable 
statements/examples to refer to.    And I don't mind expressing that opinion 
to harp novices either.  Anyone who wants to progress beyond novice-hood is 
sooner rather than later, before limiting bad habits set in, going to have 
to see that there's more to it than just Dylan's/A.N.Other's/my 
harp-playing.  I speak of limiting bad habits from abundant first-hand 
experience.  You don't show someone how to drive a car by having them just 
motor up and down straight empty roads except at the very start, and then 
you quickly have to move on to the twisty back streets.

Steve


Want more than the blues?  Try Irish!
http://mysite.freeserve.com/trad_irish_harmonica

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