Re: [Harp-L] re: harp as an instrument

[Joel Fritz <jfritz666@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for the support.  Any musical instrument is hard to play well. 
If trumpet or guitar were easy compared to harmonica.....<g>

The minimal level of technique for a pro rises all the time just like 
records in track and field and swimming.  I don't think Coleman Hawkins 
(or anyone else) was overblowing (playing the high harmonics) back in 
the twenties.  It's just about mandatory for saxophone players now. Once 
someone comes along with a new technique people try to imitate it and it 
becomes standard.

BTW, Little Walter wasn't exactly middle aged when he hit Chicago.  He 
recorded a lot of his finest stuff in the early fifties.  Cotton wasn't 
very old when he made his first records either.  Walter Horton (if you 
believe the stories about him) was tearing it up in Memphis when he was 
in his teens.

I think there are modern harp players who can duplicate anything the 
ODBG played and play some things the ODBG had never thought of.

This is beginning to remind me of the arguments when be-bop started when 
people would say with a straight face that, for example, Freddie Keppard 
was a better player than Dizzy Gillespie.  They may have liked to listen 
to Keppard more than Gillespie, but Gillespie could play rings around him.

rainbowjimmy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> So we agree harp is an instrument not a toy. Like any instrument it's not easy
> to play. It's not that difficult either. There are not large crowds of
> teenagers out there outplaying Hendrix. Hendrix slept with his guitar. He
> played every waking minute of every day. Notes may be easy to find on a guitar
> but it's not the notes, it's how you play the notes. Look at a piano. The notes
> are right there. Should be easy to play Chopin, shouldn't it? Heck there are no
> notes on a drum. All you have to do is hit it. How hard is that?
>
> By the end of high school I was able to copy most of Sonny Terry's riffs.I knew
> kids in high school that could play Little Walter and J Geils note for note.
> Cotton was able with some study (massive woodshedding) to copy Little Walter
> well enough to play in Muddy's band in the 50s. Are there many Howard Levys out
> there? No. Are there many Yo Yo Mas out there. No. Most people don't have the
> drive, the time, and the patience to practice all day every day.
>
> If you religiously practice every day three hours a day (this is a normal
> practice regime for any serious high school pianist) you should be able to play
> just about anything in five years.When musicians diss harp players, it's because
> most harp players haven't put in the time like pianists and violinists. I don't
> put in the practice time. I can play Sonny Terry riffs but I'll never be a
> musician like Sonny. More like a dilletante pianist that can play some Bartok
> as opposed to a serious musician that can really interpret and expand the
> music.
>
> There's also a difference between proficiency and talent. Talented musicians can
> not only play but they expand the horizons of their instruments.. Miles Davis
> expanded the range and the sound of the trumpet. Duane Allman took slide guitar
> from rehashed Elmore James riffs out to the solar system. Jimi took electric
> guitar and got it to sound like rocket fire and mortar attacks. Sonny could
> make the harp cry like a woman or bark like a dog. Little Walter got the harp
> to sound like a horn section. Regardless of the instrument that takes
> relentless practice, dedication, and talent.
>
> Rainbow Jimmy
> http://www.spaceanimals.com
> http://www.soundclick.com/theelectricstarlightspaceanimals.htm
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