I am not certain that any one instrument could be termed the "ultimate"
instrument of genius. They all have their advantages and disadvantages.
Bach
thought that the pipe organ was the ultimate instrument because it did
everything he wanted it to do, it could be made to imitate the sounds of
any
other instrument, and a good player could play several things at once.
However, they have to be built into a building, so they are not real
portable. I would expect that the ultimate instrument would travel with
the
musician -- like a harmonica. However, a harmonica has many disadvantages
a
pipe organ does not have.
*...Trumpet is a single note instrument, all the notes are there, you just
have to purse your lips, blow and move three fingers...*
Brass instruments are chromatic only because they have valves/slides which
add length to the instrument, changing the key of the instrument
temporarily. A brass instrument really only plays a few notes. Every time
a
valve is pressed (or a slide is moved out), a pathway to a longer length
of
tubing is made available to the instrument -- changing the key and,
ultimately the available notes, of the instrument. Each valve pressed
simultaneously adds their combined lengths of tubing to the instrument and
changes its key further -- sort of a mechanical application of musical
math.
A really good brass player might be able to get some resemblance of real
scales out of the instrument without the use of valves or slides, but, in
reality, his instrument is extremely limited -- forcing him to have to be
better to make it work the way he wants it to work. The genius in the
control of the instrument is the result of the player wanting more than
what
is directly in front of him and pushing himself to find what he seeks --
to
conquer the challenge of his limitations. It is more than a matter of
pressing valves. The valves simply make the instrument easier to learn to
control -- they also add complication in transposition. (You don't usually
have a case of brass instruments in 12 keys ready to go at a moment's
notice, so you have to be very practiced in your scales.)
*...Guitar is a piece a cake, you have all the notes and you can change
octaves by simply moving up or down a fret...*
Having a chromatic scale can be just as limiting as having to work without
one. For beginner guitar players, the additional frets that they don't
use,
combined by the third between the G and B strings, poses a challenge. A
mandolin, tuned completely in fifths, may be a better instrument for
comparison. However, you would be up and playing a mountain dulcimer with
some skill faster than either the guitar or mandolin because it is tuned
diatonically. (The scale is laid out for you.)
*...The piano would surely come at best second because it cannot bend or
growl notes... *
The piano was invented to be more expressive than its predecessors. Its
name "piano" is a shortened form of "piano forte" -- indicating in the
name
that it was intended to do more than just play notes. A true piano genius
can create emotion from the instrument, almost at a moment's notice, and
even get a simulated angry growl out of the lower keys (and a pedal). It
plays slurred (bent) notes through the use of a pedal that blends the
"edges" of the notes together. It does not have different voices, however,
like the pipe organ, and its hammered strings can never have the light,
airy, surrealistic feel of the plucked strings of the harpsichord.
*...The violin cannot play chords, hey we win!...*
Actually, violins play chords frequently. Fiddlers do it all the time when
they play tunes with drones or harmonies. (Violinists do it, too, but it
is
not as often required of them.) The chords are not called chords, though.
They are known on the violin family instruments as "double stops" or
"triple
stops". In reality, they are 2 and 3 note chords, where the notes of the
chords are played simultaneously like a piano might play them. (A guitar
strum really plays the individual notes of the chord one at a time very
quickly so as to simulate a simultaneous strike -- in an almost arpeggio
fashion.) So the harmonica cannot win this one -- at least not with the
chords. Harmonica chords are set by design. Only very advanced players can
exceed that design in any fashion. Violin chords ("stops") can be varied
by
partial-tones through all of the keys making the range of interval
adjustments nearly infinte within the vocal range of the instrument. That
is
why they are so hard to learn to play in tune and in key in the beginning
and why players must study so hard to learn to control the instrument.
*...Now find me a single harp player who can play a De Ford Bailey tune
note for note with exact phrasing...*
It is my understanding that Joe Filisko is very good at demonstrating the
styles of the older players. Perhaps you should talk to him at SPAH or a
workshop sometime.
It usually isn't the goal of a really good musician to copy another
musician exactly – note for note with exact phrasing. That defeats the
purpose of self-expression, which is usually a reason a musician plays
music
in the first place. Those geniuses of the past played the way they played
because they were who they were. Their growth and influences were as
unique
to them as their interpretation of everything they ever experienced. Our
imitations of them will always be imitations, regardless of how good they
are. We can learn from their playing through learning their notes and
phrasing, and try to understand their ideas from the way in which their
music was presented, but we are not them – and we should not try to be. We
should learn from them.
*...Every instruments has its genius, but I believe the harmonica has more
genius than any other. We should be proud, we (our forefathers) deserve
respect. One day, it will come...*
The harmonica is a pretty neat instrument that has distinct advantages and
disadvantages. It is a simple instrument whose advantages encourage the
beginner while its disadvantages challenge the advanced player to grow
beyond the instrument and do more with it. We are its genius. The
instrument
will gain respect as we gain respect through our performance with the
instrument.
Cara