Re: Re; [Harp-L] Position Perception

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

On Mar 6, 2005, at 11:32 AM, Mike and Beverly Rogers wrote:

> Speaking as a blind person, I think we are all blind, when it comes to 
> the
> harmonica.  When it's in the mouth, we're all in the same boat.  
> Bullfrog
> -----

 Oh absolutely frog. Stevie plays in a choppy, spastic style, and is 
always instantly ready with that quivery right hand to jab the slide. 
If you listen to his playing, you will notice that he makes a lot of 
mistakes (from a technical point of view). However, he has a way of 
covering those mistakes by overwhealming your hearing with ADDITIONAL 
note (or notes) to cover the note (or notes) he waffles on. He is the 
"Pope" of slide jabs and cover. Strangely enough, it is just this style 
that endears him to many, as it is hard to duplicate, quite catchy, and 
so different as to be tasty.

 Which brings me to my point. Watch a chord player. They have to work 
with 48 chords (over half a piano keyboard). These are all caught on 
the fly by muscle memory. There are 2 decks of 24 each. Each deck has a 
blow AND a draw set. There are 23" to work with. It takes YEARS of 
practice just to get up to the level of "Lousy". As you watch the 
player, you may notice that they sometimes "shake" the chord. This can 
be a matter 1/8 or 1/4". IF they don't hit the chord right on the 
money, they have to finesse it in with a last minute quick (very quick) 
adjustment.

 This is especially prevalent when they are playing "splits". These are 
cases where they have to take a piece (maybe only one pair of holes) 
from another chord to add to their mother chord. Sometimes they even 
have to drop off a part OFF of the mother chord. All of this is done 
blindly and solely by touch. You can't exactly take the chord away from 
your mouth, LOOK for the next chord, and then hope to hit it dead on 
when you resume playing.

 For instance, when I go in the garage, I may pick up my clarinet, or 
cajun button box, or maybe build a bird feeder. Maybe I go out in the 
yard and trim the trees & shrubs. Maybe crush the aluminum cans. Or, 
like I did last night, tune 2 reeds and replace some wind savers on my 
C chromo. Monday I may drive down to the Beached Whale and see/hear 
Masrk Hummel. I can see, therefore I can drive.

 Let's put it this way. What do you do all day? What do I do all day, 
for that matter? Now think about someone who is blind. They don't have 
the same distractions. I am retired, bored S**tless most of the time 
and can STILL find things to do. It "used" to be my job, family, 
hobbies, etc. If I were blind, I don't know WHAT I would do. Maybe play 
music, maybe read braille, Dunno?

 This I DO know, playing harp is DEFINITELY something that must be done 
blindly.

the ghost of smokey joe