RE: [Harp-L] Butter on Your Own Sound

["Bill Hines" <billhines4@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I agree! I wasn't saying that learning someone else's stuff "note for note"
is bad. Butterfield didn't seem to be saying that either. I think it's good,
well, any exercise you use to learn the harp and sounds and layout is good.
It's just one way to get there, a fun one. Once you do, most folks I think
then concentrate on forming their own sound. I think Butterfield was saying
"don't try to make a career out of playing someone else's stuff note for
note" and that makes sense. As a musician, I think you have to make that
last natural progression to find yourself, and that seems to be Butter's
point as well. When you're starting, it's fun to find out how easy it is to
do a classic riff like Spoontul. It's very encouraging. Trying to play just
about anything Little Walter did, like Juke, can be very *discouraging*,
haha. That's when you appreciate how good the guy was.

PS With both LW and Vince Lombardi, that's two guys I thought were pretty
cool until I read their biographies, and then came away thinking "Geez, what
an @**hole that guy was", haha. Both had pretty though lives though,
especially when they were kids. 

Bill Hines

-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of gorky
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2005 6:21 AM
To: Harp_L
Subject: [Harp-L] Butter on Your Own Sound 

Hi all;
Bill,I think you are right.
However, it can be useful to try and play note for note like other 
harmonica players but just in certain way:
It may help you to understand a kind of feeling, an approach of rythm. 
I understood i was wrong
when i tried to play  a "note for note solo" just because i had it in 
my mind  and wanted  to play that whatever the rythm or the song was. But
when i began to forget that, to play without thinking about playing 
"note for note solo" it happened that it came naturaly to me( sometimes 
many mounth after) but this time, it sounded good.
It means influences and copying are good when you let them grow slowly 
in you. But don't make a rule.Let hey come to you.
I' ve heard many players at festivals: They were very good players but 
looking back, i can't remember one with a special
identity: All of them were looking for absolute Little Walter phrasing 
and sound.Here is the question: Who could play exactly like Little 
Walter except Little Walter himself? And i' m note sure Walter thought 
about copying someone' s phrasing or sounds when he recorded"Juke".I 
Think he just played it.
John Lee Hooker learned guitar with someone ( I don' t remember his 
name but he was never recorded). and maybe he would have liked to play 
exactly like him(I said MAYBE cause i was not there).But maybe the 
imperfections and defaults in copying have made John' s style.AND IT'S 
GREAT!!!!
I always have that in my mind now when i' m playing.
Gorky.


_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l