RE: [Harp-L] Musicians vs Crap

["Robert Gaustad" <robertgaustad@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

It seems that Chris Michalek, with his pithy, witty, and possibly incorrect
"99.4% of all harmonica players on earth are crap musicians", started not
only a firestorm of activity on harp-l, but he singlehandedly created about
ten different threads.  It's interesting to see the different range of
comments.  Some people are pissed, some are thoughtful, some are laughing,
and others are neutral.  Some agree with him and others vehemently disagree.
Some think it's getting personal and some don't.  Of course it will only get
personal if you allow it to get that way.

If you "resemble that remark" you should just kick back and relax. I'm not
sure that Chris really thought out his comment and what affect it would have
on the list.  If he was making the remark as a strategic move to try to
start a big debate, he might have written the words differently, maybe more
elegantly.  So I don't really give him credit for trying to start this
debate...but, hey, I could very well be wrong. I think he just threw it out
there without thinking too much about what the result would be, but he
probably started giggling when it hit the fan.  Because he hit the pulse of
many people on this list - he got us all thinking about what it means to be
a harp player and a "musician".

I myself would be considered a "crap musician" in Chris' book.  That's cool,
because I don't read music (except painfully slowly), I know little about
music theory (but I'm learning more every day), and until recently, even
though I've been playing for many years, I've never taken my music or my
harp playing very seriously.  But the more I read harp-l and the more I meet
some of the wonderful, helpful, and generous players on this list and in the
SF Bay Area where I live, the more I want to become a real musician.  "More"
being the operative word, though.  I don't have any illusions I'll become a
great musician, just a better one as I learn.  But I think I play with soul
and I know I play from my heart.

I would guess that those tired dudes who sat on their porches at the end of
a long hard day of work and played the blues with their harmonicas; played
the blues with real feeling; and played, not with any kind of music theory
in mind, but from the very depths of their souls, were "crap musicians".  I
would guess that two of my favorite harp players, Sonny Boy Williamson II
and Little Walter, were "crap musicians" as well.  But I'm sure they would
just laugh and then blow the hell out of most of us with their harps. All
those dudes are the kind of "crap musicians" I aspire to even barely come
close to in soulful playing.

So bottom line, in my opinion, if you enjoy playing your harp, if you play
it from the heart and soul, and you can affect people (even your spouse or
kid) in a positive way with your playing, you're alright in my book.  It
ain't a numbers game, it's a soul game. You've either got it or you don't.

Robert "CrapHarp" Gaustad