Re: [Harp-L] intonation and such

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Winslow Yerxa" wrote:

<I do not argue that overblows or bends can or should be made to sound
<the same as what Jonathan calls "natural" notes..."different" does not 
<mean "bad or "poor" or "weak". It just means different, and different 
<does not need to be concealed or protected. It needs to be brought to 
<its full potential, and then used in an appropriate way...I argue that 
<any player who uses these notes should get as strong as they can in 
<playing them. Anything worth doing is worth doing as well as possible. 
<Half-assed technique leads to half-assed artistic decisions.

So let me see if I've got this right. If I don't spend lots of precious 
practice time trying to make overblows sound like real music, which is 
no easy trick even for the guys who seem to think it's their life's 
work, then I've got "half-assed technique," and for sure it's leading me 
to make "half-assed artistic decisions."  Even though we can apparently 
all now admit that there's nothing and no one who can keep those altered 
notes from sticking out like a purple cow in a herd of Guernseys, I have 
to practice overblowing EVEN HARDER than before, because I have to make 
those altered notes really "strong."  Or I'm half-assed.

Well, some things are not worth doing extremely well, even if they're 
worth doing a little, and especially if "extremely well" doesn't really 
sound extremely good.

All of this obsession with controlling the pitch and sound of altered 
notes is in my opinion a big, fat, waste of time, and I for one have 
other fish to fry.

Call me half-assed if you like.

Regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com