Re: [Harp-L] Pro

[Rick In Davis <rickindavis@xxxxxxxxx>]

When I first started playing harp lo these many years ago I got advice 
to study the styles of the masters like the two Walters.  I was way 
too smart for that.  "I want to develop my OWN style," I said. 

Somewhere along the way I got dumber and Big Walter Horton 
got a lot smarter.  Don't sneer at copying "riffs from the 1940's."  
That is how blues harp is played, and that is how you learn.  
You earn the right to create your own style only after you pay 
serious homage to the masters.  If there is no Chicago DNA
 in your style, your tone suffers.
 
-Rick


----- Original Message ----
From: joseph ginther <flyinginthers@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 9:29:56 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] (no subject)


in response to all this talk about being a pro or not....i just couldn't sit back anymore, first i am not what i would consider a pro even though i play for over 10 years,mostly putting my girlfriend to sleep, i think my ability level is better than my friend who plays in a band for money three days a week,  my opinion, for what it is worth, is that the rules of a contest are what matters, and if you are truely an entertainer some people might consider you a pro even though the mechanics of the old school blues playing is not there, i don't think that a life spent trying to copy some riffs from 1940's or whatever means that much, originality and heart are more important, as well as truely having fun being an entertainer for money or to put someone to sleep......ha     joe g
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