[Harp-L] Style and tone (was Pro)

[David Fertig <drfertig@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'm somewhat skeptical of attempts to create one's own style.   Self-conscious attempts to sound different often seem just that.

As for tone, much of that, I suspect, is affected by each person's physical features, among other things.  

And lick-for-lick renditions may be great practice, (I just started trying it these last few years, very helpful) but for my live listening pleasure I'd rather hear interpretations, not copies.    If I can copy a Walter lick, that's all I'm doing.  But he invented it from almost whole cloth.  

If you're standing up in front of people playing blues, don't they deserve what you invented, your current style and tone?  No, I won't sneer if someone plays a lick-for-lick copy of a Big Walter tune, but I'm likely to go outside for some fresh air.  

For me, it's the blues we invent today, that's got soul and blood and honesty in it, that counts for live music.  

But hey I just ordered the 3-DVD set "The American Folk  Blues Festival 1962-1969, Vol. 1-3". SO I ain't dissing the classics, I love 'em!  

-Pedantic Dave Fertig
(I was, by the way, "born in Chicago, 1956.")


From: Rick In Davis <rickindavis@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Pro
CC: 
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2007 10:03:23 -0800 (PST)
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx

 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