[Harp-L] long unattributed harp quotes

[Rick Beall <rick@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Guys,

Glenn wrote:
This is someone you probably know-I'd be surprised if you didn't, in fact-
taking whole 12-bar choruses note-for note from Little Walter and Sonny Boy
II and slipping them into other songs without attribution. ...   
defiency in improvising ...  artistically dishonest.

I agree with Glenn.

The defense that all solo are re-treads because everything has already  
been played is like saying you can never write anything original with  
a pencil because the Library of Congress is bursting at the seams.

Why do harp players have trouble writing original stuff with their  
pencils?  I think it is because of bad training methods, namely  
over-reliance on learning by riff.  I've heard at least one harp  
player say that he thought the classic harp playrs' riffs and notes  
were the atoms out of which you should construct solos.

That's more like writing a novel by randomizing phrases, putting them  
in a word processor and pressing a button.

You gotta break things down a lot finer than that.

Now, I know my thoughts will not be controversial.

  Rick Beall
  HarmonicaBoogie.com