Re: [Harp-L] playing music and communication

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- Tom Muck <tmuck@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

 
> I don't think it requires that much communication to play blues --
> you 
> should be able to fit in with any ensemble. 

You really want to make a statement like that? The way you fit in is by
communicating, even if it's the receptive kind of just listening before
you play. Not communicating to me is the same thing as not listening.

Even in blues, there are enough different substyles, and enough
individual approaches, that you have to listen and figure out what's
going on. You can't just go on blues autopilot and expect that much
good music will happen.
 
The reason Walter and Muddy and Jimmy could intertwine is that they
listened and communicated, sometimes nonverbally, and sometimes
verbally how they would fit together. 

There are tons of recorded  performances that were marred by lack of
listening and communication - musicians either step on each other, or
they wander off and don't notice that other players are playing
different chord changes or another part of the verse, miss the stops or
attempted endings, etc. 

I even remember watching a performance by an older blues singer/harp
player, where the backing band was clearly playing in the wrong key. It
was easy to tell what key the singer intended but they didn't listen,
they just did their own thing and to hell with the guy they were
backing. The singer couldn't quite tell what was wrong (they were in a
related key, like D to his A or something similar, putting him in third
position instead of his intended second when he played harp) but he
sure was unhappy about it.

Winslow


 
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