Re: [Harp-L] By the way,,

[mike reid <shrimpdaddymike@xxxxxxxxx>]

If the feeling moves you go with the music there is nothing more pleasing to watch as an audience then someone who is feeling the music i must stress this must be real i don't wanna watch somebody laying it on thick and overselling as you say.  I think i read somewhere that james cotton used to do back flips on stage.  And of course there is T bone walker who did the splits while playing his guitar over his head.  To each his own.  Then again one does not have to be an acrobat or know how to juggle or tap dance to sing a song or play harmonica.  on the other hand though when you look at the way that society treats music nowadays it's like you have to be able to sing last, no 1 you must look good in a video or on camera so they can sell the image of you.  hard to understand and really tragic for everyone who is loosing out on potentially good music why music on it's own is not enough.

IcemanLE@xxxxxxx wrote:  In a message dated 4/9/2008 12:21:49 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, 
rlaughlin@xxxxxxxxxxxx writes:

again, there's no prohibition on wiggling, dancing, standing on one's head 
or tippitoes while playing. I just have a "personal radar" for anything that 
is purely and solely derived from a sense of "salesmanship". To me,,it's more 
about the music than anything else, regardless of one's need to sell oneself 
to an audience for the sake of pecuniary gain, financial security, tips, 
etc..

Selling music visually works - remember, the bulk of the population (The 
Citizens) perceive music differently than musicians. To them, fancy clothes, big 
hair flopping, sparkles, dance moves, etc, add to the experience, as they 
don't listen with the same attention we do.

I remember studying with a Brazilian Classical Pianist at College - he was 
very emotional and wanted the body to move and reflect the passion in the music 
- he would bow to the keyboard, raise his hands in the air after striking 
the keys to "draw the sound up", etc. It didn't resonate with me. Luckily I was 
also studying with the legendary Howard Lucas privately in Detroit. He was 
all about the sound - eliminate any extraneous movement that doesn't directly 
affect the sound and concentrate on the sound fully. 

This is ultimately the philosophy I've adapted the rest of my life in 
working with music and it works for me. It's the introverted approach rather than 
the extroverted one.

The Iceman



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