Re: [Harp-L] YouTube - AFTER YOU'VE GONE-- shtreiml

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"John F. Potts" wrote:
<I've learned a lot listening to harp players on You Tube.  One of the  
<things I've learned is that technical proficiency on the harmonica  
<and good tone production are distinct skills.

First, this guy from Shteiml must have something, because everybody's all fired up over this piece. To me, the key characteristic of a strong piece of art is that it excites the emotions.  It may repulse or attract, but it doesn't leave you indifferent.  Doesn't look like this piece left anyone indifferent.  I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard other stuff from Jason that made me pay attention.

Second, in my opinion "good tone production" is evidence of technical proficiency, not something that occurs alongside it. As I wrote in "Jazz Harp" in 1980, the first thing that communicates is your sound.  Therefore, the first thing any player should learn is how to make a beautiful sound (which of course means learning how to hold the instrument, how to breathe, and a lot of other basic things). 

I think that here John is equating 'technical proficiency" with playing fast.  Playing fast is one way to express technical proficiency.  But technical proficiency really means having a wide range of sound-producing techniques at one's command.  Any time a harp player applies a different technique to highlight a particular note, that's an expression of technical proficiency.  Brendan Power and Dennis Gruenling come to mind immediately as players who use LOTS of different techniques to bring out the meaning of their lines.  Brendan also plays fast more often than Dennis, but whatever.  Either one of them can slay you with a single note when that's what's required.

There's an interview with a well-known musician, recording engineer, and producer in the latest issue of "Tape Op" magazine (which is a magazine for engineers, musicians, and producers).  This guy notes that tone and speed have an inverse relationship--the more notes you play, the less under control your tone usually is.  I think he's right.  Certainly the more notes you play, the harder it is for anyone to focus on the sound and meaning of one note in particular.

The challenge, which few master, is being able to play fast with a tone that makes the hair stand up on your arms.  A number of jazz horn players have that ability; relatively few harp players do.  Brendan Power does that to me sometimes too, especially when he's using that amazingly wide vibrato that seems to turn the harp into a twisting snake.  When he turns that vibrato on, Brendan reminds me of the early-jazz clarinetist Sidney Bechet--blues roots, jazz sensibility, a big shaking vibrato that gets all your attention from the first note.

Regards, Richard Hunter
latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://myspace.com/richardhunterharp