RE: [Harp-L] Fame? Or "Legitimacy"?

["Ronald Tuffel" <ronnyt@xxxxx>]

Dear Bradford and All,


	Once again a well developed, intelligent, and precise depiction of
the situation that many harp players face and live through. (Even the
harmonica playing Gods past and present!) The perception of the harp and
harmonicas is deeply etched in the minds of the media influenced public. If
they've seen the films the Harp-L public richly endorsed about prisoners,
campfire boys, or tricksters then they can never believe this little thing
could be anything other than a gimmick, toy, or antic. Deal with it ya'll!
It's like that! What did they once say? "Love it or leave it?" If you
yourself are misunderstood, disrespected, or challenged because you play
harmonicas, grab the baton and sprint though your reed blowing life trying
to advance you and your wind streaming fiends to the lofty status that we
all deserve to be deemed true musicians. Think about it....... without
making you feel musically prejudiced, but you probably think very poorly of
some musical genre that you believe is far from legitimacy (Don't want to
piss anyone off by mentioning the name of their other favorite form of
music.) We all possibly throw stones at the glass window of some form of
music. "What goes around comes around"! "Different strokes for different
folks"! You, or is it we, can't actually completely change the mass
misconception. We can only make it better through our individual efforts
related to the world of harp and harmonica. We must develop by musically
enriching our efforts by working effectively in music education, practicing,
rehearsing, performing well, and learning to be ambassadors of harp
musicology! Or, you can think who really cares about the lost, ignorant, or
pious people who can't get to the fact that harps and harmonicas are
certainly instruments of value. Play your harp regardless of twisted public
opinion! Play it well! And, possibly one day (Probably not in our lives!)we
will be viewed as true musician without the question of legitimacy. And,
fame....that's an attainable realm if you truly believe you need it or can
reach it!
	We've all thought something similar somewhere down the line. Fame
and Legitimacy are a guitar player's dilemmas. Why not a sax player? Why not
a harp or harmonica player!


A little over the top! 

Rockin' Ronny  

-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Bradford Trainham
Sent: Saturday, February 09, 2008 1:49 AM
To: 'Harp L Harp L'
Subject: [Harp-L] Fame? Or "Legitimacy"?

I suppose anyone/everyone is entitled to want what he or she might want, but
my first reaction, when reading all the threads about fame might best be
summed up as...
"Famous?  I don't want to be famous; Check out Britney!! She's famous!  If
that's famous, take mine and give it to Dick Cheney to supplement his
"fame"!"...

But I also hear, in these threads, a more real concern, which has to do with
the way the harmonica is perceived by non-harp players. 
For some reason I'm not yet clear on, the harmonica isn't in the same place
as is the trumpet, the guitar, the piano, the drums... 
For some reason, in the public's mind, this incredibly versatile instrument
we all seek variously to play is a "novelty" instrument, or else, almost as
damning, an instrument you "feell" rather than master. 
 
While this business of "feeling" certainly has a romanticist appeal, it
steers all perception away from the measurable, so we have our harmonica
relegated to the same place as whistling/humming etc. 

I was asking Michael Rubin about the harmonica's visual appeal when being
played, because I know of instances as a guitarist when I'd play a horrible
passage, or more correctly, play a passage horribly and then have some jive
drunkardess come up and say to me...
"You were awesome!  It looked like you had fire coming out of your hands!"
 Now, I could be grateful that little Miss Alcoholina forgot to tell me what
she thought she heard coming out of the amp, but my point in telling the
story is that there must not be as much of a visual appeal with the
harmonica as so much (I'm making assumptions here.) goes on unseen. 
These observations of mine about visual appeal should certainly be taken
with lots of salt/healthy skepticism since I don't see... And I do know that
there are days when the "un-seeing community" would hold the "sighted
community" accountable for everything from funky weather to those billions
of dead bugs on those millions of windshields, but I do wonder, if people
saw all those tongue blocks, and all the crazy things we have to do to keep
our bent notes if the harmonica might be thought of as a "real instrument". 
It does surprise me that in the context of "art music", the harmonica's
versatility hasn't been acknowledged. 
My own ignorance of current trends in "art music" reigns supreme, but I
would be interested to know how often the harmonica is featured in pieces
written for orchestra. 
  
Maybe in some future "better world" one of our offspring will enroll at some
prestigious university, renowned for its school of music and major in
harmonica.
I think, rather than wanting to be famous, I'd want the harmonica perceived
as the real musical instrument it most certainly is,
Brad (When he drives, it's all over the road and now, you know why.)
Trainham

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