RE: [Harp-L] Re: Dangerous Harp

[J Compton <jofjltn4@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This seems like a good opening for me to jump into this discussion.

Hi, my name's Jonathan, and I, too, watched American Idol last night...(but it's not my fault, my wife watches it, I just happened to be in the room).  This was a double-whammy for me since my wife really dislikes the sound of the harmonica, whether well-played or not.

It really was bad, but I'm *glad* it was bad.  He openly admitted in the intro video that he just started playing a week ago.  If he had gone out there and nailed it, even if it was a simple part, then the obvious conclusion would be that it is a simple instrument to play well.  We don't need millions of people getting that idea (or having their idea reinforced).

What I found even more interesting was in a song later in the evening, there was a similar sounding harmonica in the accompaniment.  Simon commented that it sounded like Chikeezie (?) was playing on her song, but it wasn't the contestant that was playing.  It must have been from the backing band...which leads to the point of my e-mail.  I don't know these songs well (or really the Beatles in general), but did these songs originally include a harmonica part that was this incredibly basic/"bad"?  (For those that didn't hear it, I believe it was a very simple blow/draw chording on 123 (and maybe 4) throughout.)  Perhaps the two songs were just being played authentically.  For the sake of the contestants and the AI band, I sure hope so...because that's the only possible explanation I can think of for doing what they did last night.

Jonathan



> Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:58:40 -0600
> From: jonathan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [Harp-L] Re: Dangerous Harp
> 
> Luckily, 2/3 of the judges called him out for putting the harmonica in the
> song and not really being able to play it.  I almost physically cringed when
> he said that he picked up the instrument in the past week and would be
> playing it on national TV.  The guy deserves some credit for taking such a
> risk and trying something new, even if it was ill-advised.  Unlike some of
> you, I don't have a problem with the perception that harmonica is an easy
> instrument to pick up and play -- that is a major source of its enduring
> popularity.  It is clearly a double-edged sword, though.  The only thing
> that bothered me is that he clearly didn't know what he was doing on the
> thing and yet somehow thought that would be acceptable in the context of the
> song, when in fact it sounded quite bad.
> 
> Now that American Idol is allowing contestants to play instruments during
> their performances, it can only be a matter of time before an actually
> talented and experienced harmonica player takes the stage.  Taylor Hicks is
> an above-average player but rarely got to play on the show, since it was
> against the rules at the time.  (He could only play during group numbers,
> candid segments, etc.)  I was hoping there might be a harp player this
> season, with the new rules in effect, but apparently not.
> 
> -- 
> Jonathan Metts
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