Re: [Harp-L] Hunting for a bucket of ice in the Summertime
Maybe what you guys are looking for is a word like "pianistic." That would
be "harpistic"; related to pianist, harpist, guitarist. A long form would be
harmonicistic (yuk). Why reinvent the wheel?
It is a word that has immediate meaning without any pejorative or frivolous
suggestions. And it falls into the tradition of other musical terms, which
none of the others listed below do.
This means taking advantage of the layout of the piano. Some musical phrases
are easier to play on the piano than they are on harmonica or guitar.
Hole 3 on the diatonic yields at least 5 (including bent) notes -- which
can't be done on a piano. You press a key down you get one note. A fretted note on
a guitar bends up (sharp), with several options.
A guitar string bends sharp (raised pitch); the harmonica bends flat (lower
pitch) -- except for overblows.
For example, it is easier to slide from a black key to a white key than the
reverse.
Like Eb to E or Bb to B. It is also a different "slide" than going from a
white key to a white key: E to F or B to C.
I don't know what the word is for the same thing on guitar but many blues
songs -- and others -- are based on chords that fit on the guitar. Fret the shape
of the chord and the notes for that phrase are readily accessible. Is this
guitaristic?
Take a diatonic harmonica and warble between holes 3-4. Why? Because you can.
Bend the notes and keep up the warble. Musical? Who cares? Just do it because
it is possible.
It's the harp player who goes beyond the standard riffs and techniques that
stands out.
In the good old days, melodies on the harmonica were limited to the 7-note
diatonic scale. This was harpistic playing -- letting the instrument determine
what could be played.
Then somehow bent notes were discovered and guys like (but not limited to)
Don Les realized they could play complex melodies using the extra bent notes.
This expanded the first harpistic playing.
And blues guys discovered what worked on the harp and created a few phrases,
which have become cliches. Learning to play all these cliches offers the
beginning harp player the chance to learn the instrument itself and some of its
limits. This is a valuable step in learning the instrument and the musical
form. But many players are still confined to what they have heard other blues
players perform. So again, they are limited in what they can play -- if they
limit themselves to cliches on the harp. This leads to blues harpistic playing.
Me, I'm still trying to learn the verse on Jingle Bells and the bridge on
Don't Get Around Much Anymore. And Summertime on a minor key harp -- why do it
(any other) the hard way?
Phil
In a message dated 10/20/08 10:24:58 PM, rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> Dave;
> I thought we were looking for a word that described licks,
> phrases etc. that were suggested by the instrument rather than the imagination of
> the player: ie chestnuts, cliches etc. which is what Iceman was trying to
> imply by his ghastly invention: 'Harmonicaeee' (which suggests more to me the
> response by a not inconsiderable number of persons upon hearing the thing
> played:"Harmonica?!Eeeeeeeeeeeee!!")
> 'Harply' has poetic resonances of 'shapely', 'comely' (combly?)
> which suggests something elegant and admirable (homely? ....ah!)
> Your response to the exercise I set you reflects this word's most
> obvious application: admiration & praise.
> Good word, but not the right one here, I think.
> Anyway, what is an American doing inventing new adverbs? You lot
> have been largely instrumental in expurgating them from the language.
> If it's going to be 'harp' rather than 'harmonica', then, for the
> use of which Ice & Buddhah have recently had need, I think 'Harpish' the
> better one, resonating 'Irish',' Scottish', 'Flemish', 'Spanish', etc.; in other
> words, something that is defined by it's origin, birth etc.
> By the way Dave, what do you write ? (perhaps you better answer
> that one 'offlist' before this turns into 'literature-L')
> Cheers,
> RD
>
>
> >>> David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 21/10/2008 11:43 >>>
> Adjective: Jason Ricci is very skilled in the harply arts.
>
> Adverb: Man that is some harply playing!
>
> Dave
> ______________________
> Dave Payne Sr.
> Elk River Harmonicas
> www.elkriverharmonicas.com
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Rick Dempster <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; Harp L Harp L <
> harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 8:09:08 PM
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Hunting for a bucket of ice in the Summertime
>
> Dave;
> An excercise: Use 'harply' in a sentence. On my desk in 5 please.
> RD
> >>> David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 21/10/2008 10:44 >>>
>
> >Ice Block writes:
> >"that gunslinger can learn to fire less bullets and
> >consistently hit the target more often dead center in the bullseye."
>
> Something my dad taught me when I was a kid, "You aim small. You miss
> small."
>
> Now Rick, the rascal, is down there in the approaching Australian summer
> right now, laughing at me freezing up here in West Virginia, while getting his
> upside-down, reverse 4th of July barbecue rockin' and rolling, hanging out
> down at the beach with the salt-water crocodiles, swatting cane frogs, drinking
> a Foster's and playing "Waltzing Matilda" on a Boomerang harp- all while
> milking the platypus - yet he has managed to find the time to defend the purity
> of the English language. As a guy with quite a bit of booklearnin' in the
> English language and someone who has made a career out of it (writer), I gotta
> say I'm with Rick on the importance of selecting an alternate word. I offer the
> word "harply," which would work as either an adjective or an adverb, I
> think, although it lacks the fanciness of Rick's upside-down plethoric linguisic
> pantheon. lol
>
> Dave
> _____________________________
>
> Dave Payne Sr.
> Elk River Harmonicas
> www.elkriverharmonicas.com
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Rick Dempster <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: Buddha <groovygypsy@xxxxxxxxx>; harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 6:39:31 PM
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Hunting for a bucket of ice in the Summertime
>
> "harmonicaee"..........???!!! Sorry....the literary pedant in me must out!
> If we're going to make an adjective out of 'harmonica', howsabout:
> 'harmonica-ish'?? or 'harp-like'. Hmmm....harminicaizationary? harmonicaisms?
> harmonicaismistic? harmonicaismisticalizationary?
> RD
>
> >>> Buddha <groovygypsy@xxxxxxxxx> 21/10/2008 5:42 >>>
> Icemaker writes:
> "Most of what I've heard from harmonica players has been, get through the
> "head" of the tune in some fashion and then let me show my stuff - speed
> patterns, use of OB's, big vibrato, wah wah, hands waving in the air, etc."
>
> http://www.suncoastharmonicaclub.org/Video_Clips/ICE/index.html
>
>
> Larry, you talk about being or not being "harmonicaeee", on that point
> I totally agree with you. However, maybe you've improved your
> "harmonicaeeeness" since this video clip of summertime but you're not
> demonstrating how you are playing outside of the harmonicaee box. Yeah
> you're note choices are correct but that doesn't always make for a
> great performance.
>
>
>
> I'll take passion and energy over "bullseye" notes any day.
> Christelle may not have the musical knowledge that others possess but
> she has feeling in her playing and that's what does it for me. Her
> passion cuts the air like a knife and it's infectious. Look at all
> of the people that are blown away by Popper and Yonnet... great
> energy and passion in their playing... phrasing and note choice is
> often iffy at best. Fans are drawn in via energy not bullseye notes.
>
>
> Why not take 1/4 of the time spent on telling people how to stop being
> so "harmonicaee" and expand vertically with learning a few patterns
> and speed chops so you can hit the correct target. A bullseye in the
> center of a tree ain't no good when you're hunting deer.
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