Re: [Harp-L] Playing "harmonicky" - the expected thing?

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

DO audiences expect "harmonicky"? Frankly, I don't think so, at least not to the extent that harmonica players play that way. When they respond positively, it's because it's the right thing for the music.

I pretty much avoid "harmonicky" playing, and yet I find that audiences respond very positively to the sound of a harmonica if it is simply well played. You can deliver exciting music on a harmonica through good musicianship and expressive playing. "Harmonicky" playing is sometimes a substitute for playing with musical expression and finesse. Sometimes, also, it's unconscious habit to always bend into certain notes, use hand vibrato where it doesn't belong, etc.

I like to think that when I do give in to the temptation to play "harmonicky" that it's a conscious choice taken when it's musically the right thing to do, and that audiences respond well to it because it's musically exciting or expressive and not just because that's what they expect from a harmonica (I say "not just" because to a certain extent they do expect familiar harmonica characteristics - but how well they like it depends on whether it's a good musical choice).

When I first started playing with the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers, I quickly noticed that some members responded negatively when I played "harmonicky". They made comments (and faces) that seemed to indicate that I was "bluesing up" the music in a inappropriate way - just the sort of bad behavior they expected from some character with a harmonica (Brendan Power sometimes gets similar snarky comments from the Irish music community). So for awhile I was on my best "non-harmonicky" behavior and eventually was accepted. Meanwhile, I learned a new way to approach music: on its own terms, without immediately adding harmonica-specific gimmicks and devices. It broadened my musicianship a lot.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5


--- On Tue, 10/21/08, jazmaan@xxxxxxxxxxx <dmf273@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

<snip>
> That raises another question that I often wonder about.  Do
> audiences WANT and EXPECT the harmonica to sound
> "harmonicky"?   As I get farther and farther away
> from that sound, do I risk alienating listeners by not
> meeting their expectations for what a harmonica SHOULD sound
> like?