Re: [Harp-L] Re: Let's talk Little Walter and Rubato

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Rubato literally means robbed. If the accompaniment is going at a steady tempo and you sing a note longer than it usually lasts, you're now behind. The way to catch up is to "rob" time from the note that follows.

I don't think that's what is being discussed in regard to Walter. Rubato is a note-by-note phenomenon and tends to happen with predefined melodies (although you could certainly create the impression of rubato when improvising). Walter did tend to add and subtract beats when he played -he does it in aty least two places in Juke. 

If you reduced it to arithmetic, you cousl start with 2+2 =4.

Rubato might instead change 2+2 to something like 2.7 + 1.3.

Walter on the other hand, might say (or just play without saying anything in advance), "I wanna play 6 instead of 4 - Hey guys, follow me." or, "I'm playing 3+3+2+2 - Does that add up? Hell, I dunno, just try and all come out in the same place."

Winslow Yerxa

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

--- On Wed, 7/1/09, HTownFess <Spschndr@xxxxxxx> wrote:

From: HTownFess <Spschndr@xxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Re: Let's talk Little Walter
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 8:02 AM

Is this rhythmic feel what is called rubato?  I'm not showing off, but
trying to confirm the usage, which I first noticed in Jerry Wexler's
autobiography, when he talked about Willie Nelson's singing and
likened it to Sinatra's in that regard, IIRC.  The Wikipedia entry has
some interesting quotations on the topic from the classical field.

On Jun 30, 10:20 pm, Icema...@xxxxxxx wrote:
> This is playing free of the metric time while being responsible to  it.
>
> Once you have the feel of the groove and the tempo engraved in your soul,  
> you have the ability to ignore them and phrase however you wish, as long as  
> you are able to catlike land on your feet.
>
> This truly feels like flying and is a very addictive endeavor - careful not
>  to overdo it....
>
> In a message dated 6/30/2009 9:31:41 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
>
> billross...@xxxxxxxxx writes:
>
> The  thing that always fascinated me about Little Walter is that his
> measures  didn't always lay perfectly over the top of the measures being
> played.  Sometimes he was a half measure ahead and sometimes he was a
> couple beats  behind. But, harmonically, it fit. I've heard a lot of jazz
> vocalists do  this as well. You really have to feel it rather than try to
> count it. It's  like that secret spice that brings a recipe to life and
> captivates the  taste buds.
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