RE: [Harp-L] Diatonic/chromatic

[JersiMuse <jersimuse@xxxxxxxxx>]

Like with JR Ross, it may sound strange, but I do agree with most of your
points.
Your question is a good one : then, why ?
I guess for the same reason which pushed guys to bend notes to play the
Blues (which must have been seen at least as complicated as playing OB/OD
today).
They did it because it was the music they wanted to play. Why not choose the
guitar then ? You could bend notes much more easily. Because the harp was
the instrument they wanted to play.

By the way, I know a lot of harp players whose bends are not good. Nobody
tells them it is because of their instrument, which is not designed to bend
notes.
Another point : I use a specific technic, which considers that an OB/OD
should be done in the exact same position as the opposite bend.
I've never heard any player from the States using this technic, I don't know
why, but I think one can consider that if the harmonica is designed to bend
a draw note, it is also designed to bend a blow note using the exact same
technic, in the exact same tongue position.

To answer your question, to play the kind of Jazz I want to play, you have
to play in all 12 keys. You can not think in terms of position anymore. And
this difference is a huge one (even H. Levy thinks in terms of position, if
I'm not wrong).
My instrument is the harmonica. I don't want to play the saxophone or the
trumpet or whatever.
And my instrument is chromatic, so the rest is a question of work.
Plus when I play with saxophones & trumpets, these guys usually love the
marriage of our timbres. None of them complains about my sound. It is all
the contrary.
So these are my very simple reasons.

Am I good at playing in all 12 keys ? Far from being perfect, but not bad.
Like any saxophone amateur player. Not that much sax players can play well
in E Major. Nobody asks them why they didn't choose the guitar, where E Maj
is simple.
The strange point is that my playing seems to be a problem only for harp
players who don't play chromatically.
In a certain way, they are the only ones who wonder why I'm not Charlie
Parker. But I have admitted long time ago I would never be Charlie Parker,
whatever instrument I choose to play on :-)
Let's say I am as a bad musician as a saxo player who would have spent the
same amount of time on his sax than myself on my harp.

Last but not least :
The guy who climbed the mountain thinks he did it "because it was there".
But the very first reason is because he had the feeling he could make it.
Otherwise he would have stayed home, with no doubt.

I don't try to convince anybody, really, I just try to explain my own
motivations in playing in all 12 keys, in many different scales, on the
instrument I love.

I would like to insist on the fact that I totally respect your opinion as
well as JR Ross' one. There is no bad feeling behind all this.
I know it is not always obvious to express different opinions by email, plus
I'm not very good in written English.

Best regards,

Jerome
www.youtube.com/JersiMuse


-----Message d'origine-----
De : harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] De la part
de Michelle LeFree
Envoyé : lundi 25 avril 2011 20:35
À : harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Objet : Re: [Harp-L] Diatonic/chromatic

I'm trying to word this in a way that conveys my down-home curiosity without
casting any judgments or offending in any way, which is not my intention at
all. I'm really addressing the overblowers amongst us rather than the
half-valvers. The only person I know who claims to be able to play a
half-valved diatonic chromatically is PT Gazell and he is in a class pretty
much all by himself.

Being a strictly diatonic player I have immense respect for those of us who
have embraced the overblow "chromaticity challenge." I personally regard
that goal as the Mt. Everest of playing a 10-hole harmonica. I honor those
who would give the classic Mallory answer to the question of why they go to
extraordinary lengths to climb that "mountain" when they
say: "just because it is there." I can appreciate the beauty in just trying
to do it. I can likewise appreciate the incentive to belong to the rather
exclusive "club" of those who can do it "well."

It's the doing it "well" part that gives rise to some questions in my mind.
Loving all things harmonica as I do, I try ~very~ hard to embrace the
singular efforts and undeniable courage of the many examples of people
posting videos playing the 10-holer in a way that everyone agrees that it
was not designed to play. The problem is I have also listened to renderings
of the same admittedly difficult pieces on instruments that ~were~ designed
to play chromatically. The difference between renderings of some of these
uber-complex jazz tunes by a well-played saxophone and even the most
ambitious efforts by my diatonic playing friends is not only nearly
universally quite apparent but it is, well, a bit humbling. 
IMO, those diatonic players who can truly pull it off are easily counted on
the fingers of one's hand. I don't think any rational person who isn't
completely blinded by bias one way or the other would disagree.

So, I can't help but wonder what drives those of us who aspire to climb that
Mt. Everest of playing a diatonic harmonica chromatically? If it is the
sheer joy of addressing the challenge, then I say "to the fore." If, on the
other hand, it is to truly render (render truly?) those kinds of complicated
jazz music that most of these players seem to aspire to, then I must
honestly ask, why they "handicap" themselves so severely? 
Why not pick up an instrument that really is suited to chromaticity? 
Some might say that they prefer the "voicing" and expression of the diatonic
harp. But, with all due respect, I would contend that overblows/draws in
large measure negate these desirable characteristics of a diatonic
harmonica. In the hands of but a few they sound different and aren't
bendable to the degree that "normal" bends are.

In my own instance, I aspire to play traditional acoustic music like pre-war
blues, bluegrass, ragtime and old-timey music. The diatonic harmonica is
well-suited to this kind of music and that is why I chose it. If I was a
dyed-in-the-wool jazzhead, I'd probably be playing a trumpet, sax or bass. I
guess I'd feel a bit conflicted if the instrument I play weren't designed to
play the kinds of music I love and want to play myself.

So maybe some of you overblowers can shed some light for me.

Humbly and respectfully,

Michelle