Re: [Harp-L] Diatonic/chromatic

[Sam Friedman <sammyasher@xxxxxxxxx>]

Actually... it IS a question of technique. Because if you continue to work
on it, you get better. Exactly your point.... the harmonica won't change
(past a certain point of tweaking), so it is the individual that can
improve.

On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 9:54 AM, jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> Jerome writes:
>
> "my instrument is chromatic, the rest is a question of work."
>
> But that's the crux of this debate.  The diatonic harmonica is not
> chromatic, not in the same way as most other instruments would define it.
>  It's not a matter of effort or technique, it's a matter of mechanics.  And
> that can't change.
>
> As for other musicians liking it, again, I think that's actually more a
> part of the ghetto effect.  Oh look, a harmonica can kind of play this
> stuff.  Isn't that cool.  Yeah, but it's not exactly the same as real
> respect.  Someone like Larry Adler was often dismissed by the isn't that
> cool effect until he actually played and showed that he could manage to meet
> the same standards as other instruments, otherwise he would have eternally
> been stuck in the ghetto of isn't-that-cool.  It seems to me that if you
> want to play chromatic music on a diatonic, the goal should be to meet the
> standards that exist for other instruments, not lower them down into the
> isn't-that-cool world.  And perhaps it can be done, but I would argue that
> rather than ignoring positional usage, alternate tunings, etc... These need
> to be a major part of the effort.
>
> And yes, I know I've said this all before, but i guess I just like hearing
> myself talk (no surprise there to anyone whose been on the list a while).
>
>
> JR Ross
>