[Harp-L] Reading Music

["Aongus Mac Cana" <amaccana@xxxxxxxxxx>]

This thread has turned a few interesting corners. Do I detect a slight whiff
of "how does a guy think he can do the blues if he has trained with the
Boston Philharmonic"?
The late Sean Maguire was the alltime great of Irish Traditional Fiddling
(at least to me and to several thousand others) However he was "polluted" as
far as some of the trad purists were concerned because he had suffered a
sound training in classical violin. This left him with very professional and
proficient bowing technique and the ability to play any tune in a variety of
difficult keys (or keys unplayable to lesser mortals). Some "tradophiles"
claim to be able to detect within two or three bars whether a would-be trad
musician - on any instrument - has learned a tune from the sheet music or
from the more acceptable and pure method of aural "osmosis from the culture"
By the way I have been told by a few trustworthy sources that the late Larry
Adler (who I regard as the Sean Maguire of the Chromatic Harmonica) could
not read music. I find this hard to believe and presume they meant that he
just was not an accomplished sight reader. Has anyone else heard this
vicious libel?
Beannachtai
Aongus Mac Cana