[Harp-L] Re: Are there pro harp players who do not know theory?

[Wim Dijkgraaf <w.dijkgraaf@xxxxxx>]

Hi Michael,

It appears that we are today in the same "energy field" ... that is I just published a post on my Effortless Harmonica blog called "capabilities".

The first attempt for me make an overview of material considered to be important to grasp, categorized at the three different capability levels "beginner", "intermediate", "advanced".

You'll find the page at http://www.effortlessharmonica.com/harmonica-how-to-play/capabilities/

Your question: "Are there any pros on the list who really can honestly say they do not know what I am talking about when I say: ... etc."

Well, to some degree I think (you probably think the same as I do) your question is easy to answer. If PRO means that you earn money by making music ... well then their are plenty of players out there that make money with music without knowing a lot about musical theory. And that's fine of course. Everybody has the right to make money with whatever he feels is his "aim" or "purpose" in life.

Personally, I think it is really very important to be able to read music and to know (as much as possible about) musical theory (and after all, there is not that much to know, compared to many other professions). Why? Because in the end creating your own unique "sound" / "voice" is all about creating a good musical taste that is highly personal and based on a combination of knowledge and intuition. Creating that own taste and your own sound is a matter of really listening a lot and creating indepth knowledge of what it is that you hear in order for you to determine why other players/bands/music styles/composers sound like they do. So it helps a lot if you are able to transcribe (turn a recorded track into written music), analyse (find words and reason for what you see on paper and hear on the recording) and make good decisions on which direction to take yourself.

I realize that this is true from the perspective of jazz, improvised music, classical music, brazilian music (many more styles). Having said this, there are a lot of styles and types of music out there that is not about the music / the style / the sound itself but much more about the "experience" or the "creation of an illusion" like "stardom", "being an artist", "sexyness", "crazyness", "..." ; in other words filling whatever emotional gap there exist in the lives of their fans. If that's the case, then I think real knowledge about music can even harm the development or sustainablity of an artist (purposely not using the word ego here ;--) ).

Hope you have a look at the overview I mentioned above and please let me know if their are crucial things missing.

Warm regards,

Wim