Re: [Harp-L] Re: Theory, or are there pro harp players who etc.

[David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I rate musicians purely on skill, not if they are professional, because fame is 
in no way synonomous with talent, nor is talent synonomous with fame. So I will 
talk about good musicianship. Good players know theory, even if they can't 
always write a thesis on the subject. Case in point, my grandpa came up with 
cross harp on his own back in the 1950s. He carried a Marine Band D in his 
guitar case, he used the 1 draw to tune the E string on his guitar. He noticed 
that when he played the 1-2-3 notes together he got an A chord. He reasoned if 
he could play an A chord on the harmonica, he could play it in the key of A. 
Thus, grandpa independently discovered cross harp. I've always thought that was 
really interesting, as here was a situation where he had no knowledge of cross 
harp, had never seen one played that way, yet he came up with it and played it. 
I imagine that the mysterious 19th century origins of cross harp are very 
similar to that, people applying their knowledge of theory in that way to create 
something that would revolutionize the instrument. Grandpa was an excellent 
player, surrounded himself with excellent musicians, one of his bandmates (Bill 
Duncan) was plucked to be one of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass boys and had a 
successful professional band in his own right, the Laurel Mountain Boys 
(Slipping Banjo and Onalee are a couple of the LMB tunes that became standards). 
Bill D. was with Monroe in 1957 and 1960 and was reluctant about even joining 
the Bluegrass Boys in the first place, because he could make more money working 
in manufacturing. Some of the world's best players never went pro for that very 
reason. My grandpa was certainly among them. 

Of course they knew theory. They all played numerous instruments, grandpa played 
fiddle, mandolin, harmonica and guitar.. they all picked up a bit of theory from 
each instrument and in the natural musicial discourse musicians have with one 
another. Everybody played rhythm guitar, which is an excellent tool for learning 
theory. Nobody had a bass back then, so if you had two guitars, one was running 
a bassline, ones and fives, etc. with runs in between. 

One theory story that comes to mind is one Bill Duncan told me, from when he was 
playing on the Grand Ol' Opry with Bill Monroe and gets back to the original 
question of pro players, I suppose. George Jones was just offstage and he and 
Bill D. were talking. Monroe kicks off a tune, and Bill D. slaps a capo on his 
guitar, but puts it in the wrong place. So instead of Bb, I think it was, Bill 
D. was playing in B. Monroe picks up on this quickly and switches to picking in 
B. Kenny Baker, kept playing fiddle in Bb. 

Now Bill Duncan thinks Monroe is going to kill him when they go offstage and 
Monroe was absolutely furious. But instead of yelling at Bill D., he directs all 
his rage at Kenny Baker. "I pay you to be the world's best musicians," Monroe 
scoffed. "When he started playing that guitar in B, you should have fallen in 
right with him." 

He never said a word to Bill D. about slapping on the capo in the wrong place. A 
misplaced capo was a forgivable sin. Not instantly transposing a song into 
another key was not. If you wanted to be a Bluegrass Boy, you had to know theory 
(which I'm sure Baker did) AND instantly apply it. 



David
www.elkriverharmonicas.com 
www.facebook.com/pages/Elk-River-Harmonicas/143747822356030