Re: [Harp-L] Re: solo harmonica competition

[Cara Cooke <cyberharp@xxxxxxxxx>]

Design the contest however you prefer.  You will always be testing
different skills as you change the way in which the contest is conducted.

This idea is applied in the bluegrass world to the stringed instruments
with similar results.  For example:

   1. If the judges are facing the stage and can see the contestant, they
   may judge by what they see as well as by what they hear and can be put off
   or impressed by the stage performance.  If showmanship is part of the
   judging, this is a good idea.  If only the playing is to be judged, then it
   may be a better idea to have the judges face away or listen in a secluded
   room.  In the case of harmonicas, this would also prevent someone from
   being overly impressed by the way in which someone switched harmonicas or
   overblew to get extra notes.
   2. When players of any instrument play solo, they may have an
   opportunity to exaggerate their timing more than when they have an
   accompanist.  Of course, some exaggerated timing may actually be a sign of
   an inability to keep time, which is true with many harmonica players, so
   playing with an accompanist will help them rather than hurt, and any
   intended exaggerations would need to be planned (and so obviously
   intended).  Anyone who cannot keep time or fails to listen to their
   accompanist would then be obvious.
   3. Accompanists can hurt their contestants if they, themselves, are not
   good musicians or they play too much in backing their contestant, hurting
   their contestant's performance.  You can include a judgement on the
   accompanist in the ratings or remarks when you judge the contestant's
   performance.
   4. Solo performance is unnerving to many.  You often will get better
   performances when they have someone to lean on, like their accompanist.
   Simply having someone else on the stage keeping time can help them perform
   better.

If you wanted an all-around contest you could include the following
features:

   1. one solo performance: choice
   2. one solo/accompanied slow song  (melodic or obvious melody preferred)
   3. one solo/accompanied fast song   (melodic or obvious melody preferred)
   4. one show-stopper (where the showmanship is demonstrated) where the
   judges would have to turn around to see the performance

Most instrumental contests have some version of the first three (one slow,
one fast, one choice -- with the option to have an accompanist or play
solo).  That gives the choice to the contestant and removes the
responsibility of whether it was fair or unfair from the judges.  Some also
put the judges out of sight which cuts out the subjective stage presence
('and he's so young', 'and she's really cute when she plays', etc.) which
sometimes plague contests.  If the contestants only have numbers and no
names and do not announce their own tunes, then you can keep a certain
amount of anonymity for the contestants until the results are tallied --
another plague for contests.  (One contestant I accompanied won her
contest, beating a better, more skilled player.  The other player played
plain standards very well and took 2nd.  She played difficult tunes to the
best of her ability, but she was barely an intermediate player, and took
1st.  However, the judges knew she had only been playing for a short time.)

When you play a contest, you are gambling that whatever you have to show
that day will be what the judges were seeking.  If you can surprise the
judges, you may appear to have an unfair advantage or you may shoot
yourself in the foot.  Nothing is carved in stone.  Yesterday's champ can
be today's second run.  So it may not be constructive to worry too much
about how to make the contest fair beyond the obvious.  Just do the best
you can to limit undesirable influences to the judges and give the players
the option on how they wish to present themselves musically.  State the
rules and intentions up front so that the players have an idea of what will
be expected by the judges and let them find a way to meet them.

Cara Cooke
http://harmonica2.tripod.com
http://manchacaallstars.tripod.com


On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 12:59 PM, michael rubin <
michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Ultimately a contest is a performance.  For most people, a performance
> is about entertaining the audience.  Allowing these contestants to put
> on their best performance is what is should be about.  Otherwise, if
> it is truly about the contest, hold it in your basement with the
> performers and the judges only.
> Michael Rubin
> Michaelrubinharmonica.com
>
> On Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 5:29 AM, Michael Parker <mscottparker@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
> > My initial thought on the whole subject was that bringing your own
> accompaniment can be an unfair advantage when being judged on your harp
> playing ability.  If one guy brings significantly better backup than
> another, his sound will be inevitably better, perhaps even if he is the
> less skilled of the two harp players.  I simply wondered at the possibility
> of leveling the playing field.
> >
> >
> > One of the comments in this thread, however, made me realize that a
> harmonica's tone almost always sounds better with other instruments and,
> even more so, a harmonica player has a much higher chance of sounding bad
> alone.  To hold a competition forcing players to go it alone would
> certainly bring about more than a couple minutes of unpleasantness.  And
> you have a point, Mike, that playing with live music does test a particular
> set of skills in your interaction with other musicians.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >>________________________________
> >> From: Mike Fugazzi <mikefugazzi@xxxxxxxxx>
> >>To: Michael Parker <mscottparker@xxxxxxxxx>
> >>Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 12:46:27 PM
> >>Subject: Re: solo harmonica competition
> >>
> >>I don't see how no accompaniment would bring out more virtuosos.
> >>Technical mastery displayed in the context of playing with others is
> >>much more impressive to me then solo.  Would that no imply a greater
> >>technical mastery than playing alone?
> >>
> >>I would say playing solo or to prerecorded music would be the least
> >>advantageous way to demonstrate virtuoso behavior as it pertains to
> >>playing harmonica.  Using the same mastery over live music would be
> >>the best as it is the trickiest.
> >>
> >>On Feb 22, 6:01 pm, Michael Parker <mscottpar...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>> It seems that a lot of players prefer to play their harp with other
> instruments and having a competition disallowing accompaniment would
> alienate that group.  I just wonder if disallowing accompaniment would
> bring out the real virtuosos?
> >>>
> >>
> >>
>
>