[Harp-L] Re: Old Time Harmonica (Rick Dempster)

[Rick Epping <rickepping@xxxxxxxxx>]

One interesting thing that came out of the Celtic Roots of Southern Music
conference I attended recently in Atlanta was that all the academics there
were in agreement that the vast majority of Southern Mountain fiddle tunes
are Southern in origin, largely from descendants of Scots and Ulster Irish
settlers.  The African syncopation that infuses some of these tunes is said
to date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the popularity
and influence of ragtime.

Folk music is ever evolving and ever influenced by its cultural
environment.  For instance, many of the tunes in Edward Bunting's
collection of Irish harp music, dating back to the late 18th century, have
a distinctly baroque flavor.  And most of the jigs, reels and hornpipes
played today in Ireland date back only to the 19th and 20th centuries.

Best regards,
Rick

p.s. Nice playing, Bart!


On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 3:11 AM, <harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Wed, 30 May 2012 10:20:50 +1000
> From: Rick Dempster <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Old Time Harmonica
> To: "Joseph Leone" <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>, <knuppel@xxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Message-ID: <4FC5F3FE.7C8A.0066.1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>
> You call that 'Celtic' Joe? OK...Irish/Scots roots maybe, but the US
> derivative is quite a different beast in my book. To me, US southern string
> music is whites  trying to sound like pre-civil war blacks trying to sound
> to sound like
> whites playing music from the 'old countries'. Not only is the rhythm
> completely different, but, with a few exceptions, the tunes are either
> completely new or have morphed into something entirely new.
> 'Soldiers Joy' and 'Fishers Hornpipe' are, for example, tunes that
> were/are played here in Oz, and don't sound much different from renditions
> in the US or Ireland, but a lot of the US stuff has been suffused with the
> African tinge so that you'd have a hard time connecting it with the old
> country. Then again, other than just pointing to the Afro thing, there is a
> general spirit too, that entered that music, that is simply 'American'.
> Charles Frazier's excellent novel 'Cold Mountain' devotes some space to
> this; worth a read for anyone interested; which probably doesn't include
> you Joe, as you have too much of that European sophistication to like such
> lowdown stuff, unlike an Aussie bogan such as
> Yours truly,
> RD
>
> >>> Joseph Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx> 29/05/2012 10:31 >>>
> Nothing negative possible. I have to be honest. I am not a fan of Celtic
> music so if I thought this was stupendous, it must be stupendous. Do you
> find the breathing easier in first OR second positions. I'm being serious
> here.
>
> smo-joe
>
> On May 28, 2012, at 4:09 AM, Bart van Strien wrote:
>
> > Hi, I'm Bart and a newbie to Harp-L. I play banjo and on
> > occasion hca with the Blue Grass Boogiemen from the
> > Netherlands. I expect it will be nice to talk to & hear
> > from other harmonica-enthousiasts. And maybe even some
> > players that are into old-time or bluegrass as well.
> >
> > I recently uploaded 2 old-time tunes on Youtube. It would
> > be really great to get some feedback or reactions (even
> > negative ;-)) from you guys. Ye know, so that I don't get
> > the feeling I'm alone in the dark :-) Here's the links if
> > you're interested:
> >
> > Harmonica - Give The Fiddler A Dram:
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F04dkjo36WQ
> > Harmonica - Sandy Boys
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dOzK8ey8E8
> >
> > Hope you like em, cheers!
> > Bart van Strien
> >
>
>
>