[Harp-L] Tunes that I Perform

["Harmonicology [Neil Ashby]" <harmonicology@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Doug et al:

I intended to add that "racism" and language are two separate issues.

I would be considered to be racist by many people (and have no objection to that characterization), but my studies of language are a separate issue.

The music identified as "blues" is not always depressing or sad; Walter Horton's Shuffle actually seems to RISE in pitch at nearly each measure and there is nothing sad sounding in the entire tune; I was thus considering some alternative reason to "sadness" for the name "blues" and that alternative connected to the old dialect adopted by Negro musicians. In fact, the word "blews" while rarely used these days is actually an acceptable past-tense of the verb "blows".

/Neil (" http://thebuskingproject.com/busker/2025/ ")

----- Forwarded message from "Harmonicology [Neil Ashby]" <harmonicology@xxxxxxxxxxxx> -----

Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 14:40:04 +0000
Subject: Tunes that I Perform
To: "harp-l" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Doug Schroer" <dougharps@xxxxxxxxx>

I usually play popular tunes in the 1st and 2nd position i.e. "Smile", "King of the Road", "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover", "Amazing Grace", et cetera. Those are tunes that the public enjoys around Harvard Square in Cambridge MA.

As for the comments pertaining to my use of that old dialect then I would suggest that many expressions in the common vernacular are traceable back to misusage; the country of Norway was likely so named because of sailors (often drunk and near toothless) mispronouncing of "North Way" as "Nor'way". Also in sailing then the "gunnel" [gunwale] was likely the corruption of "gun wall". There are hundreds of such examples.

Corruption of language via misusage is exactly the way the common vernacular developed and there is no reason for the explanation to become detached from its roots because of hysterical claims of "racism".

/Neil (" http://thebuskingproject.com/busker/2025/ ")