[Harp-L] How much is enough?

[Ronnie Schreiber]

I've found that some of my favorite singers are not always exactly on 
pitch. The Grateful Dead's original singer, Rod "Pigpen" McKernan, to my 
ears, was a few cents flat a lot of the time. Not enough to be 
completely off-pitch but enough to make it interesting. I believe that 
we can tolerate a little bit flat more than a little bit sharp, which 
sounds shrill. Here's a good example of Pigpen singing flat on the 
Dead's cover of Hey Jude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0ms_1vkl18
There's a local harp player here in Detroit, I won't mention his name, 
who thinks he's Magic Dick so he does those high bends on just about 
every song, but not quite on pitch, always a little sharp, and he has 
his amp set with treble turned up. Every harp player who hears him 
thinks he's shrill, but the audiences love it. Go figure.