Date: Wed, 16 May 2001 02:40:59 -0400 From: "glen~lbany.net" Subject: Re: boast or confession
> I'm one of Popper's fans, and listening to his wild, free soloing has > inspired me to loosen up a little myself and just let fly every once in > a while. > > That aside, whenever I encounter an artist that's got a big following, > and whose work leaves me completely cold, I try to understand what it is > about that person's playing that appeals to so many people. ("People > are stupid" is not the right answer. Nor is "All that guy's fans are on > drugs," which one member of this list proposed a while ago as the key to > Popper's popularity.) There must be something there worth hearing if so > many people want to hear it, and I want to know what it is, even if I > don't care to use it. > > Thanks, Richard Hunter > - -- > Popper has always inspired some of the most spirited discussions here, I must say. Yngwie Maalmsteen and other shred guitarists had many fans also; I consider Popper a "shred" harp player. I believe he gets that speed because he bases a lot of his playing on fast 3-4 hole slides. But the problem with this is that it creates what is called in music theory disjunct motion-too many leaps and not enough stepwise motion, which doesn't sound as good to the ear as music with more steps. I don't believe he could get that speed if he had to alternate breath direction more of the time. In any genre you will have a certain balance of step and leaps in the melody. You can analyze jazz, blues, country and folk and find similar balances. Seems to me Popper uses the gimmick of slides/disjunct motion to achieve the very fast shred effect. I don't care for it, and I think it's bad music for the reasons given above, but I must emphasize it's all a matter of taste in the end. I can play fiddle tunes on the harp at fast tempos that I think make for much better listening because the balance of steps and leaps in the melody is preserved, but those tunes are not that fast. When you see my transcription of Sugar Blue's "Little Red Rooster", you'll see he uses the same device, but more sparingly and more carefully. He must have copped it from Popper.
