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Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2002 06:41:59 -0800
From: "IronMan Mike Curtis"
Subject: RE: ASCII Tab Idea

On 21 Feb 2002, at 10:22, Paxton, Michael wrote:

> An important point is, however, that standard notation is, at the end
> of the day, just another mnemonic device. If it were ideal, musicians
> wouldnt scrawl notes on their sheet. 150 musicians could get together
> with the same sheet music and bang out a quick symphony without the
> involvement of a conductor.

I've seen large ensembles without a conductor. If the drummer,
leader,etc., counts it off or somehow makes sure everyone is in sync,
it can work.

One reason for having a conductor is to keep such a large body of
musicians in sync, and not because of any inherent shortcomings in
SN.

Has SN held music back? I suppose a specious case could be made,
based on some obscure points. The facts are, though, that SN has
actually advanced music by making it freely available to musicians
with a modicum of reading skill. Until the advent of reasonable
fidelity consumer audio gear, sheet music (or direct instruction) was
pretty much the only way to learn new material by others.

These days we have audio gear that accurately conveys the music, so
we can learn by ear. At least those of us possessing GOOD EARS can
do so. There are still a lot of musicians who don't possess good
ears. For these, standard notation is a godsend.

I have always maintained that diatonic harmonica is the easiest
instrument to play, and yet the hardest to play well. The many
complaints about the difficulty of reading in 12 different keys and
the heavy demand for tab are symptoms of both of these points.

> just using a personal experience that sort of involves two of the
> people involved with this discussion: I was trying to teach myself
> some SBW stuff. I was using Glenn's tab/SN of Born Blind. I didnt have
> a harp in the right key (so sue me.. I can only play 1st/2nd so far!)
> Without the S/N (and being able to hear the music playing as I read
> it) I would NEVER have gotten the texture or known when to play.
> Without the tab I would have had a frustrating time working out WHAT
> to play. Together they was a Good Thing

Which further makes my point that tab is a learning tool.

I greatly admire SBWII. He was an amazing harmonica player with
great technique and an excellent feel for the music. He wrote and
played some of the best and tastiest blues harp ever done. However,
he does nothing technically out of the ordinary (as far as what would
be conveyed by SN and/or tab). If you know the notes he played and
the key of the harp he used, that's really all you need, assuming you
know your instrument, because each and every one of those notes is in
just one place, with the singular exception of 2D and 3B. If you're
learning your instument, then yes it is very helpful to have the
instructional "circles and arrows", or whatever form of tab you
favor. If you know your instrument, you know that, on a C harp
played in the SBWII "traditional blues" style, a chord of DGB is
123D, bend is 4D (or 1D if it's in the low octave - it's not
bendable at 8D), etc.

In the recording studio there is no harp tab. In fact, most of the
time there are no harp charts at all. Arrangers assume we can't read
music. What happens most of the time on "first calls" is that
someone will hum the harmonica part to us. (You should see the big
eyed looks I've gotten by asking for the "harmonica chart" :-)

This raises the question of how many more sessions would harmonica
players get if they knew we could read standard notation?

IronMan Mike Curtis - http://www.mp3.com/IronmanCurtis "I never knew
that such virtuosity and capriciousness could come out of a (diatonic)
harmonica." Classical violinist Len Czarnowski on "Moulin Rouge"
Hear it at http://www.IronmanCurtis.com/MoulinRougeLoFi.mp3