Although I agree with your sentiments about competitiveness don't disregard the benefits of the HPC3 Challenge. The main challenge is to yourself, to get your music out there.
A lot of us need some incentive to knuckle down and improve on the skills we learn here and elsewhere. If the opportunity to join in with likeminded players wasn't there, a lot of us wouldn't have improved by as much as we have. (or at least tried to).
Technology allows us to get our playing out there. It is a bit nerve wracking at first but believe me it gives you a real kick to think that other people can enjoy that which you have tried so hard to get right.
I don't think there have been any negative comments in the previous HPC's. Everyone on here is really supportive and tries to give as much encouragement as possible.
I don't mind you bringing it up. I am really struggling with why people "perform" as opposed to "play". I'd love to hear people's thoughts on that. I don't seem to have that performance gene when it comes to music though I am not generally shy and can speak, teach, act without an issue. One person (a local musician) even called me selfish for not sharing my music.
I guess I'd feel better about getting my feet wet if we had a "here is who I am" thread where we could post our playing. And I'd want a promise from Buddha that he wouldn't send out his attack dogs. Please don't take that in a bad way anyone.
Is there a way to change your user name? I am tired of addict. donaleen
No, unfortunately you can't change your username you can just reregister.
I'm also somehow getting tired of my username. Calling myself German was more of a joke (I'm german and french but don't feel particularly german). And harpist... well, I actually wanted to call myself GermanHarmonist but was kinda intoxicated when I opened my YT account and accidentally called myself Harpist. I didn't mind at first but then Zhin pointed out, and I somehow have to agree with him, that harpist somehow sounds like rapist. ... hmm.
Well, GermanHarpist... I'll stick with it for now.
---------- germanharpist on YT. =;-) - Resonance is KEY!!
Last Edited by on Jan 07, 2010 2:36 PM
"here is who I am" Great Idea donaleen. There is an "Introduce Yourself" ( I think ) thread somewhere but it doesn't really cover your playing. Why don't you just start one, there are a lot of us that would join in.
Regarding your addict username. You could just reapply to Adam again and let the addict one lapse. (I think). ----------
I don't know if there is an easy way to do it with the tools Adam has available, but a page listing the members would be really cool.
People can add link to their stuff on their map pin, and down the left side you can click on the different names and it will pull them up, but they aren't in any particularly useful order. They are just in the order people added themselves to the map. I think in theory you could even embed a video onto the pop-up for your pin.
(Shameless map plug. I know we have people on here from Australia, the Philippines and Mexico, but no pins for them yet.)
Last Edited by on Jan 07, 2010 4:17 PM
Being a gal on these harp boards can be intimidating.I also play for fun,not competition.The harp sings for me so i can express my feelings.To be judged one should understand where you come from.Wail on addict!
Thanks, Tooka, I certainly don't mind you bringing this up. The intention of my earlier post was to put another poster at ease regarding uploading. I am eager to upload more stuff as well as an entry in the challenge. My only barrier is time. This coming week I'll have some and i will record much.
Thanks for asking! ---------- http://www.youtube.com/1shanester
addict wrote! I do find this forum intimidating because there is a competitive edge. Playing harmonica is not a competitive thing to me. I am not interested in contests. I am not interested in judging harp players, or at least not in writing my judgments.
To me it is all about balance, i like getting constructive criticism as it helps me to improve, but at the end of the day, if i like what i have done and feel i have done well to my ability , it doesn't matter what other people think, because i feel secure in my ability, and have enough belief in my self, if it wasn't for me putting my playing out on to the internet, i wouldn't be where i am today, so many lovely,lovely, decent harp folk that have helped me along the way, good friends made, only a few nasty sad people i have come across, like the notorious Christelle competitive with balance is a good thing,keeps us striving for more out of our selfs :-) ---------- Lindy Harper
Speaking of Gals my wife was out for the evening so just had 2 hours of woodshedding...it was great. I find to practice I need to be alone so that I can just let it happend...anyone elso like that? Also stumbled upon this video and thought I would share. This Gal sound fine!
gmacleod- nice find. She could be miked a little better but she's got a great sound.
If you want to experiment with embedding stuff, remember, you can always edit your first post. That's how I usually do it. This place would be buried in posts if I made a separate post each time I had to figure out how to embed something, but then I usually have to figure out embedding each time I do it.
Q4: I think there are instruments preferrably played by men, others by women. I know a few female oboe players, not even a single male though. Girls make the majority of piano students, while boys do so in guitar classes. Harmonica is an instruments mostly played by men.
My two cents, you should never go to a harmonica board to meet girls.
There are a few on various boards, but, as a rule, they don't post often. Anytime they do, the hounds cirle with their tongues hanging out and tails waggin'. I'm probably as bad as any anytime Hermine Deurloo is mentioned.
---------- www.elkriverharmonicas.com
Last Edited by on Jan 14, 2010 6:46 AM
lindyharper, I checked out one of your vids on youtube. You have a cool sound. My wife thought so too. Good use of space.
Last Edited by on Jan 14, 2010 1:58 PM
Pimpinella- I wouldn't use the word 'preferably', maybe 'preferred by'. You're right though. When I was in band in middle school as a kid the girls played the French Horns and woodwinds, except the saxophones. The boys played the trumpets, trombones, baritones, saxophones and drums. Some of it had to do with size. There aren't too many middle school aged girls who can carry around a baritone (in fact I was a pretty big guy for my age and it was tough for me!) I think at that age girls and guys are still pretty awkward with each other, so maybe they take an instrument where there are already more of their own, as it were.
Of course the harmonica shouldn't be a gender specific instrument for those reasons. Maybe it's all us horn-dogs running around? I don't know. Since the women on here are harmonica players they may not know why more women don't play. Any ideas?
I used to go to an open mic. For a long time there was one woman who went out of her way to drag other female musicians up play. Even at the peak though, women performers were still in the minority.
Elk- For the most part I think we've been very restrained in this thread. :)
Great vid, Addict. Here they are. That's real interesting. Looks like a Broadway stage, and done in the very infancy of talking pictures. That little bit tells a lot about how girls are supposed to play music in good society, and how they are represented doing so : nicely dressed and not a single personality standing out.
Hi everyone! If I may, I'd like to add to this interesting discussion...
I am a female harp player, guitar player, and vocalist in a blues/rock band called Double Barrel. I have been playing blues harp professionally since the age of fourteen.
Give a listen: www.doublebarrelblues.com www.myspace.com/thedoublebarrelbluesband www.myspace.com/ericablinn
Also check out the Columbus Blues Alliance http://www.colsbluesalliance.org
I was at a bluegrass jam this weekend and about 3/4 of the stand up bass players were women. I have no idea why this is,but it seems prevalent in bluegrass.Couldn't find any harp players of either gender there.
I tried some bluegrass jams at one point because there are a lot of them around here. Many of the bluegrass players believe harmonicas don't belong in bluegrass. In general, bluegrass players seemed to be a rule bound bunch, which is unusual in Portland.
Todd,I'm in Pittsburgh. This one was cool. They take over a Days Inn for the weekend. They have bands playing all day in a big conference room.But the real fun is in the rooms. People jamming everywhere. You just walk the halls until you find an open door and you listen. There's a certain etiquette about sitting in and I have to feel out the musician's to know if it's cool to sit in. Mostly I just jam with some friends but other musicians stray in if you're playing.I really wish they had something like this for blues,but haven't found any yet. @addict- yes,bluegrass players are pretty rule bound. I really lay back until they know I can contribute something. The few harp players I've met are 1st position players,which I find rather limiting at times.I dragged along my Champ 600 to be able to cut through those loud banjos and mandolins. Not loud,just enough clean amplification to cut through.
Someone pointed me to this page and I felt compelled to join and write. I do not subscribe to blogs as a rule because I simply do not have the time. But this question is age old and so sincere. The reason that you do not see many women in the blues is because men still control the industry.... it is that simple. I have had many discussions with my contemporaries about this... some of the most rousing with Ann Rabson of Saffire fame, and it always comes down to this.
There were always women in the blues - Memphis Minnie, Big Mama Thorton, Mary Lou Willaims. But Ann and I came up in a very strange time when many of them had been lost due to lack of support. Things are much better for women now than they were when we came up. Women in those days had to be better, work harder and longer to be noticed. We had to be "nicer", "cooler", be a "guys gal" once we convinced them we could play - just be allowed to hang around. It was expected that you could turn a dirty joke at the right time and to swear like a sailor to maintain the male dominated sanctity of the bus ride. And sometimes we had to hold back as musicians.... maybe not play as hard in order not to bruise egos. (They liked you well enough as a side show but you didn't dare have anyone think that you were better than them!)
Unfortunately, men with money have always run the music industry...! If a chick was marginally talented and way hot... she got the job. So women that could really play were relegated to secondary roles or treated as anomalies. Women who could play had to contend with those who thought it was "unlady-like, the boys club attitude from fellow musicians, an industry that didn't support them - paid them less cake and listeners that didn't listen hard enough to "get" the nuance that women bring to the blues.
Now much of this oppression continues today and therein lies your answer. But the Internet, blues societies and the women's movement have loosened the grip somewhat for today's players. Hope this sheds some light on this issue for you.
Some great female players are drummer LaFrae Sci, Deborah Colman-gtr, Carol Moog -harp and the French woman, Kat Baloun. Last time I spoke with Ola she was still in NYC - just not playing much.
I thank those who took the time to acknowledge my playing for their kind words. And I encourage all players, especially women, to just keep at it and follow your Harp!
I was going out with woman that played harmonica and went to meet her one day and she said,"is that a four octave chromatic in your pocket or are you just glad to see me"
Thank you for writing that Big Nancy. Most men have no idea. Or just like how it is. There is so much of it even in this thread.
You said "Unfortunately, men with money have always run the music industry...! If a chick was marginally talented and way hot... she got the job. So women that could really play were relegated to secondary roles or treated as anomalies. Women who could play had to contend with those who thought it was "unlady-like, the boys club attitude from fellow musicians, an industry that didn't support them - paid them less cake and listeners that didn't listen hard enough to "get" the nuance that women bring to the blues.'
Makes me think of the old saying that women would rather be good looking because men can see better than they can think (hear)... when it comes to their perception of women
Last Edited by on Jan 27, 2010 9:35 AM
It may be a good time for women to grab some stage time. I'm not sure anyone is running the music industry right now. Sure, there are still record deals, but if you know some mixing and have some computer skills the tools are out there to promote yourselves without a label.
Even at the local open mic I used to go to women were under-represented, and all you had to do to perform was sign up. For a while there was a woman who really pushed other women to get up and perform. The numbers went up, but when she moved to NYC the numbers dropped again. It may go beyond just who controls the music biz. I think we guys are encouraged to try to be the center of attention.
There you have it addict.... I have been altered... adapted as it were to the male psyche and so my male adaptation laughed at Diggsblues' joke.
However, my female ego wonders what of his comment was appropriate to follow my riff. Was this an attempt at levity or a deliberate attempt to put me down. And I walk away thinking the latter. But as I am a tough old bird with a tremendous love of, and faith in men it doesn't bother me personally. I am disturbed and concerned, however, at those that don't get it... and who perpetuate the inequality.
I think it is important to mention that I am not bashing here and hope that our sisters refrain from using these forums for that. I only told it as I see it in the cause of understanding.
Now let's get out our harps and have some fun.... I'm going to play with Robert Ross tomorrow at Alor on Staten Island.... anybody in?
Last Edited by on Jan 27, 2010 11:49 AM
nacoran is right it is a good time for women to take a shot!
Women may be a little more reluctant for many reasons. As a rule we lack the bravado of you big strong harpers and consider that it is much harder for a woman to walk into a club by herself. This is especially true if she is attractive and has had bad experiences in the past.
Next time you are at a jam or in a situation like this take a deeper look into the dynamic and see if you can witness what we females are talking about.... Maybe you will be able to help bridge the gap!
Big Nancy- Public bravado has never been my strong suit; most of the time I'm one of the wallflowers. I've watched attractive female performers get swarmed by all the guys after a show. I think there is a mix of reasons. I think guys see a female performer and look around. They count the musicians in the room, 10 men, 1 woman, I better get over there! And of course, the other 9 guys do the same thing.
You mention that attractive women get ahead, but to be fair, there are a lot of boy bands that get famous on looks too. As for it being hard for women to go into a jam session alone I think the solution is to drag a friend. Guys do it all the time.
I've known lots of guys who really encourage their buddies to get up and play, but I've only met one woman out at a jam who really went out of her way to find the people who were too scared to get up on stage and get them up on stage. And she had pretty good results.
PS- Of course, the guys frequently encourage you to go up by telling you not to be a 'fraidy-cat and calling out. I think that kind of behavior is encouraged more in guys. It can be really annoying, but it does work.
Guys, we're are talking in generalities here.... and many is the time that I have had to take a big strapping guy by the hand and coax him out on stage! Forgive me for lumping you all in together to make a point.
This thing with women runs deeper than you might think.... As children we are encouraged into different fields... fashion, dance, cooking, horses, etc. My brother got a new sexy 1964 Fender Jazzmaster Lake Placid Blue....and when I said that I wanted one of those --- I was handed an accordion. Mind you this was long before Zydeco had made it's way to the North East radio stations!
That said you are absolutely right that there is no excuse for women not to take advantage of all of the opportunities. And in so much as I found some hard times, I found some men who were very encouraging to me - among these were Johnny Clyde Copeland, Sonny Rhodes, and especially A. C. Reed. There were local guys as well.
When convincing someone to perform my method is slightly different... I ask "what is the worse that can happen?" The answer usually involves making an ass of oneself... to which I reply, "So what, we generally do that at least once a day.... and it is not nearly as much fun!"
P. S. ...and when you are not so keen to see her Diggs? Diatonic? Great talking to you guys... gotta go!
Hey Big Nanc,Its great to see you on the forum,when I read this a few weeks back I just had to let the fellas,and ladies know about you and your commitment to people and your talent on the harp.I know you don,t get caught up in alot of the technical stuff,amps,mics,etc but after,knowing you and playing with you on and off for alot of yrs,its obvious with the pipes that you possess and your 57,many a man wish that they could blow like you.I put a thread on here last week about dry mouth at a Copeland show(Stanhope) after taking antihistimine for a cold and you were my savior,and brought me up a brewsky,pronto.I,ll never forget that one girl,All The Best,Judge
Rory Block, an unbelievably talented country blues/acoustic/slide player who tours incessantly. Her last two CDs were tributes to Robert Johnson and Son House.
Candye Kane, a formerly big girl who can belt out some serious blues. She has some great hokum tunes in the vein of The Uppity Blues Women.
BTW isn't learning the blues about encouragement and support? Let's be friendly to the few women that do stop by. After all the blues were originally African American music, so who are we to decide who plays them?
Hi Sister Big-N WOW!! was a lucky little Aussie dog not only did i get to Talk To Kat Bloun at My Local Blues Jam Night Newcastle Australia,,she got up wowed the crowd well Blew them away had full respect and command of the House band Stella performance,,and Honking through a Green Bullet it was the first time i had seen a Pro Female player perform and her tone was impressive,,she now lives in Germany doing the Blues Festivals over there and was over hear visiting inlaws Guess she needed to get them Mother & Father inlaw blues out in the open,,and Big Muma thorton was the first Female artist i got to hear via CD I love all lady Harmonicist for all the right reasons,,how do i get to listen to you have you got CD's im up for some and any other female Harmonicists give me a list i need to hear more thanks for your time..
HI Bro's and Sisters i think the question should be what are we doing at MBH to encourage more learner female Harmonicist to join MBH The Sisters above have more or less spelt it out for us how most males react to Female Harmonicists over the years and to this very day..it got me thinking dangerouse stuff stand back it's comeing out Hmmmm??Yeh i think it would be great if MBH had a Ladys Room or Foram Page where Female members can talk to one another with out riducule for asking something we may think is a stupid question,,i would suggest there would be a strick policy for Male MBH members to follow if they wished to participate answering some Questions,,it may evan encourage former members to Help out there Sisters along the wondefull Journey we have taken..Just a thought
Nasty- I think we guys just need to remember that people have different tastes in what's appropriate. There are religious guys who can get offended by a dirty joke and there are women who tell some of the dirties jokes I've every heard, and not just to fit in with the guys. If people remember that there are people with all sorts of tastes on the site (including some younger members) we'll be fine. I think one great thing about this particular thread is it's letting some of the female harp players see that they aren't the only female harp players out there. I think it's always good to see that your not the only one out there, whether you are a man or woman, religious or not, American, South African, black or white.
Hi Naco Bro i here ya on the chicks dirty jokes i heard some real doozies i would never repete but these wern't teenagers telling these jokes,,i understand what you say..my aim is to get the younger ladys teenagers and up intrested without being to scared to come on Board,,who was it that told Big Nacy about this thread was it a Female is She a Member of MBH or looking from the outside,,some one told Big Nacy to check the thread out..any MBH members want to fess up,,What was the comment made to BigNacy that compeled her to Join MBH and have her say,,PS Big Nacy I'm Not Dissing you i would like to get more Female members to Join the Foram by the way has any one welcomed you aboard if not Welcome Sister From NOD..
Last Edited by on Jan 27, 2010 11:27 PM
