[Harp-L] Creative

["Bob Laughlin" <rlaughlin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I just opened my e-mail and found 115 pieces of mail, almost all harp-l. I haven't read them all yet, but this flash of insight just came to me, after reading some of the assessments on "the minimum blues band" thread, and various thoughts on what instruments or instrument is vital, and what is discardable.

Anyway,,here's my thought, in a nutshell:

Creative is using what you've been given, and making it sound good.

So,,if you're only a bass and a harp, you get in the groove and make it sound good. Somebody follow somebody. Just don't fight each other.

Whatever you are, you start from there. Sure, you can wish for some other "ideal", but if you can use what you have, and make it real, and make it swing,,you're creative, and you're good, and you'll probably also be popular, at least to those listening.

I guess it comes down to the difference between engineers and naturalists. Engineers work on creating the ideal, while naturalists make an effort at appreciating what already exists. It works that way in musical terms as well. I think most of us are a little bit of both.

There have been a lot of very succesful "musical engineers" but many of them started as "musical naturalists". They just discovered something that worked, and "engineered" that sound from that point on, to re-create something that became popular.

Bob