***Untitled*** (Split from SESGF topic)

[Basil Henriques]

I am curious as to where the arrangement for Steel Guitar Rag that a few players featured came from; I'm wondering has the "Folk Process" taken effect in some sections of it ?
WHY ? because I remember the melody from the 1950's as going like this (With the exception of the 'G' section.)

[mick hearn]

Yes Basil I agree but then I disagree.

We know that you are a one for a) playing the song as it is written, b) played with an instrument that has the same tuning as the writer (You have said that many times on this blog) and c) played in the same key. As you rightly said at the venue and has been mentioned many times that the tune was stolen anyway. If we all played it the same way bearing in mind no-one knew what anyone else was going to play I'm afraid it might get a little boring. I think for most of us we have played what we have heard over a number of years

Here are my thoughts on the subject (sorry if the blog has been hijacked).
Yes you did mention it. Pick a folk song then look through all the transcriptions and recordings and see how many have changed on some way. The players have all gone on what they have heard and if they have forgotten a part they make it up or deliberately change something to make it more interesting.

The rules? Forget them. If I complied with Bert Weedon's rules on how to play a guitar I would still be sitting on a kitchen chair with my foot on a suitable stool and making sure I carried same to every gig. No! Rock music would not be where it is today if we all stuck to the rules. It's breaking the rules that makes it more exciting.

My version was done in the key of C (oops!) and played on the C6 neck (OMG) but was done deliberately so that I could use some hammer ons. Done faster and finishing with a bit of Four Wheel Drive. Done hopefully to create a bit of excitement as an opener. I also remember the thread where the question was "What tune do you hate playing most?" Ken Byng suggested Steel Guitar Rag. My view was if it is getting a bit boring then make it interesting for yourself.

Sorry.

[bobhcot]

With you all the way Mick. Interpretation, feeling, pure musicality, all more important than so called accuracy. Mistakes are mere improvisations..........however some work better than others!

[Basil Henriques]

So because I'm following the lyrics and melody here in this tune/song, it has no musicality, interpretation, feeling and the suggested mandatory wrong notes, required by your yardstick ; Is it less of a performance then ?

[bobhcot]

From a tent somewhere in Gloucestershire I simply don't have the facility to watch or listen to videos and have not commented on your playing at any time. Instead I was agreeing with Mick Hearn in respect of musicians to express themselves as they choose and as they may be able. Please remember most of us are enthusiasts having a bit of fun, or at least I thought we were. Loosen up before you go pop, please.

[mick hearn]

Both well played as usual Basil I have to give you that. I think though you have moved away a little bit from the original in that we were discussing Steel Guitar Rag. Of course Blue Velvet played any other way would be a no no.

I have never heard Steel Guitar Rag played like that. Yes I heard the melody but you were using full chords on a pedal steel whereas the original was done on lap steel. So is that not interpretation on your part. I cant say it enough, it's very good no matter what anyone says, and I could not even guess at the chords you were playing, however I fear this is the Basil Henriques version, and perhaps as different as mine. Spade Cooley, Leon and the rest of them all play it differently with their own sway somewhere along the line.

Think I had better get in the shed and record my version as played at the SESGF.

I think interpretation could be a future subject within the forum, or as an idea a subject for discussion at a future festival or meet. As I have said before I know nothing about theory - I just play whatever comes from my heart, hands and head.

[bob adams]

I just play whatever comes from my heart

Baz has a wealth of knowledge on the black notes, the white notes and all things in between, and whilst I have such a respect for his knowledge.

I simply can't fault .......... Playing from the heart!

[Basil Henriques]

In my version of Steel Guitar Rag I'm quoting almost verbatum, Alvino Rey, Speedy West and Buddy Emmons. I would not presume to know better than them OR the composer. Alvino Rey helped develop the Pedal Steel guitar so his adaptation would probably be seminal and definitive; In fact the Texas Troubadours took his version and elaborated upon it. They didn't OMIT anything just added extra COMPLIMENTARY phrases and SPECIFIC hammer-ons and pull-offs. But if we have to get technical, then so be it.

The audience is all to an entertainer, if you want to play to please yourself that should be reserved for “At Home’ .. pleasing yourself in a public performance is at the very least self indulgent and in fact insulting to the listener.
Lack of research and lack of diligence has recently led to a bastardised version of the tune with some VERY nondescript half hearted backward glissandos and hammer-ons that don't relate to the seminal paradigm versions.



I try to emulate Buddy Emmons' licks to the extent of my capabilities, but SPECIFICALLY the hammer ons which incidentally are the same as Speedy West did and that I heard on the Alvino Rey version..


This is directed to bobhcot's comments. Most professionals TRY to “Get it Right’ Calling wrong notes improvisation is nonsense, by definition they are “Wrong Notes”
You yourself called them wrong notes in effect (Mistakes are mere improvisations.).. Improvisation is not playing wrong notes "But in the Right order" it's Playing alternative and complimentary lines to the melody, and in the Pro world the rule is "Establish the melody and then improvise".. A bit of fun is great but displaying tardiness regarding research of the correct chords or melody can't be excused by saying I'm playing from the heart...what are you playing from the heart.. AN ESTABLISHED melody..If you feel that you need to change the melody that the composer wrote, then by definition you think you know better, and if you think you know better than the composers of standards and evergreens, you’re labouring under a series misconception of your own abilities. Lack of diligence shows up as does simply not caring..

The psychology of music and the listener would be well worth studying..I have done so and it's resulted in world wide record sales of almost 4 million. PLAYING the CORRECT melodies..
I never claimed to be a good steel guitar player, but what I do is researched and accurate out of respect to the composer and possible listener.
AS steel guitar playing, my EMI Abbey Road albums are just OK But my playing pleased a few million or so.. As the EMI Press Dept put it:->

In the same way that US masters of exotic music as Martin Denny and Les Baxter transported their listeners to mysterious tropical islands and ancient civilizations, Birmingham born Basil Henriques and his Waikiki Islanders managed to re-create a similar mirage on these albums from the EMI Studio 2 series. Henriques destination was Hawaii, the unmistakable sound of which he expertly summoned up from the strings of his steel guitar, an instrument that was perfectly adapted to capture the mood and romance of the South Seas - with its golden beaches, palm trees and dramatic burning sunsets - and transport it into thousands of suburban homes across the UK. Basil Henriques was, for many mood music fans, the main supplier of instant sunshine. His vast repertoire included favourite songs from films such as Dr. Zivago and The Sound of Music, old favourites like "Strangers in The Night" and "Moon River" , together with popular hits such as Dusty Springfield's "Just Lovin' You" and Acker Bilk's eternal "Stranger On The Shore". For the latter Henriques imitates the sound of a soaring seagull with his instrument, an evocative and atmospheric touch which evokes dreams ( or maybe memories ) of balmier foreign climes.

Edwin Pouncey.
EMI

The killer line for me was "Basil Henriques was, for many mood music fans, the main supplier of instant sunshine." That's all I Intended my music to be.
BUT It did teach me something about what the vox populi hear and their subliminal melodic interpretation and association.
Music is not written down and published as sheet music for no reason.
Tension and release is written into most songs and the road map of that is determined by the melody and its accompanying chords, intertwined by the composer to create expectation and satisfaction subliminally of course. The average person is completely oblivious to the manipulation..BUT it's there.Tempo and Dynamics also contribute AND, are also written on the score, and not for no reason.

[Basil Henriques]

As I have said before I know nothing about theory - I just play whatever comes from my heart, hands and head.

Don't try and bluff a professional bluffer.. I know that it's not spontaneous and "From the Heart" it's calculated and worked out, beforehand unfortunately not researched enough as the Speedy West and Buddy Emmons videos show.

Playing "From the Heart" would be instilling ones own emotions into the interpretation i.e. phrasing, Dynamics tempo variations and such like nuances, to an ESTABLISHED tune and chord structure, but certainly not altering the accepted melody OR CHORDS..OR key, Guitar Rag and Steel Guitar Rag were written in E for the sonority of that tuning and the general harmonic interaction of the notes, Likewise with Stranger on the Shore, Acker chose Bb, not because it was the Clarinet version of C (concert) on the sheet music (Score) but because that's the tonality and register he intended it to be.

I won't even go into the psychology of the listener subliminally singing the melody and words and switching off if the register or phrasing feel strange.

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Whew!!, takes a brave man to enter into this one and I am even lacking in that department

Lack of diligence shows up as does simply not caring..

Baz when it comes to"due diligence" you have no equal I think most on here would agree with that?, but you also have the mental capacity to practice what you preach and it boggles the minds of a lot of us on here, that does not mean we are not trying or do not care. I apologize here and now to composers past and present for what I have done to their work but it has given me a lot of pleasure trying (if you worked with my brain for a week you would understand what I am up against!) but the followers and the wannabee's are still gonna be there and believe me we are doing our best. Hold him back please Pat while I leave the country >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Mick, keep playing from the heart, I love what you do