William Black said:
> gordon jones wrote:
>>>>>> Traditional 'folk' isn't technically challenging to either sing or 
>>>>>> play,
>> 
>> Then you are not doing it right
>
> I'm good enough to get paid to do it (well, I was)...

<singing, I know nothing. I'm an instrumentalist>

Seems to me this has become overgeneralised to the point of pointlessness;
'tradition' is not a unitary, unanimous thing. There are many traditions,
and very possibly spectra of opinions within them.

Plus, 'technique' only means, the tricks of acheiving what you are trying
for. If you are within a tradition that values 'spontaneity' it might be an
acceptable & traditional technique to tweak a machine-head in order to avoid
sounding as though you cared about trying to conform to the orthodox
tonality of the straight world ...  *ahem* I don't venture to suggest the
existence of any such tradition, of course. I just suggest that the ability
to pass judgement on someone's 'technique' has to include an understanding
of what that tradition values. It's amazing how we don't even notice the
tricks that achieve things we didn't realise were intentional.

Perhaps, some traditions are more rewarding towards the possibility for
various forms of technical virtuosity than others are ? Some traditions have
more room for virtuosi than others ?

... Or perhaps the entire discussion could be seen as a boast. If you pick
up, say, a set of smallpipes for the first time, the entire Northumbrian
tradition is going to be technically challenging (working both elbows
independently of all fingers is a thing that takes practice, I guess. I
certainly couldn't do it, only time I tried). So to assert that nothing is a
technical challenge is an announcement that your mighty technique rules all;
and the question reduces to 'what tradition is not a problem if you have
command of what techniques ?'


Final observation :- R.S. MacDonald's "Good Drying". I find that technically
challenging, anybody want to propose that I shouldn't ?


> Although the last time I got paid was on a beach in Goa...
>
> And I didn't expect to get paid either...

I, ah, notice you don't say what that was for ...


-- 
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://www.qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html