[Dixielandjazz] Obbligato????????

[Russ Guarino]

Kind folks,

Every now and then I will sit in with somebody else band and I will ask "How do
you want me play"? [  Remember, I am a wonderful clarinet player  :0) ]

And inevitability they will say "play Obligato".

I want to thank all contributors who have helped clear this up with me, because
I always thought they wanted me to range up and down the horn playing harmonic
color behind the ensemble or whatever with attention to the range of the solo
horn so as not to interfere.

Now I know that it is something entirely different.

Thanks,

Russ Guarino

Steve barbone wrote:

> Listmates and fellow wordsmiths:
>
> Can't resist further muddying of the waters. My Dictionary defines Obbligato
> in music as: Music not to be left out; indispensable: said earlier of an
> accompaniment essential to the proper performance of a PIECE, BUT (EMPHASIS
> MINE) now usually of one that can be omitted. (Webster's New World College
> Dictionary 3rd Edition Copyright 1996.)
>
> Now just what the heck does that mean?
>
> Obbligato? Who cares what it means? Just play the damned thing or don't,
> makes no difference at all according to Webster's. :-) VBG.
>
> Solo? What's that all about. Solos, in music, by definition "may be played
> or sung by one person, with or without accompaniment." Most non-musical
> definitions of solo (e.g. flying a plane), mean doing it alone.
>
> Obbligato and Solo, would appear, by musical definition, to mean everything
> and therefore, as Bill Gunter says, really mean nothing.
>
> So why are we knocking ourselves out over nothing? Kinda like worrying about
> mice when it's the elephants who are running amok. ;-) VBG
>
> Cheers,
> Steve  Barbone
>
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