I'm fascinated by language, how it's used and how it adapts and changes.
A human being saying they are fascinated by language is like saying a golden retriever is fascinated by tennis balls or a duck (Catherine Leo Photography!) is fascinated by water.
Language is etched into our genetic makeup; it defines as a species.
England and America are two countries separated by a common language, wrote George Bernard Shaw.
You could take a person from the Scottish Outer Hebrides and a person from the bayous of Louisiana and both would purport to speak English. It's doubtful they could understand each other.
So, when is a gig a gig or a show or a recital or a concert?
Steve Ashley and I are performing together at the Bridgewater Arts Centre on Sunday the 27th of July at 2.30pm.
I hesitate to call this a gig; it seems more of a show to me, maybe even a concert, but not a recital. I'm not quite sure how or why I make this distinction.
For me a gig is the least formal expression. If I'm playing at a winery or a wine bar or a pub then I think that's a gig. The live music is an addendum to whatever else the establishment has to offer.
Some people will come along just to hear the music and others will not even be aware that there will be music at all.
If the event is such that an audience gathers to specifically hear the musician’s performance then it is a show or a concert.
If a classical musician prepares a program of pieces for performance it's called a recital or a concert.
There seems to be a level of intent and formality associated with these different terms.
There can also be a kind of reverse snobbery involved.
When is a violin a violin and when is it a fiddle?
Broadly speaking, a violin is called a fiddle if it's used for folk music and a violin if it's used for classical music, but folk musicians regularly call it violin and some classical violinists call it a fiddle.
My favourite violin virtuoso, the great Itzhak Perlman often calls the violin a fiddle. Nevermind that his fiddles are the Guarneri del Gesu 1743 "Sauret", the Carlo Bergonzi 1735 "ex-Kreisler", and the 1714 Soil (pronounced [swal]) Stradivarius, together worth a king's ransom.
Surgeons too go for a bit of reverse snobbery. Instead of "Doctor" they call themselves "Mister". This comes from the fact that surgery was originally a side hustle of barbers rather than the domain of physicians, who wouldn't sully their university educated hands with such messy work.
I think women surgeons are sensible enough to call themselves "Doctor", the linguistic implications of which reflect the male dominated history of the profession which extends very much into the present day.
So there you have it. Steve Ashley and I are doing a show, or is it a concert, or perhaps a recital or maybe even a good old honest gig at the Bridgewater Arts Centre - Adelaide Hills on Sunday the 27th of July at 2.30pm.
Tickets are available at:
https://events.humanitix.com/graham-brown-and-steve-ashley
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