Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: To have great chops

Già che parliamo di musicisti, trovo spesso l'espressione to have great 
chops. Es. Il chitarrista mike stern, parlando di billy cobham - un 
grande innovatore della batteria, capace di suonare qualsiasi stile e 
con una tecnica ancora oggi ineguagliata - dice: he used to do the 
double bass thing, but he really did'nt need it.He has such great chops, 
he could do it all with one bass drum. Dal contesto è chiaro che parla 
dell'utilizzo della doppia cassa da parte di cobham e del fatto che 
aveva una tale tecnica dei pedali che poteva fare praticamente le stesse 
cose con una cassa sola. Detto questo, toi have great chops si riferisce 
in generale ad avere una grande tecnica?
M.

 M.
L'Oxford dice:
*Chops*  (_plural noun_, informal) the technical skill of a jazz or rock 
musician.

 in generale ad avere una grande tecnica?
Sě, come quasi tutto il gergo musicale viene dal jazz; in origine le 
"chops", bistecche, erano le labbra dei trombettisti, organo in cui, 
come sai, risiede quasi tutto il loro virtuosismo (parte minore č nella 
lingua; ed č per queste due ragioni che i trombettisti, piů dei 
pianisti, hanno folta compagnia femminile).

 pianisti, hanno folta compagnia femminile).
Conosco la diceria, ma non saprei dire quanto corrisponda al vero. 
Riguardo al dove risiede il virtusosimo, direi risiede nel cervello 
prima che in ogni altro organo, per tutti gli strumenti. E' da lì che 
partono le figurazioni ritmiche più complesse, la coordinazione, 
l'indipendenza, la velocità etc. Poi tutto il resto labbra e lingua incluse.
Una simile diceria riguarda le cananti (di lirica) che si dice amassero 
riscaldarsi in compagnia dell'altro sesso prima dei concerti.
M.

 wrote in message
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
Per me, "chops" = "embouchure". Louis Armstrong had great chops. Django
Reinhardt did not.
Joe from Massachusetts
Joe from Massachusetts

 pianisti, hanno folta compagnia femminile).
Uh, che bellezza, mi hai fatto ricordare Joey "The Lips" Fagan :-)
(hint: The Commitments)
-- 
Ciao,
Anna


Quotes from Louis Armstrong:
«Last month, noting that his legs were weak from his hospitalization, he
said, "I'm going back to work when my treaders get in as good shape as my
chops." »
«Feel like I spent 20,000 years on planes and railroads, like I blowed my
chops off.»
«"If you don't look out for your chops and pipes," he said, "you can't blow
the horn and sing. »
The phrase "great chops" was originally used by black American Jazz
musicians to describe the virtuosity of jazz musicians who played wind or
reed instruments - in other words, anything that required the use of the
lips and tongue. The word is often misused by white musicians and musical
critics who are unfamiliar with black American Jazz jargon. That goes for
the Oxford dictionary as well.
Joe from Massachusetts

Joseph Curtin ha scritto:

In ogni caso oggi è entrata nel linguaggio comune dei musicisti, anche 
con riferimento a strumenti non a fiato.
M.

 wrote in message
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Once upon a time some white guy overheard Louis Armstrong and Dizzy
Gillespie complimenting each other on their "great chops". The man
recognized the phrase as complimentary, but failed to recognize that it was
a compliment given by one horn player to another, and so proceded to
perpetuate the misuse of the phrase as a compliment to all musical
virtuosity.
It would sound just as ridiculous to hear that a drummer has "great chops"
as it would be to hear that he has "great lips", although either would be
accurate and correct when referring to a good horn player.
You will never hear the Marsalis brothers, or any true American Jazz
musician or Jazz insider, use it in any sense except the original and
accurate sense, and I'm sure they cringe as I do when they hear someone say
that a drummer has "great chops".
False etymologies have even been developed. A drummer's "great chops" are
said to originate with the resemblance of drumsticks to chopsticks. A
pianists's "great chops" are said to originate from the resemblance of the
pianist's fingers to chopsticks.
Perpetuation of folly does not make it less foolish.
Joe from Massachusetts

 wrote in message
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I'm holding in my hand a box of "Prince" brand thin spaghetti, which is
manufactured here in the US. Under the word "spaghetti" it says "enriched
macaroni product". But in the dictionary, macaroni is "pasta in tubular
form", and spaghetti is "pasta in the form of long strings". How can
spaghetti be a macaroni product? In the same way that a drummer can have
"great chops".
Joe from Massachusetts