Re: 5 minutes a day

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It's great to practice as much as you can.  If 5 minutes is all you can
do, I guess that's it.  If 5 minutes is really all you've got, my advice
is to follow Rev. Gary Davis's advice to his guitar students, and take
those 5 minutes as soon after you wake up as possible.  The right brain
is wide open just after you wake up, and music seems to imprint well. 

With harp, it's usually possible to get in more than 5 minutes a day. 
Harmonica is completely portable and works instantly on demand, so every
player can take a harp in a pocket wherever he or she goes.  A portable,
instant-on instrument makes lots of places and times into practice
times.  Stuck in traffic?  Practice.  Walking through the parking lot? 
Practice.  I play in elevators when there's nobody else on the
elevator.  (It's cruel to play when other people are in the elevator, no
matter how good you are.)

If you've got an hour to practice, about 10-15 minutes should be spent
on exercises to learn new techniques and generally sharpen the saw; 15
minutes should be spent on repertoire that's already learned; and the
last half hour should be spent on new repertoire, ideally new stuff that
forces the player to learn new ways to play.  Every serious player
should always have a list of new techniques and repertoire to learn. 
Every serious player should plan practice sessions to get the absolute
most out of any time available.

Note that research has shown that professional musicians tend to have
spent thousands more hours in their lives practicing than
non-professionals.  So if you want to get good-er faster, play more.  
 
Of course, if all you want is to have fun, and you already play well
enough to have as much fun as you want, just keep having fun.  Your
goals can be as easy or hard as you like.  If your goal is to get better
at playing the harp every day until you stop living, more playing is
better.

regards, Richard Hunter
http://www.hunterharp.com