[Harp-L] I'm stuck! Where to go from here?

[Michael Will <mwill@xxxxxxxxx>]

Jim McBride wrote:
<snip>
"So my question is how to approach practicing/learning/advancing at this 
point? I play a lot but its very unfocused if you know what I mean. For 
someone at my level of playing, what do you think is the best approach 
to getting going. Some ideas ....
(1) Playing scales and exercises
(2) Bending exercises
(3) Practice jamming with jam tracks
(4) Pick a favorite harp player (mine is SBW-2) and seriously study his 
playing."

All good.  Some other ideas:

I think this is important: Record yourself frequently and listen with a 
critical ear.

Learn some new technique(s) to incorporate.
Some theory can lead to new ideas.
Practice arpeggios as well as scales.
Listen to instruments other than harp for ideas, e.g. horns, bass..
Add dynamics (soft..loud).
Learn to (sight) read music.

Move some licks around.  IOW, take a lick you play on the low end and 
play it on the high end, and vice versa.  Take a 2nd position lick and 
play it in 3rd position, etc.

Find a teacher.
Go through some instructional material, e.g. David Barrett's books, 
Jerry Portnoy's CD's..

Mike