[Harp-L] RE: Practice In Short

[Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dan wrote:
>   I disagree with whomever wrote that "nobody likes to practice".  I 
> really like to.  I'm busy, so I probably only average between 30 to 90 
> min/ day, but I frequently WANT to.  I work on the bends, the scales I 
> know, new licks, old songs, new songs, overblowing, long 
> tones....whatever. ...     As an addition to any practice regime, I 
> always suggest a certain amount of "play".  Sometimes the best new ideas 
> come when you're just messin' with it.  It gives one the chance to put 
> new skills into use.  Also, it helps to create one's own style.

I couldn't agree with these ideas more.  I doubt there has ever been a 
harp-l subscriber who learned how to play in order to make a great living, 
or because their family expected them to.  We became musicians because 
making music is a beautiful experience.  Hopefully I can add to Dan's 
advice here, for use by players and teachers.

If you've been playing for a few years, and suddenly getting better is 
taking 'work', or rather that playing alot and learning new stuff is not 
much fun as it was at first, you'll probably notice that now and then 
during practice you LEARN something new, and suddenly you aren't working 
anymore, you're perfecting your new weapon.

If practicing is no fun for you, remember to aim yourself at learning 
something new every day and it will probably become much more 
fun.  Practicing has been associated with some kind of drudge work, but 
this is a tremendous misconception.

There are two main sections to a practice session.  The first part is where 
you warm up.  I do not warm up by playing scales.  I developed warmup 
pieces for myself, metronome not optional, and that gets me ready for round 
two.  That's where where I invent, develop and perfect my music 
alone.  That's the part of practicing that I love best.  The warmup section 
is the one some people may assoiciate with drudgery, but the right warmup 
work may be more important at helping you to improve than the second 
section - I know players of many instruments who love playing their scales 
every day and love seeing the benefit in their playing over time.

You will do your best practicing if you use a metronome, for at least two 
reasons.

1. It'll improve your time, and there isn't a musician whose time can't 
stand improving.  In terms of another thread - playing behind and in front 
of the beat - you'll become far more adept at that huge element of 
musicianship if you practice with a metronome every day.

2. The great flatpicker Dan Crary illuminates what the fuss of practicing 
with a metronome is really all about: learn a new bit at a very slow tempo, 
master it at that tempo, and then challenge yourself by speeding up the 
metronome and mastering the lick at greater and greater speeds.  This 
prevents the dread rut where a player never learns to play their licks at 
anything but a certain speed.  Challenges make for fun, by the way.

I love practicing and playing.  My kick is inventing licks, both on 
harmonica and guitar, and then perfecting them.  I work on this every day.

I start by being aware that it'll take between 15 and 45 minutes for 
something new to emerge, so I simply practice and 'play' until I make a 
mistake that sounds interesting and then I'm off to the races.  Once the 
new lick emerges I might as well be in nirvana.  Not only is that the 
opposite of work, it's a few cuts above most pleasure.

CRABBY OLD GUY'S PRACTICE ADVICE: Everytime I see someone looking for 
harmonica tablature in Harp-l I get a little antsy.  Yes, it's useful when 
you're a beginner, but here's a goal I can't recommend enough: get to the 
place where you can figure out what key harp someone is using on a cut you 
want to learn, and then WORK THROUGH THE PART YOURSELF.  That's a fantastic 
practice goal, and one that turns into way fun.  Or rather, it feels like 
work, but the kind of work you feel like doing.  You' walk on air after you 
perfect a new bit.  You remember that from when you were first learning to 
play, no?

Every jazz musician I know has acquired the craft of hearing a part and 
transcribing it to paper.  That's HARD.  I never met a player who said it 
didn't take alot of work, but they do it and then they get that much better 
at absorbing what other people are playing, and when they start hearing 
ideas in their heads, they have no trouble shooting them right into their axes.

I do not mean to say that harp tab has no use - but if you ever wanted to 
challenge yourself and make practice fun, practice learning licks off of 
records until you don't need tab anymore.

And here's where that REALLY gets fun: you've created a loop of the lick 
you want to learn.  It's a way hard lick and before you actually can master 
it you come up with your own lick instead.  You'll walk on the ceiling.

If you hate practicing you may be practicing the wrong stuff.  This week 
playing long tones may feel as boring as adding long columns of numbers (an 
act my mother loved, by the way).  In two months the astonishing beauty of 
practing long tones may suddenly reveal itself to you, and suddenly it's 
the ONLY thing you want to practice.

It's my great luck that I have gotten to where when I find something I 
don't like to work on, THAT'S the thing I work on because I know that 
that's where the next revelation is coming from.

Just block out some time every day and practice with a metronome, and after 
a while a whole world of stuff becomes more and more fun to practice.

Extremes:
1. The great pianist Leopold Godowsky gave up his concert career because it 
interfered with his practicing.

2. Sri Allauddin Kahn, father of Ali Akbar Khan and, I believe, Ravi 
Shankar's music master, liked practicing more than most of us ever 
will.  According to legend, he practiced for 23 hours and 45 minutes every 
day, and then had a nice nap.

There's obviously something deeper about practicing than mere drudge work.