Re: [Harp-L] Harmonica MasterClass Workshop

[billhines4@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Right - I think starting out, once you are past some fundamentals, it's great to learn some of the solos and licks from the classic tunes. I was quite thrilled with that when I got to that stage, and it encouraged me to go on. Of course, from there at some stage you should be moving on to doing your own thing (often based or rooted in that toolkit you now have in your head, and whether you realize or admit it or not...)

Bill Hines
Hershey, PA

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Tom Muck" <tmuck@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >I wasn't referring to the concert, but to this method of teaching. There 
> >always should be a few "archivists" that can catalog and demonstrate what 
> >the ODBG's did. It's like watching old films on The History Channel.
> 
> I disagree. The greats have come and gone. They continue to be great and 
> worth learning from. This is true in all musical genres. You don't see 
> modern violinists shunning Paganini or modern keyboardists shunning Bach. 
> They learn from the masters before moving on. Some never move on. This is 
> not a bad thing. They are playing the best music ever written for their 
> particular instrument. If they play something original and creative, it 
> might not be any good. Why play second-rate stuff?
> 
> Music comes from the soul. You either have it or your don't. If you don't 
> have it (99.9% of musicians) then it pays to learn from the best and copy 
> until you get it right. Once in a blue moon someone unique, original, and 
> inspiring will come along, but the rest of us can't be that person. Nobody 
> has come along that can play with the feeling of Little Walter, so it makes 
> sense to learn what he did. Just my opinion.
> 
> > I don't find that direction to be as useful or exciting as getting to the 
> > core of creativity and having the student discover that he/she has the 
> > ability to play original ideas that come from inside themselves within the 
> > first few months of learning to play the harmonica.
> 
> Creativity comes from within, and not from within most people. I think it 
> comes easier after the mechanics of playing the instrument are learned and 
> perfected.
> 
> Tom 
> 
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