Re: [Harp-L] Re: Harp-L Digest, Vol 60, Issue 51



Somebody said: "I am attracted to music that is too difficult for me to play". This fits me and perhaps you. It is a goad to learning.
I think it is difficult to break out of being stuck in the blues without learning another instrument where you can see what you are doing, such as the guitar or keyboard. It is difficult to acquire a developed sense of harmony - which makes 'more difficult' music - just on the harp.


On the other hand from the blues you can expand to anywhere as long as you go slowly:
(1) Jazz - often based in blues structures and the 32 bar is really two 12 bars and an 8 bar strung together with more elaborate chord progressions.
(2) Folk/ Country - different bog standard patterns usually no harder than blues progressions, just different.
(3) World - the pentatonic scale of the blues has relatives in many musics.
(4) Rock and Pop - in my bluesocentric universe this often IS the blues, just played less interestingly
(5) Classical - a lot of 20th century composed music is blues influenced
(6) Ambient/ Electronica - the harp is a lovely source of sound that can weave into many things


My main problem is that I am slow to learn music and quick to forget it, so complicated things require more learning and practice than I can usually devote.

On 21 Aug 2008, at 20:24, Jonathan Metts wrote:

Hi Bill and Harp-L,

I mean no disrespect to the blues; it's just not what I want to play.
Unfortunately for me, it's pretty much the only thing I can play. Right now
I don't have the time, energy, or motivation to seriously pursue other types
of music that are more difficult. So my answer to the topic is as honest as
it is simple: I play the blues because that's all I can play. The chord
structures, patterns, melodies, etc. are among the simplest in all of music,
and the harmonica naturally lends itself to a bluesy sound.


There is no doubt that some of the best harp players in the world primarily
play the blues, and that there is an enormous amount of creative potential
in the blues style of music. But I was not raised on the blues, did not
have a religious experience when I started listening to the blues, and get
VERY tired of playing and hearing the blues with other people who seem
singularly focused on that style.


I would compare this rift to an example we probably all know: the trained
musician who can play almost anything on sheet music but is helpless without
the notes on paper. That person may feel constrained by the music or the
instrument, and it may take him or her years to get out of that box and
learn to play freely. That is not to disrespect his or her ability to play
written music or the quality of the music itself. That's how I feel about
playing the blues: it's a learned habit that I can't easily break.


Honestly, I've barely played at all this summer and feel disconnected from
the instrument and from music in general right now. I'm hoping that a
return to Harp-L will push me to start playing and growing again. SPAH
would have done the trick too, but I couldn't afford to go this year.


Jonathan Metts
Boulder, CO
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