Re: [Harp-L] playing sitting down (practicing)

[Emile Damico <oatss_oatflakes@xxxxxxxxx>]

Wind players in the orchestra play sitting down. I've never noticed much difference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR87mPS8JNs
This was done sitting down.

Diggs

--- On Mon, 9/1/08, Richard Hammersley <rhhammersley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Richard Hammersley <rhhammersley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] playing sitting down (practicing)
To: "Harp-l L" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Monday, September 1, 2008, 3:30 PM

This reminds me
I was looking at SPAH videos on youtube. Folk are often sitting down.  
Now I can play sitting down, but it is not easy to get the best  
breath, tone or technique that way - someone mentioned opera singers a  
while back, you don't see much singing seated. I try and practice  
standing up - any views anyone?
Richard
On 1 Sep 2008, at 19:18, Bradford Trainham wrote:

> For me, practice is a combination of the things I already know how  
> to do and
> a deliberate stretch to learn the newer things or to get the newer  
> stuff
> down better.
> I don't know why, but I usually start off practicing by picking up  
> my Marine
> Band 365, a lovable 14-hole harp with the air of the ungainly about  
> it.
> I'll usually open up with some hybrid of the licks that would  
> support the
> Band's version of Long Black Veil and the old Little Feat instrumental
> Lafayette Railroad. Even though the second song isn't in G and I'm
 
> playing
> of necessity on that harp in G, I love being able to milk those  
> bends up to
> the major third on the draw three.
> After I've done that a while, I break a sweat and then, it's time
to  
> pick up
> the Special 20's for the real practice.
> For some reason, then, those Special 20's seem so responsive, so  
> reactive
> that the new stuff feels possible/doable.
> The bad side of my practice routine... Is that all my prize harps  
> sit on a
> shelf next to an old rocking chair which my ex-wife inexplicably  
> agreed to
> let me have.
> I found out two days ago.. .that I've gained ten pounds somewhere in  
> the
> past six to seven months, a span of time which tellingly coincides  
> with the
> evolution of this, my practice routine.
> Okay, so if I'm not exercising like I should, at least, that Marine  
> Band 365
> is giving me a bit of a pulmonary workout, right?
> Brad Trainham
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx]  
> On Behalf
> Of Ken Deifik
> Sent: Monday, September 01, 2008 11:42 AM
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] practicing
>
> At 04:28 AM 9/1/2008, Jim wrote:
>> Had an interesting chat with a Berkley grad--he was talking about
>> practice being the place to push yourself, to play stuff you don't
>> already know. I think of practice as the place to cement what I  
>> already
>> know--the goal being to have the music be transcendent, have it just
>> pour out without thinking about it.
>>
>> Neither side of the argument is wrong.
>
> I'm not clear on why you've turned this into an either/or.   
> (Frankly, my
> guess is that I'm just reading you incorrectly.)  Both types of  
> practice are
> vital.
>
> At the beginning of my practice session I warm up by practicing  
> playing what
> I already know.  Pefecting everything from licks to my overall  
> approach to
> constructing solos, to dynamics.  I play blues, fiddle tunes and  
> rhythm
> licks.  Metronome blasting away, fast then slow then fast.
>
> This leads me quite naturally into new stuff, stuff I don't already  
> know.
>
> I hit a place, somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes in where all I hear
> coming out of the harp is stuff I don't already know, much of which  
> I will
> never hear again, though sometimes I turn on the Zoom H2.  Most of  
> the time
> I do not care if I ever hear a melody again, because the minute new  
> melodies
> start flowing out I am reassured that there are infinite melodies  
> and I can
> tap into the place where they flow out on demand, as long as I keep
> practicing every day.
>
> I find the 'practicing what I already know' part the most
challenging,
> because I try to keep a lid on 'new' ideas as long as I can.  That
 
> way they
> finally burst out.
>
> It's also challenging to practice a rhythm lick at high speed for five
> minutes, but that seems to improve my accuracy, endurance and  
> concentration
> every day, so it's worth it.
>
> A word on concentration.  I sense that the moment most of us put a  
> harp in
> our mouth it becomes the main focus.  I don't have to try to  
> concentrate on
> harp, do you?  In fact, I like getting input from an audience or the  
> people
> in a control booth while I'm also focused on the harp.  But there are
> moments when I must exclude everything but the harp.  For instance  
> when I'm
> asked to repeat a passage I just improvised.  That's when I need to  
> put my
> concentration into fifth gear, and am glad that one can develop the  
> facility
> to do so.
>
> One last bit: I sense that I am not the only one to experience  
> something I
> call "Harp Face."  That is a moment in my practice session when
the  
> muscles
> I use to play harp 'set' into a position that is apparently
optimal  
> for harp
> playing, because everything really flows after that moment.
>
> Does anyone know what I mean about Harp Face?
>
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Richard Hammersley
Grantshouse, Scottish Borders
http://www.last.fm/music/Richard+Hammersley
http://www.myspace.com/rhammersley
http://www.myspace.com/magpiesittingdown




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