Re: [Harp-L] re: am I alone... one more thought

["Splash!" <celtiac@xxxxxxxxx>]

Right on Warren!

Spaces aren't gaps in the music.  Spaces are a major PART of the music.
I also believe that the most important part of a musician's instrument are 
his/her EARS.
And ONE WELL PLAYED NOTE can be more musical than 100 other notes. ex: Miles 
could say more with one note than generations of instrumentalists that have 
followed could say with thousands of notes.

I have found that when I am playing with musicians with whom I do not have a 
long and musically intimate relationship, it's better to stay within 
yourself and focus on clean toneful notes when soloing than attempt to get 
into that ZEN creative place where inspiration rules.  The other musicians 
will appreciate your restraint and the audience will greatly approve of a 
mistake-free and technically excellent performance.

However, the more time you spend woodshedding, the more you will be able to 
do 'within yourself' and the more riffs you will be able to access 
automatically.  It also helps to record yourself woodshedding so you can 
hear later what you actually sound like and which of those creative riffs 
you happen across while experimenting that you really wish to integrate into 
your repetoire.  Then you should practice those riffs over and over and then 
listen to it over and over, then practice them over and over again until you 
can do them standing on your head in the middle of a hurricane.

Also if you get time collectively to woodshed with your bandmates regularly 
jamming without anybody else listening, then you are able to develop an 
intuitition where the jam is going and can allow yourself and your bandmates 
to make mistakes without being self-conscious.  That's a tremendous blessing 
when you ARE playing for others and just back off a tiny little bit so that 
there are no mistakes or clams.

Most of the time a performance is just that.  A performance, and not a 
free-for-all jam session.

Splash!



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Warren Bee"
Lean on sweet spots and play the "space". Attack your harp with more 
dynamics and less riffing. OPEN your ears and let the other musicians steer 
you to new ideas. Most importantly- smile and move your body. Don't let em 
see you sweat :-)
WB