Re: Standardizing Skill Levels

["ozharp" <harpgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Steve wrote:
> I go along with both Paul and Douglas (even though I'm very close to being
> one of those poorly musically educated mouth organ players - definitely!)
> However (you knew that was coming!), we shouldn't let ourselves get too
> "black and white" about this.  I love classical music, but I wouldn't
> presume to write with any authority whatsoever about the necessary
training
> of, say, an orchestral musician, though I know it has to be a sight more
> formal than that of a traditional musician playing in a folk music genre
for
> example.  If something like traditional Irish music was played exclusively
> by highly formally-trained musicians, I think - nay, I KNOW - that it
would
> lose its soul.  It isn't "inferior" music in any way though.
     <BIG SNIP>


I must apologize if I came across as suggesting or implying that only those
with a formal musical education or instruction could achieve anything of
merit with the harmonica. We all know of many exceptions to this. The point
I was trying to make was that for most of us enthusiasm and persistence
alone won't enable us to reach the level of proficiency that many of us
strive for and have the potential for. I would think that the great
exponents of the various folk traditions could pass on the finer points of
those folk traditions just as the great classical or jazz teachers do, even
if not as formally (but don't forget I said that many classical players felt
that they learnt as much from playing with others as they from their formal
tuition, which I think is not that far removed from the folk tradition after
all!). However for ANY instrument there exists a body of knowledge regarding
what is possible on it, and how to achieve what is possible on it, that has
been derived from many years of performing in both formal and fun settings
by its players. For many instruments this knowledge has thankfully been
collected and compiled and has been made available to students of those
instruments. Sadly this simply hasn't been the case for the harmonica.

I have been working on a project whereby I have been asking a series of
questions to some of the most prominent chromatic players around the world
about their approach to various aspects of playing the chromatic harmonica.
Since most of these players were self taught I reasoned that they would have
come up with various approaches to achieve the results they are after that
would be unique from how other players elsewhere achieve those same results.
By compiling this information I hope to achieve 2 things:

1) to ensure that this knowledge doesn't die with the player

2) to compile this knowledge and make it available to every player serious
about trying to be the best player they can. This way anyone will have
access to this knowledge from the very first day they pick up the
instrument, and instead of taking years to discover something for themselves
or by sheer luck coming across another player who can show them these
things.

Hopefully this way players will be able to advance quicker and hopefully
make new discoveries that will advance performance of the instrument even
further. I should mention that I've asked chromatic players of ALL musical
persuasions (classical, folk, blues, jazz, MOR, etc.) about their approach.

My enthusiasm for a formal educational approach to learning how to play the
harmonica is to find the best way to make the most rapid advancement on the
instrument while learning everything there is to know about it.

Some years ago I was teaching a young lady how to play blues chromatic. I
insisted that she learn both the tongue block and pucker embouchure so that
should she decide to settle on using only one embouchure it would be because
she made the choice to rather than because was incapable of, or had no
knowledge of,  playing any other way. Likewise with using overblows on the
diatonic; there's a difference between not using them because you don't like
their sound and not using them because you aren't skilled in them or aren't
even sure what they are!

Cheers,

Paul