[Harp-L] Engraving musical impressions

[Snaruhn@xxxxxxx]

Hi Don,

I think that the problem our "old newcomer" mentioned = how to 
memorize songs is more interesting than it seems on the first view. 
You write:

< And truly, playing any instrument becomes a real pleasure when the 
< day comes that you don't have to think about how to do it...>

In fact, that´s absolutely true. Among the many harp artists I heard there´s 
one whom I know even better than Toots and who is a real master in "ignoring 
the how to" and that´s Wim Dijkgraaf from the Netherlands. He told me that it 

was a hard way and took him 5 years until he had "engraved" where all notes 
of all 12 keys are positioned. From Wim I got also the idea to build these 
wholetone chromatics (my Tonies) where one needed only 4 different slide
pattern to play all 12 keys which makes the matter considerably easier.
.  
Interesting is also the way how to get this pleasure.There are many ways 
and not all are useful. An example:

When my Dad trained accordion long long years ago I stood as a child behind
his music stand and played his ètude on the harp together with him. However,
every time Dad made a mistake he started the tune from the beginning again
and again. To my impatient urge to finish this dam song he informed me that
the most successful way of learning an instrument is to train no matter how
long it last.

Harpie had said: OK, Dad, then we may never hear how this song ends.

Today I know that this is a successful method not at all. Crucial isn`t the 
time you spend for the training but the frequency of training and above all 
the pauses between the exercises. 

On harp-L one can often read the slogan: practice, practice practice. 
Hmmmh, that sounds like the request to eat in order not to die on starvation.

The Iceman once said: "just 5 minutes per day, but every day." 
Absolutely, the constant repetition is what the brain needs to engrave 
a certain information. Now neurologists or other scientists searching on the
function of the human brain say that the brain deletes information not 
needed.

That´s certainly correct but for my feeling the formulation is too general. 
The question should be how the neurones got the information = way of 
transmitting the impressions. Again an example:

Another way how to "engrave" a melody for sure I noticed when I trained 
"Bluesette". It´s not only that the slide finger learned the pattern of in 
and out but it also worked to train the melody noiseless. Yes, it´s amazing
to learn that any tune can be imagined only in mind without doing mistakes,
without an instrument, with real notes and nobody has the slightest idea 
what you are just doing. The question is only whether you learn to play the 
notes on an instrument in reality.

At least for my part I noticed a third kind of engraving an accoustic 
impression. I use to "see" the melody three-dimensional like a path in the 
landscape. It goes up and down, turns around the corner, crosses a river, 
climbs a mountain etc.

Anyway, I can´t imagine to forget "Bluesette" whether I play it or not.    

Hoping not to have told a lot of nonsense,

Siegfried