Re: [Harp-L] Re: (Harp-L) Hello and introduction

[rdg <rdg@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Vern,

Wednesday, April 13, 2005, 3:46:34 PM, Vern wrote:

VS> I wonder how many beginners are "turned off" by these difficulties and just 
VS> give up in disgust never to return.

VS> I think that expert diatonic players who have learned to bend and otherwise 
VS> deal with these irregularities tend to underestimate the difficulties that 
VS> they present to a beginner.

I think it's probable that _lots_ of people have been frustrated by
the diatonic, espcially if they don't start off thinking "blues" and
especially if they are trying to approach the harmonica in a sort of
visual sense, or at least relating to a straightforward scale logic.

I mean, part of it is the logic, and part of it might be connected to
the thing that makes some people predominantly ear players and others
predominantly "from the chart" -- and I am purposely leaving out a
number of lucky people in the middle ground who can read or "just flow"
as they see fit (and I'm, unfortunately, not one of those...).

I have known very many excellent musicians on other
instruments--especially those with a solid visual component like piano
or guitar for example, who have given up in disgult, totally confused
by the fact that they _know_ they are good musicians (and they're
correct) but they just "can't _get_ it" with the harp...like an
earlier poster wrote: too many "hidden" addresses.

Mind you: I have to admit to getting some sort of aberrant
satisfaction from the time a very good guitar player with a major act
put down harp as too easy, too simple to take seriously. I told him
"OK--if it's that easy, here's a harp and I'll see ya in a couple of
weeks" (we were pretty close friends). Two weeks later he throws the
thing at me in disgust, saying "I tried to work really hard and I just
can't make any sense of that &%#$@ thing" - and he apologized, saying
he thought it was incredible a person could make _any_ reasonable music
on it :-)

Ron