Re: [Harp-L] Hendrix licks

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Chris Michalek" wrote:

<The thing I discovered about "playing" like somebody else to not play
<note for note. To me that's a fruitless endeavor. Paint your playing
<like a cartoon artist.  Hit the points or riffs that are most
<relevent and most importantly channel the energy of the artist you
<are trying to emulate...

"The energy of the artist you are trying to emulate" is expressed in the
way that artist plays the music, gesture by gesture. The sound of the
notes, the choice of notes, the rhythm are all important elements of the
expression.  To learn the emotional as well as the technical meaning of
it, you have to learn to play it precisely.

When you hear a lick that that you love, it says something about you as
well as about the person who played the lick.  You love it because
something in it moves you.  You don't find out what that is until you
can play it like the guy who made it.  So learning to play the original
like the original is about self-discovery too.  And it always adds to
your skills.

When I hear another musician, I make up my mind either to learn what
they're doing, note for note, sound for sound, or not to bother much
with their music.  If it's worth learning, it's worth learning cold.

regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com