[Harp-L] what Popper means to me (long)

[Dan <billybudd1313@xxxxxxxxx>]

I like this thread.  And I like John Popper. 
 
 What I want to point out is that Greg made a KEY point in his post. 
 
 He spoke of John Popper's high volume (of notes) style as a path towards general knowledge/comfort with the instrument.
 
Comfort with the instrument.  
 
This is a message I'd like to stress to everyone I meet who's learning harp.  And to many who have been "playing for years"    Find a way, and get to know the harp!!  
 
Too often, we get mired in "licks" or memorizing solos, or learning a specific small technique, and we (royal we) lose sight of the big picture
 
Popper was also my in-road to the harp.  He plays with reckless abandon.  Emulating his style early in my learning allowed me to develop an approach to the harp as a whole.  (Greg describes it very well in his post) 
 
There's a connection between the harp and the brain that comes with time and practice. One must find a way to make the harp an extension of the imaginagion.
 
 Too many boundaries up front lead to more of the "same old"  They lead to roadblocks.
 
Some roadblocks* I've noticed:
 
"I need a certain amp with a certain tube setup"
"I only like to play certain keys of harps"
"I need a custom harp"
"I can only play solo X as rehearsed exactly off the record"
"WWLWD?"
"I'm a blues guy so this other stuff is new and bad"
"I'm a jazz guy, so this blues stuff is beneath me"

My roadblock is fear of music theory.  Fear of becoming too much "head" and not enough "heart".  We all have em.  It's ok.  It's hard to fess up to them.  Even harder to deal with them.

 
Maybe I'm onto a new thread idea.  What lead or is going to lead you to "comfort" with the harp?  Alternately, What's your roadblock?  What's keeping you in the rut you're in?  What's keeping your soul in instead of letting it blast out of the silly little instrument you play?  
 
 
 
Dan G.
 
 
Clipped from Greg's post.
>>> 
but Popper style playing does have it's dvantages of learning.  It is 
relatively fast and appealing to a mass audience or public(who know 
relatively nothing about music or harmonica to begin with as a whole, 
and as 
musicainas we are also entertainers).  Also; learning all those 
breathing 
patterns, etc.. opens up the door to the more technical styles of 
playing, 
and makes them easier to learn quickly.[. . .]
 
Popper style playing teaches comfortablility with the instrument, and 
once 
you become flexible with the instrument you play, learning the music 
doesn't 
seem like the impossible task it may have once been.>>>
 
* I love my amp and its tubes, I don't play custom harps, but I don't see anything wrong with them. I like it when someone plays stuff I know and plays it well.  I enjoy crazy edgy stuff, as well as understand the blues purists' point of view.  If you choose to argue with me a point about the value of these tools that I have listed as roadblocks for some... well you've missed the point, and this post of mine probably won't do you any good anyway.