[Harp-L] What are YOU going to do about it?

[Pierre <plavio@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Chris said:

> The question is: What are YOU going to do about it?

I'm miles away from Chris's league but I went out and bought myself a good 
keyboard recently with the firm intention of learning music and to learn how 
to play B-3 organ which I've always loved. I guess I was inspired by a local 
Jazz trumpet pro I saw play at a local Jazz bar. After hearing him play 
wonderfully with a quartet put together for one evening, I found out he had 
only been playing B-3 for 5 years. Of course he is already a seasoned pro in 
the Jazz word and a teacher at McGill University.

I now have a real teacher who is having me draw notes and staff symbols and 
giving me written assignments (started last thursday). She is starting me at 
step one just like the wee kiddies. I was a bit aprehensive about this as I 
know how long it takes to learn piano using the traditional method and I am 
in the low 50's. But I realize that there are few shortcuts that lead to 
being a complete "piano" player. Piano is hard as you need to coordinate two 
hands, arms and 10 fingers (Organ is worse, you also use your left foot to 
play bass and use your right foot to controll a swell pedal (volume and 
fullness of tone). So methods were designed to develop the required motor 
skills, timing, ... For example, lay you hand and wrist on a table, now pull 
your fingers back to round your fingers as if you had a small ball in your 
hand, then try and lift you ring finger a half inch or inch without lifting 
the other fingers; its soo hard it hurts your mind. While you develop the 
motor skiils, the methods also teach you to read music and teach you theory, 
which is teaching you a language and grammar. So gradually as your motor 
skills get better, so does your knowledge.

About reading music, I tried on my own a few times and never got anywhere. 
But here is a trick to get there. Learn only the lines first. mi, so, si, 
ré, fa (in english EGBDF). Those are the arpegios for the major scale - 
cool! Now find a simple book or sheet and read only those 5 notes wherever 
you find them, skip other notes, you will learn them later. When you are 
real good at it, add the in-between notes. Learn to hum the notes over time, 
eventualy you will be able to sight sing (Intervals are tricky I presume, 
but in time...).

Now stick a note in you car and add the extra lines above and below. do mi, 
so, si, ré, fa, la, ... (The note is to remind you to do it) Learn to say 
these backwards and forwards from any point. Picture the staff in your mind, 
see the lines and the notes as you swirl around. Then do the same swirling 
exercise thinking of you on the harp (air harmonica). Imagine you playing 
these notes all up and down the harp.

Quick where is the "A" in the middle register. What, you don't know?

Emile is right, we do need methods that focus on everything diatonic from A 
to Z. You might have to skip some lessons if you can't bend or something, 
but you could come back and do them when your ready. There is a lot to 
learn.

BTW, I suggest everyone buy a used keyboard and spend 10 hours on it 
practicing all they know on the harp on the keyboard, its so nice to have a 
picture of what you are playing. Also its so cool because it is so easy to 
invent things while pecking at the keyboard.

The harmonica is a limiting instrument when it comes to "Music" (with a 
capital M), what piano player would play a piano with a bunch of "missing" 
notes.

Pierre.

















----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris Michalek" <chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, April 09, 2006 12:12 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] Being a musician was: Little Walter - Michalek's comment


I was having this conversation offlist with another member but it good 
fodder for public discussion. Why is harmonica players in general seem to 
hold themselves to a lower standard than other musicians? BTW- when I say 
99.xx% of harmonica players are crap musicians I put myself in that 
category. Many people will never realize this until they play with a "real" 
musician.
In my case there is no doubt that I am talented but that only gets you so 
far. I have been lucky and talented enough to attract the attention of 
"real" musicians but in their world talent is only part of the equation. My 
bass player is a stellar musician, he's been doing professionally for a very 
long time. He made mention to me the other day that he's not made less than 
$500 per night for the past 25 years until he met me. That means two things 
to me, he thinks very highly of my playing and enough so that he is willing 
to break a personal guideline that he's maintained for 25 years. And he 
won't be around much longer if I don't raise myself above having a bar band 
mentality.
Why am I considered a crap musician? Simply because I limited the band. This 
is especially tragic consider that it's MY band. For a guy like my bassist 
he literally can play anything. Give him some sheet music and he goes... I 
can't do that. I bet there are less than 100 harmonica players on earth that 
can do that. I'm finding myself in a do or die situation. It's clear that I 
have been given the key to the world of professional musicians. Now it's up 
to me to keep it. I wish I would have been more serious about my chosen 
instrument early on because then I wouldn't be faced with such a difficult 
endeavor.
Is my bass player a unique musician? Nope, there are 100,000's of people on 
planet that can do that with their instruments. Why is it acceptable for 
harmonica players to be excluded? The current standard for harmonica players 
in general is why many of are not respected right off. I don't know about 
you all but I hate being judged before I even put the harp to my mouth.
Steller musicians like Tommy Morgan, Rob Paparozzi, Robert Bonfiglio, 
Hendrik Meurkens, Toots Thielemans, Howard Levy etc... are paving the way 
for us. That path will weed over and close for the rest of if we don't do 
something.
I know what I need to do.
The question is: What are YOU going to do about it?



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pierre [mailto:plavio@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Sunday, April 9, 2006 08:38 AM
> To: chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: Re:[Harp-L]Little Walter - Michalek's comment
>
>
> There's two much shit in this world already, we all need to set an example
> and figure out how to play nice.
>
> I think that sometimes people get offended by other individual "innocuous"
> statements.
>
> When you interpret something, you read it from your own frame of reference.
>
> For example Chris's comment that "99.4% of all harmonica players on earth
> are crap musicians" may offend many people on this list. It seems arrogant
> and is insulting to people who practice daily.
>
> But if Chris had said that 99% of guitar players are crap musicians as all
> they can do is play from tab and know nothing about the art of playing
> guitar, most would agree. (Except guitar players on the list).
>
> When Chris mentions horn players, he's probably thinking of guys like
> Charlie Parker, Dizzie Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Stanley
> Turentine, ... then no wonder he thinks that harp players are poor
> musicians.If you want to play like Charlie Parker, you better hunker down.
>
> When you get offended by something, you can post back to the list that the
> comment upsets you and explain why it upsets you. Then the person gets to
> clarify his post. In some cases both parties will learn something.
>
> By the way, I think Chris likes to get a "rise".
>
> Pierre.

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