[Harp-L] Re : Geezer stories.....& Skinnin de ole cat

["Hurricane Ramón" <party_man1@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Tom sez :

Excerpt .

" Seriously, I wouldn't trade what I went through for all the instructional CDs, DVDs, festivals and internet schools of today. You found out quickly back then if you really loved th


instrument, or, like Butter said, you might be lucky enough for it to find you. "

===================================================================

Huricane sez :

Tom it's a pleasure to read that email , no kidding man . With what I see these days everyone seems to act like the people on that commercial with the " EASY " button for their approach to learning the instrument and not like the ( and I really hate to use this cliché but for lack of a catchy adjetive ) :L

" old school " 

ways you , me - THEM - - US represent :)

To those who know :

Those days that turned to weeks and then months fall to the wayside to us like minutes on a clock's face , then the years as well go ticking by . 

In the final of it all when we have achieved our " affirmation " in many wonderful ways during our tenure we ( at least me ) see those moments of discovery as the most exciting moments of our musical life(s) ( think of it , the hours and days and years of practice compared to actually playing on stage ) , we seek to recapture that elusive butterfly feeling of " discovery " to stare into it's beautiful face with awe and with inspiration and deep self satification of knowing that we are that butterfly . 

The trick later 

- - - as a proficiant harmonica person - - -  

is trying to keep that elusive butterfly fresh and alive , play with inspiration after years of not much aclaim and even less praise from fellow musicians who see the harmonica as nothing more than a " novelty toy " . 

Somewhere along the line you see it wasn't you who made the choice after 20 plus years , it's more like the harmonica choosing you instead if your one of those guys like Tom from Tom's Mic's , and or others like myself , The IceMan and the ones not mentioned ( you brothers know who ya are and us players love you too because beside loving to play our instrument we love hearing a really good journeyman harmonica madman & woman too ) rip the holy grail of of a harp because it's:

¡Soooooooooooooo Goooooooooooood Tooooooooooooooo Hearrrrrrrrrr ! 

To those who don't know yet * :

This is a mini lecture take heed :

Don't get hung up on gear , less is best , once your " there " it's a horse of a different color :)Think of the undertaking as a commitment for life and learn as life's lessons peel away the years .

Copping licks is a great start but not an end to the equation .  Once familiar with your harmonica's comb's note placement and hitting single clean notes , look deep inside of yourself to play the first songs of your early childhood because dollars to donuts within the melody lines note's are the back bones of many classic al , Rock , Pop , Country Western & Blues songs . When the core of those songs from your early beginning are fully realized , understood and easily playable you will find these notes easily on the more modern and challenging songs and just cruuuuze through them with a smile on you chops :)Heh heh heh  heh .

Play with other musicians whether they are musicians of different instruments and genres ( as many in one day , that's what I did at jams many times covering all the above styles on a given Sunday afternon jam  ) when possible .

That's the basic formula for myself and countless others who go beyond listening to recorded  media . Recorded music diffenately has it's place in your home work too , 

- - but - - , 

playing with other will really galvanize your ability to play on stage faster than just sitting alone and digging on yourself :)

There are many ways to go , take one jump on it like a duck on a June Bug ! Once that bugs eaten go for more varieties of BUGS TO EAT ! ! Yummy yummy Blues Bugs got me yessir dey done got me !

* Again my disclaimer : 

If your just a hobby week end type player the above does not apply to you , 

- - but - - 

in any event I still love you and hope you enjoy your time playing and more over buy harmonica players music  and play them for your friends , who knows , there might be a Larry Adler , Paul Butterffield , James Cotton or a Howard Levy  living next door to you and you just might be their catalyst that lets them break loose and then they show you a lick or two  :)

¡ It's All GOOD Brothers & Sisters , It'ssss ALLLLLL GOOOOOOD ! 


Sincerely :

Hurricane Ramón      

Aka :

Party_Man1@xxxxxxxxxx

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