[Harp-L] re: practice -- in short



Practice is always underestimated. Who wants to practice? When is the last 
time you heard somebody say he or she wanted to practice? Nobody wants to 
practice; everybody just wants to play.

I have a theory about practice. Most people don't practice unless they have a 
weekly lesson. You practice for the next lesson.   The teacher gives you 
feedback on how well you mastered the material.

Most harmonica players are self-taught. There is no teacher. There is no 
lesson. There is no motivation to practice -- either to start it or keep it up. 

So if you really want to get better, find a teacher. If you can't find a 
harmonica teacher, look for a music teacher. Learn some basic keyboard or basic 
guitar. It'll make you a better harmonica player.

There's reason why most harmonica players never get any respect. They're all 
self-taught. And they never practice.

Granted, there are famous and rich guitar players who are self-taught. But 
not everybody who plays guitar is self-taught. Some of them took lessons. Some 
of them studied music, actually.

More than a decade ago, one of the editors of Guitar Player was bemoaning the 
general low level of musicianship of the average guitar player. "If a piano 
player couldn't play any better than that, he'd be laughed out of the room," he 
said. 

Most people on this list have complained about guitar players and how they 
never give them any respect.!?

Imagine, if you will, a musician who learned everything he knows off 
somebody's recording, by simply listening to it until he had it memorized.

My intent is not to bash harmonica players. But really, folks, most of us 
make a pretty easy target. (AND don't blame me, I'm only the messenger.)

I don't know how many working (professional) harmonica players there are in 
the country. Maybe 50 "name" players who have at least a regional following? 
They've paid their dues, put in their time at the woodshed (practicing) but I 
would say 90 percent of this list (maybe 95%) doesn't fall in that group. 

Now, I don't think you need to start every harmonica player off in 
kindergarten. But if you ever want to get any respect, you're going to need to put some 
structure in the training.

That means some progressive training (Dave Barrett is showing the way) and 
standards that extend beyond repeating your favorite riffs at an open mic jam.

This list is famous for discussing what hat to wear at a gig, what kind of 
mic to use, who has the best amp.   Who has the tab for this song or that song? 
Come on, any kid can read music, five lines, four spaces. But very little is 
said about learning how to play the harp and learning how to play songs. Or how 
to work out an arrangement that includes more than the simple melody line. 
And if you can't figure out what hole you have to hit to play a Bb, when you see 
it on a lead sheet, you're really in bad shape.

I've taught basic harmonica classes, with a two-hour session weekly for six 
weeks, over several years at various community education programs in the 
suburban Detroit area. When I suggest DAILY practice of a few minutes each day, I'm 
usually greeted with blank stares: Is he serious? Where am I gonna find that 
kind of time? A few manage to squeeze it in. And they get better. The rest 
don't, and can't figure out why. Must be their harp.

Like I said earlier, Dave Barrett has a good selection of books. I think I 
own most (if not all) of them. But I've never seen anybody report on the list 
that he/she has just complete Book-x or Book-y in Barrett's series and it took 
only six weeks at one-hour a day.

The late Gordon Mitchell, longtime SPAH president, once told me (probably 10 
years ago at least) that he saw no future for the harmonica unless something 
changed.
     "People go to harmonica clubs and they play the same song round-robin 
every week, week after week," he said. 
I don't think anything has changed since then. Gordon is no longer with us, 
but his comment is still valid. Many people don't belong to harmonica clubs, 
but they subscribe to the same theory. Play what you like and keep playing it.

What's the solution? I don't know. Maybe it's practice.

I know what it's not. It's not: "I just wanna have fun, I don't want to make 
a career out of it." Or that I am SOL. Yeah. Maybe it's practice.

Phil Lloyd/
keep on harpin


   










In a message dated 10/18/06 4:24:09 PM, rainbowjimmy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:


> WVa Bob wrote:  "I read an interview with Sonny Rollins a few years 
> ago wherein he described his practice routine; it involved daily 
> meditation followed by 6-8 hours of practice."
> 
> 6 hours a day is a pretty normal practice routine for professional 
> musicians (at least symphony orchestras). A horn player will tell you 
> that a week off from practicing will take months to recover.
> 
> Do I practice 6 hours a day? No. That's why after 30 years I've made 
> such little progress.
> 
> If you want the harp to be respected as a professional instrument and 
> harp players respected as musicians we need a system in place where 
> people start in kindergarten (or earlier)and work their way through 
> college on one instrument and they put the time and the practice in. 
> Until then the harp will be considered a toy and harp players will be 
> thought of as wannabe musicians. Probably wouldn't hurt if you could 
> play Tchaikovsky on the harp.
> 
> Rainbow Jimmy
> http://www.spaceanimals.com
> http://www.soundclick.com/theelectricstarlightspaceanimals.htm
> 
> _______________________________________________
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> 
> 





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