[Harp-L] Bending intonation...the regular kind

["shocklee" <shocklee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

OK I'm finally sucked in to responding (hope this works. Been a lurker for about a year).

In response to Michalek:

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thinking about the mechanic of note generation is going to make you a stiff
player.  Get your head out of the equation and just play.  Do you think about 
where your tongue is when you're talking, singing, humming or whistling? Nope...  
do[sic] do it with the harmonica either. Focus on creating the tone/pitch etc in your 
body and then just play it on the harmonica.

I can count on one hand the number of harmonica players in the world, that 
I would classify has having great acoustic tone. You body already know how 
to generate any tone you want (within a range of course), learn to make music 
with your body before your put a harp to your mouth. Air trumpet anybody?  
Your air trumpet is going to help you a lot more than listening to a bunch of 
people who can't really do it. Listen to yourself.

Play!
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This is almost the exact thought that broke me out of my rut. Very often when I made a new sound on the harmonica that I liked I noted the physical thing that produced it and tried to remember and copy it thereafter, using the physical cue, ignoring that it was the instinct of my body at the moment that enabled the new sound. So why not trust instinct to do it again? I decided that defering to the physical was retrograde and backwards. I still have to fight that impulse. Listening to the music (I play almost exclusively only to recordings of songs) and being only semi-conscious of my own playing is a mode that can be incredibly satisfying and rich in results. Finding new songs and keeping things fresh also helps.

The analogy to a child learning to speak is apt, but I think it may have its flaws. Not sure.

BTW, who are your tone idols?

Off the top of my head, I like

Bob Dylan (aside from his raw musicality he has a few stunning moments (for me) like at the beginning of "Man in the long black         coat" and spots in "Everything is Broken")
Judd Lander (for his part in Karma Chameleon)
Tommy Morgan 
John Popper ("But Anyway")
Neil Young
Sonny Terry

Many others I like and admire, but these ones are special to me.

This a great list! Regards to all,
Shockley