Re: [Harp-L] re: Zen Harmonica

[Mike Fugazzi <mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx>]

That's what I meant by it being a personal thing.  I
think the fact that you weren't concious of your
movement proves you were doing things the right way. 
You shouldn't have to force anything when playing.

Acting out the notes as if that was the only way to
play them is a little overboard in my opinion.  But if
that is what is unconciously going on, then it is
probably right for that person.

I do a lot of speaking to groups of various ages.  I
move a lot when talking.  I tend to move the same way
when singing too.  However, I move much less when
playing harp.  You'd think there'd be more of an
overlap.  I have been told I have a distinct posture
when wailing on a harp...it just doesn't involve a lot
of movement.

Mike
--- Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> 
> >I like Ice's advice.
> >
> >I've found moving around on stage to be very
> >distracting for me.  I know that it is much easier
> for
> >me to drop the ego when I have my focus.  That
> usually
> >means I am not moving around.
> 
> My wife is a successful voiceover actress and
> producer (director).  Actors 
> LOVE being directed by her.  She constantly counsels
> that you should 
> concentrate all your energy into the mic, and not
> gesticulate wildly, or 
> move much at all, when recording, and this is in
> fact the generally 
> accepted practice in VO in LA.
> 
> She is talking about a recording situation.  There
> are over a million good 
> reasons to map this to harmonica recording
> technique, too.
> 
> However, when you're on stage you should be
> yourself.  That means that if 
> you naturally move around alot, then move around
> alot.  If you don't 
> don't.  Generally, strenuous motion will only look
> silly and break your 
> concentration if you have to think about it when you
> do it.  Stillness in a 
> performing musician is a very compelling spectacle
> if it's real.  Bluegrass 
> cats and bebop musicians don't even move a muscle in
> their face.  The best 
> of those players look like statues when they're
> working.
> 
> Rock guitarists who try to act out every note with
> their bodies and their 
> faces generally look ridiculous, but their audiences
> often love that 
> stuff.  (To me they look like air guitarists with
> extra hardware.)
> 
> And, well, Howlin' Wolf performed with every muscle
> in his body.  I saw him 
> do the stuff he could still do in the early 70's,
> and it was a fabulous 
> spectacle.  We've all heard stories about how in his
> prime he'd play harp 
> with one hand and climb the stage curtain with the
> other.  And he got to be 
> Howlin' Wolf.
> 
> Back when I performed with bands, (and we had steam
> powered amplifiers and 
> we stopped our cars with our feet), I was always
> told I danced around when 
> soloing, but I wasn't really conscious of it.
> 
> Nobody ever threw a bottle at me, even though I
> mostly worked without 
> chicken wire.
> 
> So my vote is Be Yourself, and do what you do
> naturally, as long as the 
> audience doesn't kick up a fuss or walk out.
> 
> Ken
> 
> 


Mike Fugazzi
http://www.myspace.com/mikefugazzi
http://www.niterail.com

"Music should be healing; music should uplift the soul; music should inspire. There is no better way of getting closer to God, of rising higher towards the spirit, of attaining spiritual perfection than music, if only it is rightly understood."
-Hazrat Inayat Khan


       
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