[Harp-L] Encouragement ("Courage", as Dan Rather would say)

[Robert Coble <robertpcoble@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> 
> Message: 6
> Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:29:11 -0500
> From: Dark Gallows 
> Subject: [Harp-L] Need encouragement!
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> I used to play trumpet back in high school and while I was in the server, 
> but it's been more than twenty years now. I'm fourty seven now and I 
> miss making music. I decided to give the harmonica a try. I just bought 
> one over the weekend. I find it intimidating. I think I'll be try to learn U 
> blocking first. It feels the most "doable" for me right now. I want to at 
> least be able to blow single notes and play a scale before I engage a 
> teacher. My goal is to be able to play with my church choir. They are all 
> professional musicians (no harp players) and I sometimes wonder if this 
> goal is realistic. Let me hear some success stories of those that started 
> from scratch and met your goals. I need the encouragement!

You CAN succeed in playing with these professional musicians! My oldest 
brother is a professional pianist/organist and has played for over 60 years.
I picked up a harmonica for the first time when I was 53 years old. (I just
turned 60.) I had some piano lessons (before I was 10) and some guitar 
lessons over the years, but neither instrument really grabbed me the way 
a harmonica does. I'm primarily self-taught (with a very few lessons from 
professional harmonica players). I really bugged my older brother with
music theory questions when I first started. Eventually, I got to the point
that he could no longer answer my questions. (I'm still about 50 years
behind him in actual musical playing skills.)

I played with two harmonica clubs for my first few years. In one of them,
I was the "novelty act" because I continued to play diatonic harmonica; 
everyone else played chromatic harmonica primarily. When I moved to NC
a couple of years ago, there was no local harmonica club, so I started one.
I started playing with an old timey music group at the local arts center.
As a result, a bluegrass/gospel group at my church invited me to play with 
them. For the last 2 years, I have played with my older brother on keyboards
and my cousin on upright bass as the Up The Creek Boys. We just added
another (chromatic) harmonica player, who has taken the lead position.
I now play mostly accompaniment and harmony. We played two gigs on
Valentine's Day, using mostly pop and jazz standards revolving around
"love." We've played several churches and have more gigs scheduled.

I consider myself to be an intermediate level player, but I don't have any 
problems holding my own with my older brother or other professional 
musicians in most old timey/bluegrass/country/gospel situations. I'm
still struggling with pop/jazz, even though I can improvise some.

I play with a U-block embouchure exclusively. I can tongue block some 
and occasionally use a pucker for certain things. There's no "right" or
"worng" embouchure; each type has certain advantages and disadvantages.
Eventally you should learn to use all of them. Try them all and, at first,
just use that one that seems to fit YOU the best.

I play Seydel Circular Tuned harmonicas because (1) every note in the
diatonic scale for the key of the harp is available without bending notes;
(2) every chord (triad) built on the diatonic scale notes is available. Both
of these features are available for over two octaves. The major and natural
minor scales can be played with all notes in the scale available. The blow 
note is always lower in pitch than the draw note; there is no switch at
hole 7 of low/high (blow/draw). However, the direction of air flow IS
different from one octave to the next for the octave (same pitch) notes. 
I think this may be the biggest turnoff for long-time Richter-tuned players; 
it requires rebuilding your muscle memory. It actually took me about 2 
months of exclusive practice on the Circular Tuned harps before it began 
to feel natural. If you are just starting out, I'd strongly suggest the Seydel 
Circular Tuned diatonics or a chromatic, unless you are intent on a 
traditional "blues" sound. The harmonicas will cost a little more initially, 
but you won't regret having the additional capabilities. In any event, spend
the money to get good quality harmonicas. Cheap harmonicas usually will
sound crappy, and will not encourage you to "be all that you can be." They
also are much harder to learn on for the beginning student. 

The Richter-tuned diatonics only have one complete diatonic scale (with no
missing notes) in the middle octave. If you have a 10-hole harmonica, it's 
probably a Richter-tuned diatonic. There is NOTHING wrong with them! 
However, it will take at least 1-2 YEARS of heavy-duty practice to get to the 
point that you can play chromatically on a diatonic. Howard Levy and others 
have shown the way, but it's a long uphill struggle. Personally, I prefer to 
spend my time playing music instead of trying to force chromaticity out of 
an instrument that was not designed for it. Diferent strokes for different 
folks; at my age, I just want to make music, not embark on a pursuit of the 
Holy Grail. 

That said, I recently had Seydel build me a Circular Tuned Chromatic 
Deluxe. I intend to gravitate toward the chromatic in the future because 
it gives me more tools to do what I want to do musically. I'm not sorry 
I started on diatonic harp; I probably would never have picked one up 
otherwise, because I love the sound of the blues.

I don't know the type of music that is played at your church. If it is based
on Southern Gospel, then a diatonic might fit better. If it is liturgical or
classical style music, then a chromatic will work better. If it's Praise and 
Worship music, then either one could be used. Again, this is something 
you'll have to decide on, based on what you want to do musically with
the other musicians in your choir. The mix of instruments in the choir is
another consideration. Is it primarily piano/organ, or is it more of a band,
with guitars, strings, drums, horns, etc.? That usually has an impact on
how you can best fit a harmonica into the mix by playing riffs/fills/licks
or playing the lead melody, or playing accompaniment by chugging. There
are many ways to add something!

Just keep one thing firmly in mind: it is NEVER too late to start!

Good luck!
Crazy Bob

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