[Harp-L] Re:How do you break through a wall? (Will Vogtman)

[Robert Bonfiglio <bon@xxxxxxxxxx>]

>   At the conclusion of my hiatus, I want to be able to:
>
>   1.  Sight read for harmonica, sax, and bass.
>   2.  Overbend harmonica and overblow sax (altissimo).
>   3.  Play any given diatonic in all 12 keys.
>   4.  Play as if the harmonica is my own voice--no "interface  
> thought" between mind and harp.
>
>   This seems 10-20 years away from where I am now.  I know it's not.

If you are planning on doing it on chromatic, you should come to one  
of my seminars.   (See the post) If you are planning to do this on  
the diatonic you need to study with Howard Levy.  Every other  
instrumentalist has a teacher; so should a harmonica player at this  
point.

The best way to treat learning is as a child, one day at a time and  
see what I have learned - do not compare yourself to other players.   
If it takes you 10 years to learn  a certain technique that someone  
else can play in 5 minutes, in music this is not a bad thing.   
Because during that 10 years you will be developing tone, power,  
phrasing, music making.  Music is not a race.  The process needs to  
be enjoyed along the way; what you play belongs to you and no one  
else.  This is why we call it playing music, not working music.

I can teach players to play their scales and read, but I can not  
teach them to enjoy practicing.  If you don't love getting behind  
your instrument everyday, maybe you should do something else.

Harmonically yours,

Robert Bonfiglio
http://www.robertbonfiglio.com