[Harp-L] Beginner player here!



Hi,

Name's Tony and I just turned 17. I graduated from high school last month
and in the fall I'm heading off to Duke University.

I started playing harmonica exactly seven months ago (I know because I still
have the receipt dating to December 5th) and I don't think I've stopped
months. I'm going to assume you all read the Popper biography where he says
he walked around the school playing it, and while he was maybe exaggerating,
I wasn't. I would sit in the school jazz room jamming away my free periods
and if an unlucky guitar or bass player walked in I would force them to play
me a I-IV-V, and at home I would go on harptabs and just browse (although
most of this is badly transcribed 1st position pop music which I've since
forgot; the only real song I've retained is Low Rider lol). The Linkin Park
and NWA on my iPod Nano was slowly replaced with Blues Traveler and Huey
Lewis, and from there on to Sonny Boy II and Little Walter and Lee Oskar and
Howard Levy and Sugar Blue, and from there on to Muddy Waters and Howling
Wolf and so on. I think the only artist on there now who was on there 7
months ago is B.B. King, but then again everybody loves B.B. King.

Anyway, before this, like most Asian children my mother tried to wean me on
piano, cello, violin, and ironically, harp (although not the harp we know
and love, although I'm thinking I should have stayed on it long enough to
learn a 12 bar shuffle for maximum irony) but none of those stuck. I just
didn't feel them. But I was always drawn to the 32-hole green Parrot
harmonica that sat in my mother's bedroom, and I guess that translates to
now, where I've become so entranced with this instrument that I've actually
signed up to a mailing list for it.

So anyway, I come to ask all ya'll for help - where should I go now? Thanks
to the wonders of YouTube, I have a sample of where my playing stands:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo-egI_q9us

So be harsh and honest because I'm considering making this instrument an
even bigger part of my life, but before I do this, I need some opinions as
to if it's worth it, and then I need some advice as to where to go. Should I
continue learning old-school licks, listening to Sonny Terry and Junior
Wells obsessively; should I take it to heart to master overblows and
precision bending so I may make use of the few battered Special 20's I have
left; or is there something else I should do? Most importantly, what could I
improve about my playing?

Your help is greatly appreciated and will be remembered. Thank you.

Much love,

Tony



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