RE: [Harp-L] practicing

["Bradford Trainham" <bradford.trainham@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

For me, practice is a combination of the things I already know how to do and
a deliberate stretch to learn the newer things or to get the newer stuff
down better. 
I don't know why, but I usually start off practicing by picking up my Marine
Band 365, a lovable 14-hole harp with the air of the ungainly about it.
I'll usually open up with some hybrid of the licks that would support the
Band's version of Long Black Veil and the old Little Feat instrumental
Lafayette Railroad. Even though the second song isn't in G and I'm playing
of necessity on that harp in G, I love being able to milk those bends up to
the major third on the draw three. 
After I've done that a while, I break a sweat and then, it's time to pick up
the Special 20's for the real practice.
For some reason, then, those Special 20's seem so responsive, so reactive
that the new stuff feels possible/doable. 
The bad side of my practice routine... Is that all my prize harps sit on a
shelf next to an old rocking chair which my ex-wife inexplicably agreed to
let me have.
I found out two days ago.. .that I've gained ten pounds somewhere in the
past six to seven months, a span of time which tellingly coincides with the
evolution of this, my practice routine. 
Okay, so if I'm not exercising like I should, at least, that Marine Band 365
is giving me a bit of a pulmonary workout, right?
Brad Trainham
 

-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Ken Deifik
Sent: Monday, September 01, 2008 11:42 AM
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] practicing

At 04:28 AM 9/1/2008, Jim wrote:
>Had an interesting chat with a Berkley grad--he was talking about 
>practice being the place to push yourself, to play stuff you don't 
>already know. I think of practice as the place to cement what I already 
>know--the goal being to have the music be transcendent, have it just 
>pour out without thinking about it.
>
>Neither side of the argument is wrong.

I'm not clear on why you've turned this into an either/or.  (Frankly, my
guess is that I'm just reading you incorrectly.)  Both types of practice are
vital.

At the beginning of my practice session I warm up by practicing playing what
I already know.  Pefecting everything from licks to my overall approach to
constructing solos, to dynamics.  I play blues, fiddle tunes and rhythm
licks.  Metronome blasting away, fast then slow then fast.

This leads me quite naturally into new stuff, stuff I don't already know.

I hit a place, somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes in where all I hear
coming out of the harp is stuff I don't already know, much of which I will
never hear again, though sometimes I turn on the Zoom H2.  Most of the time
I do not care if I ever hear a melody again, because the minute new melodies
start flowing out I am reassured that there are infinite melodies and I can
tap into the place where they flow out on demand, as long as I keep
practicing every day.

I find the 'practicing what I already know' part the most challenging,
because I try to keep a lid on 'new' ideas as long as I can.  That way they
finally burst out.

It's also challenging to practice a rhythm lick at high speed for five
minutes, but that seems to improve my accuracy, endurance and concentration
every day, so it's worth it.

A word on concentration.  I sense that the moment most of us put a harp in
our mouth it becomes the main focus.  I don't have to try to concentrate on
harp, do you?  In fact, I like getting input from an audience or the people
in a control booth while I'm also focused on the harp.  But there are
moments when I must exclude everything but the harp.  For instance when I'm
asked to repeat a passage I just improvised.  That's when I need to put my
concentration into fifth gear, and am glad that one can develop the facility
to do so.

One last bit: I sense that I am not the only one to experience something I
call "Harp Face."  That is a moment in my practice session when the muscles
I use to play harp 'set' into a position that is apparently optimal for harp
playing, because everything really flows after that moment.

Does anyone know what I mean about Harp Face?

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