Re: [Harp-L] which hole number I'm playing at now?

[Wolf Kristiansen <wolfkristiansen@xxxxxxxx>]

Arnold Wiliem said,

"I'm having difficulty when filling up a music in a band or just improvise.
The problem is that most of the time, I don't know what hole that I'm
playing at. I play by my feeling and by using my ear. And this weakness
makes me out of tune sometimes, or can't recall good patterns that I played
before. Any suggestions how do I practice so that I'm able to know what hole number that I'm playing at?"

Much of which has been said by others one way or another, but here's my take on the question--

Keep relying on your feeling and your ear.  I don't think it matters terribly if you do or don't know what hole number you're playing at.  I think it's more important to trust your ears.  If the note fits, it's good, whether you know the hole number or not.  

Something else I concluded, long ago, is that if one blow note works, an adjacent blow note will likely also work if you happen to hit it by accident.  Similarly many of the draw notes will nicely substitute for the one you were aiming at.  That's the advantage of the HARMONICa-- adjacent notes harmonize with each other.  This is a rank generalization, but it's more important to know when to blow and when to draw, than to know the exact note.  Before anyone jumps on me, I acknowledge I've left out the question of bent notes.  And, the truth is, I am very precise in my own playing.  I don't practice what I've just preached about going for just any old hole.

The whole idea of knowing the hole number, or caring, is foreign to me.  I've never looked at the numbers on a harmonica to ascertain what hole I'm playing.  My ears, and the feel of the harp in my mouth, certainly tell me whether I'm playing the first hole or the tenth hole, or some hole in between, but I never think about that.  It's the sound that guides me.

Think of all the blind players who learned by ear and feel.  They didn't need to see their finger positions or harmonica position.  Ray Charles, Roland Kirk, Stevie Wonder, Sonny Terry on keyboards, saxophone and harmonicas, respectively. They certainly knew where they were on their instruments, but I suspect it wasn't from concentrating on the key or key-pad designation or hole number.

I play entirely by ear.  I never learned to read music, and I'm too old now.  

This is just an aside, but a classical pianist approached me once after hearing me play harmonica.  She said, "I see you play by ear; how do you do it?  I can only play with a sheet of music in front of me."  I was truly puzzled.  The idea of not being able to play by ear was foreign to me. I didn't know what to tell her.  All I could come up with was, "Go to the room your piano is in, at night.  Turn off the lights.  Sit by your piano. Hit a key, any key.  Listen to the note.  Hit another key.  Listen to the note.  Keep doing it until you have some idea of the sound your fingers produce when you have to rely only on your ears."  

I've not checked whether she took my advice or whether it was any help.

Anyways, Arnold, I agree with the posters who said, one way or another, that you should practice diligently.  I predict you won't have the same question after playing, and practising, for another 12 months; in fact you will be surprised it was ever an issue.

Cheers,

wolf kristiansen


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