Re: [Harp-L] Practice and the mind

[icemanle@xxxxxxx]

-----Original Message-----
From: sam blancato <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx>


So, first I got each 12 bar segment down and the order that they're played.
Then I worked on executing the song smoothly and with feeling.  By the end
of the summer of 2002 I could play the whole thing but I always made
mistakes here and there and this continued  to be the case for a couple of
years.  Sometimes while practicing, I actually got much worse at it as I
went along until I was just butchering the whole thing miserably.  

The other aspect of my performance of this song that was difficult was that
while Kim Wilson (as well as the trio backing him up on the song) plays the
song in a relaxed and restrained way, when I listened to my version on tape
(I  taped myself playing the song)I sounded kind of desperate and agitated.
This I later learned was because of my poor breath control.  It effected my
timing dramatically.  I'd start running of lung capacity during certain
passages and couldn't make a lot of notes decay properly. 




Herein lies what I've discovered, after years of teaching and reflection, is the LONG road to understanding. 

Instead of approaching music and solos from the inside, discovering where inspiration and flow live, this?path examines the process from a distance. What Sam has done is try to reproduce, note for note, someone else's relaxed flow without understanding relaxed flow. The result, as Sam (and so many others) has found, is desperate and agitated in execution. Although Sam could spend months/years clearing up this problem, there is a shorter path.

Instead of learning by rote or memorization the flow of another, discover how to express the flow that exists within yourself at whatever level you play. Granted, you won't be executing ideas as advanced or sophisticated as Kim Wilson (who, by the way, has two important facts working to his advantage - 1) He's spent a LOT more hours with a harmonica in his mouth, and 2) He's put himself in a position where his soul/sole income and focus is on ONE endeavor - professional musician).

If Sam gave up his day job and started busking in the Underground in England as his sole means of survival, he would no doubt get much better faster, finding through necessity the flow and how not to run out of lung capacity.

Alternately, a shorter path may be found in discovering one's own flow and level of idea. If you are true to where you exist in your abilities, even a simple idea or sustained note will make Kim Wilson come up to you, shake your hand and tell you that he was moved by your performance.

In other words, don't repeat what Kim Wilson discovered by memorizaion. Rather, discover the place from which Kim Wilson finds his inspiration and express YOURSELF.

The Iceman