Re: [Harp-L] Learning, Grammar and Theory

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

As one respected player/producer said:
"Theory without practice is ineffective.  Practice without theory is inefficient."

It's worse to be ineffective than inefficient.  That means practice is the first priority.  But sooner or later you fall into a rut unless you learn some theory.  You have to.  There are doors that don't open unless you know what you're doing.  Ears are your most important tool, but they're not the only tool you need to increase your skills, day after day and year after year.

I've heard so many harp players say that there's something unique and magical about harp--that unlike every other instrument, you play harp better when you don't know what you're doing.  It's like the inverse of the bad attitude many other musicians have about harp--instead of saying that harp is uniquely stupid, we say harp is uniquely cool.  The common mistake is thinking that all the rules that apply to other instruments (like, for example, the rule that it's the player, not the horn, that's uniquely cool) don't apply to harp.  I shouldn't be surprised at this point when I hear harp players claim that different rules apply to harp than to anything else in music.  I've been hearing it for decades, after all.  But I'm still surprised when I hear a musician claim that he plays better on alcohol or dope, too, and I've been hearing that since I was, like, 15. 

By the way, please don't let's start a flame war over whether people play better on alcohol or dope. If you think you play better on either, you're welcome to your opinion, just like you're welcome to the opinion that you'll play better harp when you can't name the notes on your instrument or the chords those notes form.  If you suffer from either of those attitudes, the simple fact is that I'm going to get more gigs and better gigs than you, because the people who hire musicians for the best gigs don't want to waste their time and money dealing with dopes, and that goes double for dopes on dope.

Come to think of it, forget everything I said above.  Do me a favor.  Don't learn to read music, don't learn any theory, and make sure you show up for every gig or rehearsal loaded.  I can use the work.

Regards, Richard Hunter
latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://myspace.com/richardhunterharp