Re: [Harp-L] Following footsteps

[Joseph Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Aug 8, 2012, at 11:20 AM, Degregorio, Jeffery wrote:

> While on vacation north of Houston Texas, my son decided to get a harmonica

Ok, first flag...it was your SON whom decided to get a harmonica...and not YOU. This is a good sign. I am totally against programs that PUT harmonicas in the hands of youngsters. I have always felt that THEY are the ones whom should have WANTED to take up the instrument. And not be prodded, goaded, coaxed, cajoled, even suggested or hinted to do such. It should be THEIR voluntary overt action. A TRUE decision. 

> (I have been playing for a few years now).  He's only 7 but can blow and draw chords and we encourage him along.  What's the best way to keep his interest and when should some type of "formal" training begin?

Watch him for 5 months. If he is still interested, get him someone who knows what they're talking about to help (not PUSH) him. 

>  Basically, what's the best way to teach young children?

Patience. 

>  I suppose if he gets started now, by the time he's 12, can he be a "superstar"???

Let's not DO that. Let's not make it a time machine oriented project. Let's let the progress be at the level that the PLAYER is comfortable with. 

>  Any tips, suggestions, ideas to add, and stories would be great.  I have seen a video of an 8-10 year old girl playing on stage in public about a month or two ago that someone on Harp-L shared, but not sure what it was.  She must have got started somehow.

Let's not dwell on ages. People progress at different levels and speeds. Let a natural course of this river flow on it's own. 

> Thanks,
> Jeff

Here's my (brief version) story. I started out on chromatic first. It was 1956 and I was 12 1/2. By 15 I was playing in a cafe in the park on the Naples It. waterfront. At 16 I was playing at a cafe in the Austerlitz train station Paris. By 17 I turned professional. Local 802 N.Y. My parents wouldn't sign for me to drive. I left home, became a hobo for 10 months, became a navy seebee, worked construction, started a family, life got in the way and I didn't play much for 30 more years. Sure, I would surface every now and then and appear somewhere but I never pushed it. Point? I WAS a professional at 17 but I couldn't get to my job offers. So I quit. If this boy shows promise, don't toss Belgian blocks into the rails of his career train..... :)

smokey-joe