RE: [Harp-L] Practice makes better : part 5 record yourself

[Steve Shaw <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

I agree with you, but would also point out that many people freeze in front of a microphone, even when alone at home. I'm one of 'em. I try to record on my Zoom H4 some of the Irish tunes I provide with my Harmonica World articles, for the NHL website, and I hardly ever end up even remotely happy with what I've done. I think there's something going on in the head that's hard to defeat: you know you're going to listen back, and you know that you are going to be your own most strident critic. That is excellent, of course, but it can also stop you from playing at your best. I always feel really happy to be playing my jigs and reels in my natural habitat, i.e. sitting round a table down the pub! I think it's important to record yourself in the setting in which you play as well as in the clinical environment of your home, in front of that deadly recording machine. You don't want to be constantly hearing only stuff that makes you feel that you're next to useless.
Having said that, I've found that two areas in particular always flag themselves up when I listen back to my recordings: does my sense of internal rhythm/timing need working on? Is my playing "flat" and can I do something to give my music more "lift?" 
   
> No matter what you are working on, if you don't keep a record, you won't know how far you've gone.
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> It's not enough to make a check mark each day on a calendar.
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> Recording devices are relatively cheap: iphone, ipad, ipod --radio shack recorder.
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> You may find that you are making improvements even when you think you are not.
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> And if you find that after several days, each day's effort sounds as bad as the day before, perhaps you ought to work on something else -- or get some professional help.
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