Re: [Harp-L] The Future of Blues Harmonica? = New Thread

[Elizabeth Hess <TrackHarpL@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Okay, I'll bite.

For me it's a double-edged sword.  I learned to do some tech work on my own harps.  I consider my efforts to be rudimentary, but I can tell the difference between a harp I've worked on and one that's fresh out of the box.  The result has been that I'm much pickier.  Frankly I'm  *afraid*  to try a fully-customized harp, because I think of "diatonic harp" as a set of 13 harps (one in each key plus low F), and I simply cannot afford that many fully-customized harps.  If I had one or two, I might disdain all my other harps, and then where would I be?

I learned how to overbend in tandem with getting better at gapping and arcing, so in that way I can say that learning to work on my harps has improved my technique.  It took about a year and a half for me to get mostly consistent on overbending on  *one* harp.  I am daunted by what I will have to do to get the other 12 to that point.  And some of the unbent notes on my one overbend harp still stick, occasionally, so I still don't trust it to use in performance (just open blues jams, but still).

My parents taught me, "Buy the best instrument you can afford, and study with the best teacher who will have you."  I have since decided that just because some parents might be able to afford the moon, doesn't necessarily mean they would be right to put a Stradivarius in the hands of their eight-year-old and sign her up to study with Joshua Bell.

Elizabeth (aka "Tin Lizzie")


On Sep 12, 2012, at 7:22 AM, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> From: Matthew Smart <matthewsmart@xxxxxxxxx>
> Date: September 12, 2012 2:52:43 AM CDT
> To: Sam Friedman <sammyasher@xxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] The Future of Blues Harmonica? = New Thread
> 
> 
> Interesting comments Mr. Friedman. It has inspired me to create another thread.
> 
> And that is my feeling that learning to customize your harmonica (at least at rudimentary levels) makes you a better player. I'd love to hear other peoples thoughts on this.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> Now, this is just one example, I can think of many, but I will let others respond.
> 
> Kindly,
> Matthew
> hetrickharmonica.com