[Harp-L] Practice Makes Better -- Parts 1 & 2

[Elizabeth Hess <TrackHarpL@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A friend that I met at the 2012 SPAH convention attended Jon Gindick's seminar called "Beginning and Intermediate Troubleshooting".  He told me that the one thing that came up repeatedly was that people said they didn't practice enough.  "In fact," he said, "It was almost like a 12-step meeting for people who don't practice:  'Hi, my name is Liz, and I don't practice,' 'Hi, my name is Beth, and I don't practice...'"

I have heard of people who practice hours per day.  I tried to work myself up to that amount and almost burned out before scaling back and finding an amount of practice that is right for me (at present).  And I always wonder how those people  *structure*  hours of practice per day in a way that is productive rather than mind numbing.

Looking forward to the 2013 convention, I am thinking of asking for a seminar slot in which to offer a non-dogmatic guided discussion about various aspects of practicing, with the objective of giving participants a wide variety of ideas in hopes that people who don't practice might get some traction on the issue.

This post -- one of a series -- is to invite members of this list to offer ideas and suggestions.

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Part 1:  Quick Fixes

A common reason for not practicing is not having enough time.  What are some things one can do that will improve one's playing in a tiny amount of time?

Some that I already know about include long tones, an exercise called "bend dropping", an exercise called "bend swooping", playing a favorite melody every day (or a different melody every day), various techniques such as shakes, octaves, tongue slaps, vibrato, chugging.

Other suggestions?

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Part 2:

Topics for Discussion

Some ideas I have so far include noise abatement, things one can practice  *without*  a harmonica, record keeping, structuring long sessions, feeling overwhelmed, feeling bored, tools and toys (e.g. a metronome, software that people have found especially helpful, etc.), ear training.

Other suggestions?

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Future requests for suggestions will be based on the contents of and responses to Part 2, and I will modify the subject headings accordingly, to keep the threads distinct.

Obviously there is no single right answer.  I'm looking for ideas that different people might warm up to and want to run with.  Please feel free to respond on or off list.  I encourage people not to include the entirety of this post in their answers.

Thanks in advance,
Elizabeth H. (aka "Tin Lizzie")