Re: [Harp-L] Inexpensive Diatonics for Give-A-Ways



Warren, I'm so glad you raised these thorny questions.  I wanted to, but was afraid that I might come across as a wet blanket, which is not my intent.

I see several contrasts in your query:  Toy vs. serious instrument.  Serving people who have little or no prior exposure to making instrumental music for fun, or serving "the harmonica world".  Short term entertainment for many vs. long-term musicianship for a few.

Bigger questions are:  What turns kids on to music?  What guides their choice of instrument?  What quality of instrument does a budding musician need at what point in eir development in order not to be held back by the instrument?  How will e know?  What is the trade-off between supporting a gifted few with more resources vs. the adequate many with average talent, who nonetheless derive and give great pleasure with "adequate" music making, vs kids who deserve to have fun for a few hours?  How would someone who wanted to run with it identify a teacher, in eir preferred style of music, no less?

I don't think there's a wrong answer, here, but if you clarify for yourself where on the entertainment-education spectrum you want to place your emphasis, I think your choices will be clearer and your presentation maximally coherent.

Elizabeth H. (aka "Tin Lizzie")



On May 24, 2013, at 3:56 AM, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> From: Warren Bee <wbharptime2@xxxxxxxxx>
> Date: May 23, 2013 5:29:05 PM GMT-04:00
> To: Bill Hines <billhines4@xxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Inexpensive Diatonics for Give-A-Ways
> 
> 
> Thanks Bill. Others have contacted me as well. All thoughts appreciated. It
> really is a challenging situation; do I want to, in an affordable way,
> share the harmonica with people at no charge to them? or am I doing the
> harmonica world a disservice by giving away marginal instruments?
> 
> My direction may just be to start by giving away the inexpensive double
> hole tremolo style harps. They sound fun right away and may be a good
> catalyst for them to get the "fever" and seek out better instruments suited
> to their musical interests. It seems the diatonic demands some reasonable
> playability out of the box.
> 
> With that said; one way to look at a first diatonic harp being leaky and
> wheezy would be that again they are a catalyst in lighting the fire in
> their soul.
> 
> Give 'em away or give 'em a lecture on what to buy or keep the harmonica
> joy all to myself. Decisions decisions decisions.
> 
> WB





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