hi gang (smile)))

I feel like I'm truly beginning to evolve as a harmonica player.

At first, I was bombarded with soo much information, that I frittered this way and that way with no real direction. I just wanted to play... and I did that. But as time goes on, I'm getting more serious about my focus.

I've mentioned how I try to practice for a 1/2 hour to hour a day... which is a good habit, but I was stagnating as a harpist with no real direction. I read up and learned all about playing different positions, particularly cross harpin (2nd position), and that's all good, but I've recently come to the conclusion that to develop a good "ear" I really need to learn to play straight harp (1st position, the key of the song) and get those single notes down like second nature.

Also, in order for the quality of my tone to become excellent, I need to inject more emotion into my playing. If you really want to know how well you're playing, I highly suggest recording yourself. You'll be suprized by the playback. (wink, grin))) So now, I've got a new approach I'm workin' on.

Instead of just reading and playing the tabs, I'm going to memorize the songs I'm learning. I'll focus on playing straight harp well while puttin' my 'heart' into it.

My new plan is to spend a 1/2 a day on memorizing a new tune & gaining a "good ear" in 1st position. The I'll spend time playing a song I've already memorized and work on improvising on the sounds & my techniques.

My hope is to become more in intimate with my harmonicas. Over time, I'd like to be able to create a "Maria style" of my own.

I'd like to hear other's practice plan??? Any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

~always Maria.

You should start posting some lessons for the new players, it sounds like you have figured out a good method to learn.

I agree 100%. Wanting to play because you like the sound of the harp will never give you the satisfaction of what you hear professionals do. Playing cross harp is the ultimate goal but it isn't something a beginner should even try.

Learning how to play the straight harp tabs, being able to play them from memory and with the same inflection as the actual song should be manditory before attempting cross harp. Once you can play the songs and hit the correct notes without thinking about them or hitting the wrong notes, you've started to understand the note layout. On a C harp, do something simple like play low C then quickly high C without looking or thinking about what hole to use (hint blow 4 and 7).

Learning to play a harp is like taking martial arts. Just because you just earned a black belt doesn't mean you know martial arts. It just means you know the basics. Now you have to perfect your skills until movements become second nature and you don't think about what you do but just react. That's what all the different grades of black belt mean.

Now think of that as playing the harp. First you learn the very basics. You'll play some scales then some simple melodies. You work up to more difficult tabs. After lots of practice, you can pick up a harp and start to play along with a song you hear on the radio. Possibly still hitting a few wrong notes. If you have enough skill you may even do a little improve during pauses or instrumental sections in the song. At that stage, you've learned enough about note layout that the next progression would be to learn to cross harp and more bend notes. Until that point, we're all still beginners.

I've only been practicing for a few months. As far as I'm concerned, I don't think I should even worry about cross harping for at least a year. Skill level will increase as you practice more but never expect to be able to play like the harp sounds you hear in music as a beginner.

Thanx for the great input Stephen. I really do feel like I'm on the right track. (grin))) It would be lovely to pick up the harmonica and bend, chug, and tongue slap like a pro, but the practicality when I pick up a harp, isn't there without first learning the basics.

Nick, I will be posting my development as I progress with my new & feasible practice plan for becoming a "solid" harmonica player. (smile)))

~always Maria.

P.S.: Stephen, have you ever noticed that our screen-names are very similar? BlueWest and Zephyrazure mean about the same thing except zephyr refers to west wind. Anyway, I think your name is kewl. (shagrin)))

I like the blues and live in the west so the the name was appropriate. I was thinking of something more like a blues player name but things like Big S just wasn't going to cut it.

I see/feel lots of chinook winds being on the east side of the Canadian rockies.

Maria,

When you say spend 1/2 a day memorizing, do you mean repeating the tab over and over mentally, or actually playing that much?

My best song is "Dust in the Wind." I can play some others, but they are much shorter, and beyond that, I only have memorized short segments or riffs from others. With a wife, five kids and a full-time job, it would be impossible for me to do that kind of practice everyday and do anything else
as well.

What works for me is to practice 10-30 minutes a day when I can, usually in the evenings at home. The other times are in the car, coming from work, (going to work I am drinking coffee and I do not like to put a coffee mouth to a harp) sometimes during lunch, and lately when a group of us at work are in a truck, moving equipment or going from one athletic field to another; it seems natural when I am riding on the back of a truck at the 20 mph Campus speed limit to take up the harp and play a tune. My co-workers seem to enjoy it...

To memorize a tune means playing it over and over until you can play it complete, properly and without any mistakes. Next time you go see any band, ask them how many times they're practiced a particular song before they decide to perform it. Just like when I took piano lessons when I was a kid, you play the same songs over and over again. Eventually you get better and better.

A good example is the movie Groundhog Day. Bill Murrey wants to play the piano. His first attempt is terrible but during the weeks/months/years that he keeps practicing, he becomes a skilled musician.

As I've mentioned before, memorizing the notes helps to know the song but you must practice the musical instrument over and over until playing the notes becomes second nature.

I just posted one of Martina McBrides new songs. It's an old Eddie Arnold song Make the World go Away. I just listened to the full CD the first time. The second time I played it, I was blowing on the harp to find the right notes. By the third time I heard the song, I was playing the harp to exactly the same notes. The song must be in the key of C to make it so easy. I tabbed the song in about 10 minutes and posted it last night. I tried to play along with some of the other songs but didn't have as much luck. I can't keep up to the faster tempo songs yet and hit the right notes. Just takes more practice.

All of these are good plans. I think that attempting to play something you LIKE/Love is very important (motavation?). That's what I have done for years. One thing I would like to suggest (even for beginners) is find a relativley simple (i.e. no John Popper or Suger Blue) cross harp song that you LIKE/Love, and try to imitate it. For me, when I started, it was an early Fabulous Thunderbirds (Kim Wilson) version of Slim Harpo's "Scratch my Back" song in "E" on a "A" harp. Then I moved on to Slim's other songs. "Raining in My Heart" Ect. Then I moved on to other more complicated songs that I LIKE/Love. Some Lee Oscar "Platinum Jazz" and "River Niger" off of War's Platinum Jazz album. Some Greg "Fingers" Taylor and so on. Any way that mixed with learning from books and lesson CDs is one way to learn.
There is something that I always wished was available, and that is the ability to take a harmonica part OUT of a song, but still keep all of the rest of the music in that song. That way you could try to be the harp player for that song. This would be a mission, "should you decide to accept it" for the computer dudes/dudettes among you-Nick? any one?
Keep Wailing, Pat the Harp Rat

Something like that would require so major sound software, unless you have it already split into each instruments seperate recordings (which is impossible unless you have the studio's orginals). I don't have much experience working on Sound in that matter but I believe the high-end software has the ability to do that.

I am relatively new to harp but have played guitar for years. I have found the best way to learn new songs/techniques is to practice for short lengths of time say 30 minutes to 2 hours, then put the instrument down for a while, at least a few hours. In the first session I focus on memorizing the song, I break it into sections and play each section once or twice while reading the tab, then straight away start trying to play from memory only looking at the tab when I get stuck. It is surprising how fast you can progress with this, if you keep looking at the tab while as you play it will take a LOT longer to memorize. Depending on the complexity of the song and how often it repeats itself, I will usually have it pretty well memorised in that first 30min to 2 hour session. Of course if you practice like this all the time you will get better at memorizing the song in this fashion quickly.

After that it is pointless to keep playing it IMO, you need to leave it alone and allow the connections to be made, its how our memory works. After a few hours or the next day I play the song again, you will usually find it comes much easier after this break. At this stage I have the tab handy, there are usually a few tricky bits that need reinforcing and I like to make sure I am playing at least close to the tab. After this session the song will be in memory and I can focus on expression, adding the feel to it, getting the timing right etc.

I really believe you need to get the song memorized as soon as possible, read a bar or two of tab, look away from the tab and play it, dont keep playing while looking at the tab all the time. By not looking at the tab as you play you force yourself to memorize it quickly, you stop thinking about numbers on the paper and start thinking about the tune and it flows naturally. If you practice new things for too long you start making mistakes AND then you start reinforcing them. Thats why I always stop once I can play at least most of the song by memory. After a break the song comes out without have to think about it too much, and I can concentrate on other aspects besides the right notes and chords to play.

Just my 2 cents anyway.

That's good input Graham. (smile)))

I don't have enough time to invest in 2 hour sessions at a time in my practicing, so I take it in smaller segments while I'm memorizing a new tune. So, it takes me a few days to get a song down good (depending on the length of song). I do it in 20 to 30 minute sessions. I'll spend about 15 minutes learning a new song and then move on to songs I already know. This seems to continue to reinforce what I'm doing.

Since starting my "new practice plan" I have gotten better at "hearing" the music in my head... and it really is helping me develop a good "ear." (smile)))

My husband has been playing the guitar for over 10 years, and he's got a great ear. He can listen to the radio and pick out music he just heard for the 1st time. I think that is such a talent and how I'd like to be able to play someday... with lots of practice.

One more note... I realized recently that I wasn't playing "acoustically." So this week, I've been practicing on getting a nice tight cupping. It really makes a difference how the quality of the sound comes out.

~always Maria.

FOR THOSE WITHOUT ALOT OF PRACTICE TIME

I think it's important to remember that it isn't the quantity of songs you can play, but the quality of your playing.

It's better to be able to play a few songs really well, then to be able to play alot of songs, poorly.

If you don't have a lot of practice time, work on one song, until you get it down right.



Post Edited (02-09-06 17:09)

Wailer wrote: It's better to be able to play a few songs really well, then to be able to play alot of songs, poorly

Hi Sam (smile))) I totally agree with you. Lately, I've been too busy workin' to get a full 1/2 hour of practice in a day. I've been practicing in 5 to 10 minutes snatches & concentrating on just one or two songs because I want to play 'em well.

In my opinion, I'm still comin' across too mechanical in my playing, so I've been workin' on my tone quality, playing legato, and a few acoustic tricks to add more dynamic depth to the sound.

Those players I like to listen to 'mix it up.' They'll mix chords w/ single notes... pucker with tongue block... manipulate the reeds w/ bends & overblows... use their diphram in their vibrato... open & close their hands (acoustics) for interesting dynamics... and much more. Put it all together and ya get awesome music. (smile)))

There's alot to becoming a decent harmonica player, and I do get overwhelmed when I look at it all at once. My fear is I'll never be good enough. (shagrin))) But, I will admit that since starting this new practice plan that I have gotten better (others have told me so). I just have to be patient because I want to play like a pro yesterday! lol

Anyway, I've got 3 tunes that I'm focused on playing well right now, "Scarborough Fair," "the Wild Rover," and "You are my Sunshine." I've got them fairly well memorized and have been workin' on the above "mix" to add those interesting qualities to make 'em sound better.

I do have some more Irish tunes that I've been slowly tabbin' out. Because my time is short, it's been a slow process. And since I don't like to submit "gobbly-gook," I've been takin' my time before I'll add them to this site. (smile))) I got knocked down from 4th to 7th place on the "largest contributors" section on the front page, when Nick changed the point system. (sad face) hehehehe

~always Maria.