A pupil just sent me a message that he felt like packing it in after discovering Brendan Power, and feeling that he could never reach that level.I felt the same the first time i heard his New Irish Harmonica album, but am still working at it and have no doubt i will be able to keep him on board. Was wondering about other players and their moments of crisis,who caused it and how did they cope? Did Brendan Power ever have a similar 'moment',and who inspired it?
I get that all the time. There are many times I've wanted to jack it in but come to realise that the like of BP are an exception to the rule and that there are plenty of competent lower grade players about. If I can get to lower grade, I'd be happy.
When I began to really get into harp, I well knew there would always be someone 'better' than me, right around the corner.
I've tried to stay focused on the fact of it being my own journey with music and harmonica as a the vehicle, and not get caught up in feeling discouraged by the skill level of those exemplary players, but rather, gain inspiration from those guys.
"After all",I tell myself, "they've all been playing a lot longer than I have, or started at a much younger age, or both.
"If I put as much work into it as they have, I'll get there one day", etc.
I play out all the time, and with some great players, playing quite a variety of music in my local area, so I feel pretty good about what I can contribute to a musical ensemble, and all that without being a really advanced player(basically 3 positions and some chromatic).
I keep working at my craft, I keep really enjoying the process,I keep playing with others, what else can you do?
Don't quit, just keep plugging away, and guess what? You tend to get better at what you do.
There will ALWAYS be someone better than you - unless you're willing to make harmonica the only thing in your life and practice for years, like some of them did. Accept it and enjoy. There is NOBODY who will play and sound just like you.
Let the chips fall where they may - we get out what we put in... Brendan is DEDICATED to the advancement of the harmonica and musical excellence...And his chips fall in the category of Professional Musicianship.
Arduous hard work should produce the results in time that your pupil desires to experience. I always looked at the Master players as proof that what I would some day like to be able to do can actually be done. Are the GREATS intimidating "YES", but always remember... they earned it!
The first time I saw Jason Ricci,it put me in serious depression. I was ready to throw my harps off a bridge.I had no knowledge of overblows or most of his techniques. Over time,I grew to at least understand what he was doing. Since then,I've lost count of the number of harp players that totally blow me away. If I worried about all those who are better than me,I'd be in a corner in the fetal position. I just have fun and never stop learning.
As a still pretty green player I attended Chris Michalek's Global Harmonica Summit in Minneapolis in 2000. My hotel was across the Mississippi river from the Cedar Cultural Centre where most of the workshops were held. Not only did I have to face the long walk back over the river after hearing Brendan Power for the first time but also had to do that long slow march back after hearing Chris, Howard, Carlos, Kim, Robert, Toots, etc.,etc.....on and on. I learned quickly to leave my harps at the hotel so as to avoid the obvious temptation... ---------- MBH Webbrain - a GUI guide to Adam's Youtube vids FerretCat Webbrain - Jason Ricci's vids (by hair colour!)
@andysheep: I'm honoured but a bit worried to have caused you such consternation!
In answer to your question, I've had several such 'moments', with the likes of Little Walter, Charlie McCoy, Toots Thielemans, Stevie Wonder, Howard Levy, Jason Ricci.
Hearing those players for the first time has made me really sit back in disbelief and wonder how the hell they were doing what they did. Thank goodness I didn't hear them all at once, or I definitely would have given up!
As the others have said, close study and hard work can unlock the secrets of even the greatest players. Nowadays it's a lot easier than when I started, as the learning tools are so much better and more easily available.
After listening to only Blues harp players for 2-3 years (Rice Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson II) was my top guru), I remember being blown away by the speed and accuracy of Charlie McCoy's playing. Clearly he was in 2nd Position but wha....!!!
So I switched his LPs to 16 RPM on my record turntable and he came out sounding like a tenor sax - but half the speed. That enabled me to hear the nuances of what he was doing at a pace I could start to grasp, and slowly I started assimilating his fabulous, ground-breaking style.
Now we have great software for that: 'Transcribe', 'The Amazing Slow Downer' etc etc. I can't stress enough how useful those tools are. Just slow the bastards down and you can get a handle on what they're doing!
In addition, many of the greats are up there on YouTube giving away their tricks for free. Jason is a great example, and if you want to learn from Howard he has his own online school. You'll still need that slow-down software though!
"The first time I saw Jason Ricci,it put me in serious depression" Same for me, but only for 5 seconds. From the sixth on, I thought he was an extraterrestrial, and found it soothing.
Yikes! What a great place this forum is, within hours of having a pupil ready to chuck his harps in the river and himself in after them, people like Brendan take the time and trouble to help out with advice.Might have to put my prices up! Cheers all, Andy
@Brendan "Thank goodness I didn't hear them all at once, or I definitely would have given up!" Certainly would have been riveting tho! Oops, harmonica joke, sorry . . . G
I love Brendan's "New Irish Harmonica" and "Two Trains Running" CD's (and his others as well)... he is definitely in the category of having a unique sound that his very hard to imitate.
And if you cannot "imitate" it, then you get that feeling of "giving up". The "problem" with Brendan, and maybe this is what makes up "his sound" is his special tunings.
Even with "slowdowning" software (I use Audacity), it is impossible to play "like Brendan" unless you at least start with the same alternate-tuned harmonica (or half-valved harmonicas, etc).
Yeah, takes a lot of practice and dedication, and I'll never catch-up at my age (58)... but I keep playing what I can play and learning new things, and sharing what I can with beginners.
Carlos del Junco is another one who is just in a category all by himself too. Love his playing !
And PT Gazell of course with his half-valved harps...but he was amazing years before that on a regular richter-tuned harp!
I could go one with others... I'm just a hobbiest, and love the harp !
Last Edited by on Aug 29, 2012 2:10 PM
I think for beginners, its good to be exposed to all kinds of levels of playing, so they know what the capability of the harmonica is.
And its a must to have performers to inspire you to find "the sound" that is in you... that "sound" will change and get better as time goes by and you practice, learn, and listen.
Its very hard to "give up" when you are inspired.
Last Edited by on Aug 29, 2012 2:19 PM
Those fortunate enough to have attended that Minneapolis Harmonica Summit got to hear Brendan in a duo with Dean Rutledge - one of the highlights for me of that weekend.
Aside from impressing by virtuosity and Irish stuff, Brendan is a consummate side musician as is evident by his playing on a few Mary Black sessions - perhaps some of the most beautiful work I've heard aside from Norton Buffalo's chromatic work on Kenny Loggins' "December" release. ---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by on Aug 29, 2012 5:10 PM
I've never had that "moment". When I frist started playing I just wanted to be able to play at a level that I considered good enough for me. Yes I have though I'll never be as good as .......... or .......... It just doesn't matter. It should never be a reason to pack it in.
1) Just because you are not the best, it doesn't mean you are not good.
2) I have told many of the harp players in our club, "you're good enough", and meant it. They use to be happy with that until they "over thought" about it. :)
3) I consider myself "good enough", and I'm happy with it. ---------- theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
i was glad i kept playing until i realized that i didn't feel "less than" when there were good harmonicas in the room. getting to that level of ease and comfort with my own skills made my playing far more pleasureable.
As a kiwi i got to see Brendan live way back when he first started out. He wasn't a 'Gus' as such but he was pretty persistent in asking bands if he could sit in on a song. To be honest way back then he didn't always sound too good but to be fair jumpin' up and playing through a vocal mike ,well it don't always work in a small noisy feedback prone pub. But: He sure improved quickly and basically left the blues alone ,it seemed ,to concentrate on other genres' I was told once by a flatmate of his that Brendan gave up work for a year so he could put in the time needed to reach his goal..Harmonica mastery! And he was known to basically disappear for days into his bedroom to work on his Harps and practice. I'm not trying to be a gossip here but just emphasising what we all inherently know..if you want to be good you've got to practice Brendan is a world class player and deserves his reputation but if you want to get as good as him..well? Personally i am happy in my own little universe of 2nd(3rd) position 12've bar blues..where i well deserve to be. As an aside Brendan is to me the most readily identifiable player on the planet,3 notes and i know its him. There's a thread: Which 3 players could you confidently identify in (say) 2 Bars (of music ;-) ) My three: Brendan Power Charlie Musselwhite Mark Ford
and this means confident enough to lay a weeks pay on it. And the other guys name is Bubba and he controls the soap ^
It just so happened that as I was reading this post I was listening to the awesome "Iron Lungs" Album featuring three outstanding Harmonica players doing some great arrangements of traditional tunes and more. Brendan Power, Mick Kinsella, and Rick Epping. Highly recommended and inspiring if you have not heard it before.
@ Steamrollin Stan: I hope you didn't ever box while playing harmonica at the same time! :) That would be some hard knocks for sure.
i love all the different things ,OB`S etc.that players are using now.but myself,i look at playing blues on a harp as modal,like an open tuned guitar.i`m happy with the modal lines it`s more like singing chants...if i listen to alot of chromatic lines done on a diatonic harp,i think i rather hear a sax blow that line, much more resonance.maby after 42 yrs. of blowin` i`m set in my way`s
Man, I love to hear harmonica players that are better, especially waaay better than me. What's excruciating is listening to a harmonica player who is not as good, or only moderately better.
I never hear someone and think "I'll never be that good". I just wonder how many thousand more hours of practice I would need to get to their level and know they have put in about that many. I sit back and enjoy listening to them reap the rewards of THEIR hard work.
It's been a few years since I've seen Kyle Rowland. He's a student of Mick Martin. The first time that I saw him, James Cotton let him up on the stage at an outdoor show in Sacramento. Kyle was probably about 14 years old at the time.
Some smart ass in the audience said something like, "that kid plays pretty good for a white boy." Cotton grabbed a mic and said something like, "Skin color doesn't matter. The boy can play." He went on to tell a brief story about how he was younger when he got his start with Sonny Boy Williamson.
I think the main thing is wherever you are at with your harmonica journey is to enjoy it. Greg said it, & it applies to just about every thing, ie someone will always be better.
I love the playing of great players like Brendan & Howard but I set my sights somewhat closer & pick players, not too far ahead of me, to emulate. I try to play with musicians who are better than me in an effort to improve. I know I play much better with good musicians supporting me.
Even those who are top professional players must at times be in awe of the techniques & skills of others within their ranks? There is lots to learn and we are all 'beginners' at something. It's a lifetime journey & I for one left my run way too late. But I'm having fun.
I had such moments in the past. But all was really strange. John Popper, Jason Ricci, Howard Levy. But Jason Ricci actually still the only player from whom I like to stole something more, possible John Popper. Howard Levy was incredible for me but after jamming with him, getting personal lesson and then some time of analizing my feels I understanded that I'm not more interested in working at his direction. Actually for last two years I'm happy in my own direction and I almost stopped comparing myself with other harmonica players. ---------- Excuse my bad English. Click on my photo or my username for my music.
