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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
The young Harmonica?
The young Harmonica?
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Harp&Gunman
24 posts
Feb 12, 2015
7:42 AM
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My Highschool bound little sister is in her school chorus. When I was talking to her, she claimed to know some "harmonica guys" who attended chorus also. One day i brought her lunch after work and she showed me her friends who claimed to be "good harmonica players" and as i expected to see these young 15 year old prodigies play, i found that they didn't know any fundamentals like timing, bending, or playing one note.... yeah. after this performance my sister said, "arent they great?" and then winked at me as she told me to get my harmonica case and play some for them... they stared at me as if i was the child of John Popper and Brendan Power.
They immediately backpedaled and said they treated the harmonica as a secondary instrument because they were guitar players. And they were those G, C, Am, D chord guys that i see alot of.
My point is, is this is where the harmonica is going? an easy secondary instrument for basic guitar players? I really hope not... Hopefully this is me being cynical and i know there are great harmonica players who play the guitar equally as good, but it seems that these kids just treated music and the instruments they play as a means to look cool.
Kids... I dont know...
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Harp&Gunman, Blues scale Bang!
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2chops
347 posts
Feb 12, 2015
7:50 AM
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Harp/Gun...You have a wonderful opportunity to show them the way. I bet that if you offer to show them a few things they would jump at the chance. Give it a go & let us know how it turns out. Even if only 1 of them take your offer, it's a victory for the tin sandwich family.
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I'm workin on it. I'm workin on it.
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srussell
7 posts
Feb 12, 2015
8:13 AM
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Harmonica started as a secondary instrument for me - although it's becoming more than that. Now it's my primary instrument especially for collaborating with others. True enough - for high school kids music is often a means to look cool - think how many guys started playing guitar to impress girls. In the music scene around here I see a lot of folk "bob dylan" style players. I think in most instruments go through an ebb and flow of popularity and there are those with every instrument that are content to know just enough to bad music.
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WinslowYerxa
784 posts
Feb 12, 2015
8:21 AM
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Fender's marketing manager told me this: "Most harmonica players are guitar players." That's why harmonicas are listed under "Accessories" on the Fender website.
I think he was specifically referring to the kind of kids the Harp&Gunman encountered. Now we can pull sour faces about this, or we can look at it as an opportunity to pull in some new converts.
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Winslow
Check out my blog and other goodies at winslowyerxa.com
Harmonica For Dummies, Second Edition with tons of new stuff
Deepen your playing at the Harmonica Collective
Last Edited by WinslowYerxa on Feb 12, 2015 1:54 PM
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Barley Nectar
642 posts
Feb 12, 2015
9:17 AM
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I know several very good guitar players who play harp as a secondary instrument. None, that I know, have TONE. They don't play harmonica, they play with harmonicas. One fellow even tried to compete with me at a jam recently. Lead guitar players hate to be out done. I just let him go and laid back, then praised his performance.
Secondary instrument, I think so. Judging by the fact that all the local bands want one to set in and do a couple of songs but don't want a harp in the mix full time, tells me this is so. I told one band leader this. If you want to do covers verbatim, that is boring. If you want to entertain, I'm your man. I'm not in that band either...LOL
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dougharps
846 posts
Feb 12, 2015
9:48 AM
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There are many really good young players, but good harmonica is not often featured in modern music, so they are few and far between. Most will start out with some rack playing as an accessory to enhance performance on acoustic guitar and vocals. This is a valid use of the instrument. Some may develop an interest in taking it beyond this. For this to happen they need to hear harp being played well to be inspired to work on it.
The more you can play music that is seen as cool by younger musicians, the more likely that you might inspire someone to take it to a higher level. If you can work out accompanying younger singer guitar players you may catch the interest of some. Then your suggestions might have some weight in helping them play better.
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Doug S.
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KingoBad
1603 posts
Feb 12, 2015
9:57 AM
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The Blind Men and the Elephant
John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887)
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a WALL!"
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, "Ho, what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a SPEAR!"
The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a SNAKE!"
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he:
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a TREE!"
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a FAN!"
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a ROPE!"
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
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Danny
Last Edited by KingoBad on Feb 12, 2015 9:57 AM
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dougharps
847 posts
Feb 12, 2015
10:07 AM
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"Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!"
And in the end they all learned more about totality of the elephant by voicing their partly right and wrong opinions.
I think it is useful to respectfully share different viewpoints about anything. That is why forums are informative.
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Doug S.
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Barley Nectar
645 posts
Feb 12, 2015
11:30 AM
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Great stuff, I love it...BN
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