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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Lessons from a Mooncat
Lessons from a Mooncat
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srussell
8 posts
Feb 16, 2015
8:14 AM
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A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of sitting down for a bit with a Mooncat while he was on tour. Now I had never met a Mooncat before and wasn't sure what to expect.
I'm still trying to soak in and incorporate some (all) of the things he showed me in just a short time - have a feeling I will be working on it for a while (forever). I wanted to share some of the more intangible non-technique lessons that I learned from sitting across from Jason in a hotel room.
1. Jason is a cool dude. The kind of guy you want to hang out with just because. I grew up around the music business and the number of jerks often outweighs the number of cool people in this business, or maybe I'm just jaded.
2. His control on the harp amazes me. By that I mean his touch - great tone, but quiet controlled volume. It something you can't tell when he's on stage, but when he's got an acoustic harp 3 feet away from you it's impossible to ignore. As an intermediate-ish player it was eye opening, and reminded me of how far the distance is from intermediate to advanced or pro-level player.
3. His willingness to give back to the harp community. Meeting a guy like me in the middle of busy tour - he had a bunch of other things going on and could have easily just taken some time to himself. Not to mention taking time out to contribute on forums like this. Jason really goes over and above in a lot of ways.
4. His own admission that he still struggles to make sure he's not playing something by habit, but constantly working to evolve. To use techniques to say something because he chooses to say it - vibrato, tremolo, flutters, stutters etc.At it's best this instrument, all instruments really, is a way to communicate. Hopefully we are saying what we mean in the way we want to say it.
Hope these teach you something as well.
Stephen
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Littoral
1203 posts
Feb 16, 2015
9:12 AM
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Well said. It certainly sounds like the time was well spent, as opposed to just marveling at what he can do. I'd like to get this in person:
"...reminded me of how far the distance is from intermediate to advanced or pro-level player."
His lessons online often note not playing something by habit. That's such a useful lens to look through. Watching him intentionally leave out certain notes in a phrase, alternating them, reversing them, changing speed. It all makes the notes accessible with muscle memory as: "... techniques to say something because he chooses to say it...a way to communicate...", AND THE POINT: "...saying what we mean in the way we want to say it."
Thanks. I'll see him in April and maybe get the chance.
Last Edited by Littoral on Feb 16, 2015 9:17 AM
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rbeetsme
1627 posts
Feb 17, 2015
5:10 AM
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My experience too.
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