It's become a joke at work that the front passenger seat of my car is reserved for my harp case. My car is my woodshed where I can practice without any judgmental family members telling me to "Please stop playing while you're driving!" I can wail at my heart's delight, make mistakes and corrections as needed, and once "knee driving" is mastered, I can even cup and use hand vibrato while negotiating a turn.
From what I've read in some of the threads, I'm not alone in using the car as my "woodshed" for practice. Just curious as to how many of you do the same thing.
Yep, me too. thin condo walls and an attempt to keep my wife sane has driven me to my car to shed. Not so bad though- i use the radio in my car to transcribe- not all bad!
The Jeep is well known as one of the most versatile vehicles made. Ever. Period. Also makes a good woodshed. I play while driving and parked. I also have a dedicated music room in the house. Our town also has a great walkway along the river. I get a lot of inspiration there. ----------
My apartment. I practice four hours a day on days off, Tuesdays and Wednsday, almost without fail. No complaints from neighbors so far. I do,of course, play every day; I almost always have a harmonica on me. ---------- Ted Burke __________________ ted-burke.com tburke4@san.rr.com
My house way out in the boonies of Missouri. No close neighbors, or at least none who can hear worth a damn. Live with two dogs . . . one who loves harp, and one who is a particularly snarky critic.
That said, critic dog is being very complimentary today . . . mostly because I'm de-skunking him after a little altercation he had at 4:30 this morning. ---------- Marr's Guitars
Offering custom-built Cigar Box Guitars for the discriminating player of obscure musical unstruments
I practice in my kids playroom since it offers the most sound isolation in the house at night. I have to be careful not to upset their train tracks, space stations, lincoln logs and various lego creations :)
I do long for a space where I could leave some recording gear set up and have some more instruments handy but right now I'm just happy to have a place to practice without having to worry too much about disturbing anybody.
---------- 4' 4+ 3' 2~~~ -Mike Ziemba Harmonica is Life!
I use this occasionally but frequently just go outside and sit on a rock. The neighbors are far enough away I don't bother anyone, and the goats don't seem to mind. Coyotes will sometimes stop and listen. The caboose make a good backdrop for videos.
I still practice a lot in the car. Playing in a park is good but it is not fair to passers by to woodshed there.
Its very funny to me, as both '2chops' & 'slaphappy' took my post.
Much like 2chops, you'll find me with my jeep ragtop down during the spring/summer... or hardtop with the heater on full blast in the cold months in Pittsburgh traffic, wailing away during rush hour.
At home, slaphappy and I are in the same boat. Small chair in the corner with a foldable tv tray table in the familyroom/playroom.... furthest away from the sleeping childrens bedrooms.... amongst the legos, trucks, play swords and matchbox cars.
At home in winter. Outside my home in summer, near a wheat field, hidden from civilisation behind a range of tree that are at the top of the hill separating that field from a city own grass land.
Funny thing is that last summer, i heard a sax player playing inside the small woods at the other side of that field.
I ran in to a Google driver in Guitar center a while back. He would not admit to practicing any instrument while the car drove itself. He said his job was mainly to take the ticket if the car got pulled over for doing something wrong!
In the kitchen every night while cooking dinner. Harps on the island beside the cutting board, 300 blues cd jukebox on random. Speakers at 10 and 2. :)
I play at my desk in my living room. Sometimes I'll play in the park or walking around town when it's sunny out, sometimes sitting in my car, but only when it's parked.
In my basemant. Got a GOOD CD player at a yard sale 12 yrs ago for 50 cents! It drives a '59 Fisher X202 into a pair of '63 Altec auditorium speakers. Use a cassette player to record. "The Wall of Sound" I live in the country so can get this thing cookin!
I use my apartment. I play during mid day to use my amp neighbors cant really complain to much about it. I go acoustic if I play in the early evening hours. Im thinking of getting a little portable amp for my car so I can play during my lunch break. Perhaps a cheap battery powered danelectric amp
"Because I can play in the car is the whole reason I starting playing harp in the first place."
I'll agree to that, my car is out in the parking lot at work and I can take a break and play for a few minutes right there. I have my harps in the car and a trombone in the trunk, but trying to sit in the car and play trombone just doesn't work!
I am also a lot more comfortable sitting on a park bench playing harp than trombone(actually I have yet to do this with a trombone), the harp is just more portable and versatile. Hence my harp playing improves much faster than my trombone playing. What I learn about music in general from each instrument does apply to the other though.
Some folks have and i-pod or an MP3 player, my portable music player is a harp, not batteries or internet required.
"Amos Blackmore, a 13-year old from Memphis, was driving his family nuts by tying up the bathroom as he practised his harp there, enamoured of the echo that the tile and tub produced. Soon to be known as Junior Wells...."
Used to play in the dorm bathrooms or stairwells. Now that I own my own home I built a room over our garage as a playroom ( both mine and the kids). Now it's just me and the dogs.
