Mgimino
104 posts
Apr 07, 2010
5:03 PM
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Man did I really want to learn to play this thing, but even after learning as much as I could, play through some of my favoritee songs (I must have worked for days on the Creeper Creeps ), but after a while it seemed like I just wasn't "getting it" if you know what I mean.
I was already very proficient at drums, so being terrible at a new instrument is frustrating. With time constraints with school. its hard to just touch it even more.
Maybe some day I will try and pick it up agai. I still love blues and will continue listening, but as of right now it seems like I don't have a place in it. For now, I guess I'll just stick with what I'm good with.
Anyone else ever feel similar? Maybe you stopped playing for an extended period of time?
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http://www.youtube.com/user/mgimino
Michael
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OzarkRich
180 posts
Apr 07, 2010
5:20 PM
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If possible, come to Hill Country Harmonica before you give up.
Jimmie Fadden, the drummer for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, doubles on harmonica. He has his harp in a rack and plays drums at the same time. Perhaps that approach would help.
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Ozark Rich
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Ozark Rich's YouTube
Ozark Rich's Facebook
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Buddha
1563 posts
Apr 07, 2010
5:27 PM
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I often stop playing and pick up something else or I just paint or draw.
I once quit playing for over a year.
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"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." - Joseph Campbell
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jodanchudan
65 posts
Apr 07, 2010
5:33 PM
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I'm pretty sure it will take me years, not days, before I can manage Creeper Creeps Again. I've been playing a year and a half and I'm nowhere near that. How long have you been playing? Are you expecting too much too soon?
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Blues13
21 posts
Apr 07, 2010
5:33 PM
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That's my case with the guitar. I would really love to play acoustic blues but it's something that I can't teach myself. Because of my lack of talent I gradually put it on the side. Started learning harp in January I'm not sure I really got talent. I don't care, it's an instrument I really love to play. Recently I decided to learn it seriously,bought the harmonica for dummies book and Adams beginner special lesson pack. I probably will never be a great player but with Adam and the guys on this forum for teachers I'm puting every chance on my side.
Martin
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waltertore
359 posts
Apr 07, 2010
5:54 PM
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My martial art instructor for 17 years often told me this when I was wanting to know how long until I got to such and such a thing.
A martial arts student went to his teacher and said earnestly, "I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long will it take me to master it." The teacher's reply was casual, "Ten years." Impatiently, the student answered, "But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice everyday, ten or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?" The teacher thought for a moment, "20 years."
I read alot of stuff like this here. You can't put a time limit on learning an art. It is a lifetime journey that is unique to you. Our culture lets people buy martial art belts. Heck in america you can become a black belt in less than 5 years. the schools charge by the belt and rush you through to keep making money.
My instructor had lots of these black belts come to him to learn more. After seeing them demonstrate their skills, he always came out with a white belt. He appologized to them for being taught wrong. he would say it wasn't their fault, but their instructors fault. Not a one ever stuck around in the years I was there.
To really learn an art is a very slow and void of deadlines process. Just playing notes and songs is the easiest part of being an artist. that is mechanical mumbo jumbo that anyone can learn (if they couldn't music would have died after the first generationt that discovered it). the true joy and becoming a master is in discovering yourself along the journey and coming to terms with the good and bad and finding peace. then you have something to share with the world and it can't be bought on the cheap. But here in america we are led to believe that in 5 easy lessons anyone can become whatever the heck it is they want to be. Time is the key. You can't buy time. The old guys sounded so great because they put in the time. There is no way to cheat on this, which is the core of mastering anything. Youth wants wisdom without doing the time- ain't never gonna happen. An age old phenomenon....... Walter
I have posted this one before, but here it is again. when I was helping sonny terry get around I asked how can I get that stuff he was putting out? He took my arm and smiled and said "Walter keep doing what you are doing and in about 35 years you will know what I am talking about". That is not what I wanted to hear. I wanted all his years of life and playing right now. I hadn't paid my dues, but wanted my ticket. Well it is about 35 years later and I am getting it. Enjoy the journey. It is much more fun that reaching the finish line!
walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" No one can control anyone, but anyone can let someone control them"
2,000 of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Apr 07, 2010 6:08 PM
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Stickman
294 posts
Apr 07, 2010
6:14 PM
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I know what you mean and am there with you Mgimino. I felt frustrated, board and inadequate. So I quit practicing. Now I just play. Without any structure, I usually find myself with a harp in my mouth at least once a day. I just play what I want based on what I already know. One day I will resume "practice" but I have other things to do so today I will just play.
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The Art Teacher Formally Known As scstrickland
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Hobostubs Ashlock
591 posts
Apr 07, 2010
6:21 PM
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your allready a musician if you play drums,so dont get in a hurry with the harp just jam when not on drums break out some harp,its easy to carry around,And its not like you dont play anything dying for that taste of jamming be a drummer who plays some harp or a harp player that drums cause your allready a musicians the hard part has been achieved.
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jbone
306 posts
Apr 07, 2010
8:21 PM
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one of my huge influences was a guy who was a drummer and then got turned on to harp. at 2 months he was really struggling, at 4 months he was better, at 6 months he'd passed me by, light years. he knew how to be a student where i really did not. he knew some music theory where i did not. the student became my teacher for a time until our lives diverged. but i owe him such a debt for showing me a better path than i was on.
there have been times i was so disgusted by my own lack of skill that i would just put the dam things away for a while. then i'd get them back out and have an a-HA moment where something would click into place that i wasn't even aware i knew. this has happened a lot.
there is no time limit on this sort of thing, but if you give yourself a chance to relax into it, amazing things can happen. we're always our own worst critics until we begin to relax and let the process happen in its own time.
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Nastyolddog
518 posts
Apr 07, 2010
10:22 PM
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Give up mate,then the next project give it up allso
then the next job give up half way through,
maybe take up a sport give it up to mate to hard,
by giveing up you will set your self a Lifes ground rule,
you have started your Journey
you will now go through life not completing the things you set out to do,
why it's to easy just give up,
think i'm joking take a look around at the things you have started and not Finished,
maybe the journey started a long time ago you are already conditioned to do half a Job.
Bro my best Advise is don't get Married
if you do Divorce is Iminent,
keep those Harps you will need them..
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Kyzer Sosa
288 posts
Apr 07, 2010
10:30 PM
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If Nastyolddog's tough love is all the way left, and Ozark's plea is the far right, Im somewhere in the middle. I set mine down for over a year... purely out of frustration, and lack of interest. Then, well... it came back and stayed.
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Kyzer's Travels
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Hobostubs Ashlock
594 posts
Apr 07, 2010
11:01 PM
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Damn Nastyolddog
your right i gave up so much everything but music,but your point is good.I know your telling him but i feel like its me.Damn i need to get a job and find a life,as i write this Tulsa welding school comercial is going on tv thats where i went to school i made it through but i quit 50 welding jobs over the last 18 years,I need a drink im sad dang you nastydog the truth hurts:(
Last Edited by on Apr 07, 2010 11:02 PM
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Ant138
404 posts
Apr 07, 2010
11:59 PM
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DON'T GIVE UP!!! I'm still working on things i started over a year ago. It just takes time, the important thing is to have fun whilst learning. I can get as frustrated as anyone when i cant nail something but i keep trying and then when your least expecting it BAM! you nail it.
Taking a break from something can work, don't give up just try working on something different for a while then go back to it.
Just last night when i got back from work i wanted to play harp like my life depended on it but it just wasn't happening and i was starting to get annoyed, i just put it down and did something else, sometimes you just can't force it.
I'm also going for my Black Belt in Kickboxing in June. If someone had said to me 6 years ago that one day i would be a Black Belt in something i would have laughed my ass off!! but 6 years later and thats what i'm doing. Having a little patience really pays off.
Just remember "Slowly slowly catchy Monkey"
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Last Edited by on Apr 08, 2010 12:02 AM
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Hobostubs Ashlock
595 posts
Apr 08, 2010
12:01 AM
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yea i never firgured how much money it cost to play harp,Guitars are cheaper now then they were 10 years ago,harps going up daily,they bust,got to keep replacing them,I tell my musician friends how exspensive it is and they think im crazy they think harmonica 10$ bucks and you have one lol,But once your hooked your hooked like a mudcat on a trotline:)
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harmonicanick
710 posts
Apr 08, 2010
2:09 AM
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Mgimino,
I was a pro drummer in the 70's till a sports accident stopped me.
I have played harp since then and its my life.
You have a great rythym based perspective on harmonica playing because you are a drummer! it will stand you in great stead.
keep on playin'
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phogi
378 posts
Apr 08, 2010
3:20 AM
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I've been heavily into music since I was about 8, I think. When I was 13-14 I wanted to quit because I was lazy. My parents said tough shit, we won't let you quit. Eventually I got good enough to really like what I was doing, learned that music gets you chicks (when you are young, anyway), and so on.
I used to always be down on myself, worried that others were better than I could be. I felt I lacked music mojo. That made me want to quit often. Also made me practice like a devil, too much, to the point of injury.
I also backed WAY off for about five years while I was very into rock climbing.
I also backed off for a while to learn other instruments for teaching purposes. Come to think of it, I need to practice tuba and clarinet, its been too long.
Then I picked up the harp. I love the sound, how it makes you feel like a super hero, how cool it is. Yeah, it has limitations that a piano does not have. I can't play more than 2 parts at the same time on a harp, and arpegios are not smooth and resonant like on a guitar. But come on man, its vibrating metal! How cool is that!
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boris_plotnikov
73 posts
Apr 08, 2010
3:43 AM
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I play for 9 years. If I don't play for a day I get the bad mood.If I don't play for 3 days I have a depression. However if I play too much I can feel some rute and I like to start customizing my harps instead of playing.
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http://myspace.com/harmonicaboris
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captainbliss
42 posts
Apr 08, 2010
3:44 AM
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@Mgimino
Sounds like you're struggling with ears that are years ahead of your technique...
I wonder... Why did you start playing?
If it was to sound like Cotton et al, then you'll probably need to play daily for 10 years or more before you even get close to something like Creeper Creeps Again. I'm afraid there's no instant gratification when it comes to reproducing the sounds you're hearing from the great players...
If it was to enjoy yourself and you're not enjoying yourself, fair enough, why do something that ought to be fun, isn't and for which you'd have to make sacrifices in an already busy life?
A thought: would hiring a teacher or engaging with an online blues harp course like David Barrett's (disclaimer: I have no affiliation with bluesharmonica.com, just happen to think it looks great) or some of our MBH host's lessons help you to set sensible goals, get a sense of progress and de-frustrate yourself?
xxx
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ZackPomerleau
853 posts
Apr 08, 2010
6:04 AM
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Sometimes you HAVE to give up. I've done that with many things. I've done that with harp for around three months and when I started playing things were easier and it was more exciting.
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captainbliss
45 posts
Apr 08, 2010
8:37 AM
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@Zack:
/Sometimes you HAVE to give up./
Very wise and very true...
Sometimes it seems to be something ELSE that one ought to be giving up.
Pride, unrealistic expectations, bad habits, lack of discipline have got (and still do get) me giving up on things when maybe I should be quitting those instead...
EDIT: and sometimes, of course, it's exactly as Zack says after a break:
/things were easier and it was more exciting/
xxx
Last Edited by on Apr 08, 2010 8:44 AM
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ZackPomerleau
856 posts
Apr 08, 2010
9:01 AM
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Captain, I'm no body builder AT ALL but I know that if you just do it every day and you expect results it just won't happen. But, if you do it three times a week then wait a day or two the results come faster. Sometimes your brain, muscles, whatever need to catch up with each other. Your brain learns things even though you're not playing.
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congaron
779 posts
Apr 08, 2010
10:53 AM
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As a percussionist, I found myself drawn to the rhythm of good harp playing. maybe you could do the same as a drummer. Drumming with a rack and harp is a VERY good idea for just laying down a groove of your own and filling it in with some rhythm harp. Small steps. Teach yourself what you know on the drums...on the harp. Do rhythm riffs. They sound good and fit into any song your band wants to play. Branch out as you feel ready and as you learn single note techniques.
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snakes
498 posts
Apr 08, 2010
10:55 AM
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For what it is worth here are my 2 cents on whether you should give up the harp. First let me say that I've spent almost my entire adult life as an athlete not a musician and I still don't consider myself a musician. That said, one piece of advice I got from one of my athletic mentors while I was grousing about not meeting my goals was started by him asking me a question. He said, "Are you having fun or being fulfilled by this endeavor?" If not then you need to re-assess either your goals or your motivation. Your goals are either too intense or your motivation is improper. Finally he said to make sure that I enjoyed "the journey" as although goals are important for guiding achievement, if we only gain our enjoyment or fulfillment through the acquisition of goals we miss out on the better part of our experiences. Hope this helps.
Last Edited by on Apr 08, 2010 10:57 AM
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oldwailer
1183 posts
Apr 08, 2010
11:44 AM
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Go ahead and try to stop. You can't do it. In a few weeks or months or years--you'll be back. You have already been infected--there is no cure--to ease the discomfort of the disease, you will need liberal doses of more expensive harps and bigger amps and more ass-kickin amps and more time in the woodshed.
But that will only ease the discomfort--there is no cure. . .
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XHarp
349 posts
Apr 08, 2010
12:06 PM
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Nope, won't be able to do it.
You'll put it down, but you won't give it up. It will nag at you from the corner or the drawer or the garbage can, but it will haunt you to the far reaches of earth.
Just the fact that you had to post this to tell all means you'll be back.
Its already started.
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
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strawwoodclaw
10 posts
Apr 08, 2010
1:05 PM
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Don't give up If you keep at it you will get there in your own time, there's no rush quit & you will never get there. I would love to see Buddha's drawings & paintings
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kingrobot
7 posts
Apr 08, 2010
2:10 PM
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It's ok to have a lost weekend.
But be careful, if you disappear too long, someone may show up claiming to be "Mgimino II" and it'll screw a bunch of scholars looking into early 2000's harmonica history.
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kingrobot
8 posts
Apr 08, 2010
2:11 PM
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Or maybe you just need to buy a new, more expensive harmonica. That's what I do.
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bluemoose
165 posts
Apr 08, 2010
2:18 PM
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"As a percussionist, I found myself drawn to the rhythm of good harp playing. maybe you could do the same as a drummer."
I've seen Kim Wilson play snare with one hand and blow harp with the other. You'd be in none too shabby company.
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gmacleod15
57 posts
Apr 08, 2010
6:01 PM
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In this post I feel the luv...nice for a change.
As I sit hear suffering with a bad headcold and not able to play because of it, all I can offer is that it take time. But as others have said the journey is part of the fun... with seeing your small occasional accomplishments.
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MBH member since 2009-03-24
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