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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Starting over with the Harp
Starting over with the Harp
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Xpun3414
86 posts
Nov 14, 2010
9:30 AM
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ok,so I have come to realize that Im really getting ahead of my self & not giving myself the time to learn the basics. IE: in less then 3 months Ive skipped over the simple songs like Mary had a little lamb & jumped to Help Me by SBWII. some jump hu? Ive only just learned to bend & also noticed Im not hitting the single holes but am hitting 2 holes at a tyme, 1 hole but with a little of another. So Ive decided Im just gonna start over from the beginning. Slow my roll ;) & learn the right way. (I tend to do this type of thing alot) So now,Im back to being a total beginner. Which is ok. Any one else ever have this problem ? Whats your thoughts on this...
Jimmy
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eharp
929 posts
Nov 14, 2010
9:41 AM
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i think your plan is very commendable.
however, it has been said that it is very difficult eliminating bad habits, or re-learning.
i started out as a pucker player. i realized the limitations of not knowing at least some tb skills. i find it vey difficult to stay in the tb mode. i slip easily back to the pucker.
good luck to you. stay focused and dont get discouraged.
(the last line is more for me than you.) lol
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Greyowlphotoart
195 posts
Nov 14, 2010
10:03 AM
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Yep a lot of us have probably been there. I know a lot of importance is placed in taking things at a steady pace and covering the basics, scales etc., knowing your way around the harp. Walk before you can run and all that. But the bottom line is that each person has to decide on what motivates them to keep practicing.
For me personally, when I started I just loved the sound of a blues bend and wanted to practice that to get that clean and as accurate as I could and then picked a tune that I liked and really wanted to do.
I found more incentive to practice something I wanted to play than say practice 'Mary had a little lamb' and get bored & uninspired. If you start with a straightforward blues song, you will be keen to learn it and having done so will have already started to find your way round the harp and that will aid you in your next song.
I am not a teacher so others might vigorously disagree, but it worked for me.
Last Edited by on Nov 14, 2010 10:04 AM
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Honkin On Bobo
504 posts
Nov 14, 2010
10:11 AM
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jimmy,
I have the same problem you just wrote about. Not playing single notes, I'm ok there, but trying to get ahead of myself. Only "campfire" song I ever learned was Red River Valley, then I was trying to copy rock and blues licks.
FWIW, I agree with GreyOwl about the relationship between motivation and achievement. But take my comments with a grain of salt, I'm probably between an advanced beginner and intermediate on the Gussow scale. But I'm a believer that there's more than one way to learn the harp, so whatever works for you.
Last Edited by on Nov 14, 2010 10:14 AM
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HarmonicaMick
237 posts
Nov 14, 2010
10:16 AM
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I did exactly the same thing with piano: skipped a lot of basic stuff and went right on to Rachmaninov, Chopin and other fancy stuff. It is a huge mistake and something that a good teacher would go absolutely nuts about - I didn't have a teacher at the time, let alone a good one.
What happens when you skip over the basic stuff is that you set up a lot of muscular tension because you haven't yet learned to use all the different muscles in the most efficient way for the job at hand. Professional musicians still have to go over the basics all the time, and they still have to do it slowly. That part of the discipline only ends when you stop playing.
Three months is not that much of a long time, so I reckon you should be OK. My advice would be to stick with the basic stuff, master it and then start to add more challenging techniques as you go along.
About the tongue blocking thing. It comes up on here endlessly; there have been minor wars over the subject. For the majority of players, TBing and LPing are just two tools that they use interchangeably. Both have their place. This has all been said on here more times than I can remember, so I won't bang on about it any more. What I do want to say is that it's never to early to start getting used to playing out of one side of your mouth and, when that starts to get easier, try a few rhythms with your tongue. Just start on the first five notes of the major scale, or something else basic.
As for SBWII and other more tricky stuff, if you can't wait to get your hands (or mouth) on those piece before you're ready to play them, then just practice small chunks SLOWLY. Don't do it in such a way that you exceed your current skill level; that will do you absolutely no favours at all.
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YouTube SlimHarpMick
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steve j.
52 posts
Nov 14, 2010
10:26 AM
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I started wanting to play cross harp , a couple yrs ago. I found some stuff so hard I immersed myself in straight harp which I found easier. Even thought I learned some,, the blues desire was still there.
To the point , I feel like I am starting over trying to focus on blues, esp. when I try to do some pre war stuff. I feel like I should be doing better but Im not. But I know , if you keep putting in,,, you will get something back out. and sometimes have to remind myself , oh yeah , Im doing this for fun, theres no hurry
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Various Musical ramblings
http://www.youtube.com/user/sjeter61?feature=mhum
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DanP
163 posts
Nov 14, 2010
10:33 AM
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Getting single notes and getting from hole to hole should come before bending. Proper bending is dependent on the player's ability to get clear single notes. I know it gets boring playing simple melodies but it's good practice for getting around on the harp. If you want to learn tongue blocking, you can make those straight harp songs more exciting by adding chords, octaves, and slap tongue effects. You can download some of Adam's lessons in order from beginning to intermediate levels or you can buy some of David Barrett's First Lessons books, CDs and videos that give players bluesy licks to play within a 12 bar framework even at the beginning level.
Last Edited by on Nov 14, 2010 11:09 AM
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Tuckster
772 posts
Nov 14, 2010
11:15 AM
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Even after 18 years,I still tear it back down periodically. I ask myself: Am I get sloppy? How's my bent intonations? I'm my own worst critic.
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nacoran
3231 posts
Nov 14, 2010
11:15 AM
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One of the classical Roman or Greeks, I can't remember for sure which one (Isocrates maybe?) used to charge students who came to him new one rate, and students who had already been to another teacher another, higher rate, because he knew he'd have to break all their bad habits. :)
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Nate
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harpdude61
471 posts
Nov 14, 2010
12:56 PM
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Kind of ironic. Early on you want to learn to play one hole without leaking to another.....later on you will play single notes fine, but start adding the leakovers back in. Relax, have fun, and be positive.
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Xpun3414
87 posts
Nov 14, 2010
2:20 PM
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Thanks guys.. as always, a big help to me. Ive had 1 lesson,online,thanks to GermanHarpist. & thats been it. So like many of you,Im teaching my self how to play. No money = no lessons of Adams save for the YT stuff. So it's definitely a hard road,Fun & worth every second of playing but hard none the less. And it dont help that I dont know a lick about music theory or how to read or understand music.One day at a time, I guess. It still is & always will be fun & exciting to me. Again,thanks guys for all the input. I take away a lot from you all :)
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