TylerLannan
56 posts
Feb 11, 2009
8:30 AM
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Another MBH member jaybird has been in my neck of the woods lately and we have gone to a couple of open mics. Last night in perticular I thought a did really $hitty, the place went nuts tho. Jaybird said the same thing to me after his set that he messed up a lot and could do better. His set was very well recieved also. I'm wondering if as harp players or musicians we have some kind of mental block that tell us that we did poorly when actually it's all good? Lemme know what you all think and if youve ever had a similar experience.
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*you can only keep what you have by giving it away*
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RyanMortos
76 posts
Feb 11, 2009
9:25 AM
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Some thoughts:
Everyone makes mistakes.
How well an audience receives something depends upon their original expectation of the attraction. If I expect greatness & its not, in my opinion, then Im disappointed. If I expect lesser shades of mediocrity and I get something thats actually good then Im pleasantly surprised & will appreciate the attraction more.
In part, that self doubt & thoughts that you could do better is what drives the motivation to get better.
Often we are our own hardest critic, dont be too harsh.
Now if I could only listen to myself, lol...
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~Ryan
PA
Ryan's Tube - Containing [0] uploads and counting...
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tookatooka
117 posts
Feb 11, 2009
10:10 AM
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That's good. I always thought I played really &%$*&# (the brown word). It's nice to know that anybody else may think I'm a harp genius. (Only Kidding.)
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When I'm not blowing, I'm drawing.
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Oisin
111 posts
Feb 11, 2009
11:02 AM
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That has happened to me a couple of times at our local jam where I KNOW I've played crappy but I get nothing but compliments when I sit down.
As we probably listen to mostly harp music we know what is good and bad playing but the audience are not quite as obsessive as us, so to them it sounds great.
So I agree with Ryan totally on this.
The only problem I could see with this kind of feedback is that you go to a jam where they never have harp players, you play crappy and the audience think you're great and you listen to this and your head never gets removed from your Arse!
I had this syndrome for a while playing at home until I started taking lessons and my teacher put me right. I think humility is a great lesson we all should learn at the start of our harp lives!!
Excellent thread Tyler
Oisin
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Scoltx
28 posts
Feb 11, 2009
4:14 PM
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I get that even in music stores full of musicians. They are used to hearing crappy guitar players come in and attempt to rip it up, but they rarely hear harmonica players. I usually play it safe when playing in front of people, stuff I've played a 1000 times and that helps, but even when I screw up a little most people (non harp players) don't seem to notice.
Only my family knows how crappy I can sound, like when I honk like a goose for an hour while working on the the 4 overblow! ;)
Last Edited by on Feb 11, 2009 5:30 PM
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GermanHarpist
78 posts
Feb 11, 2009
6:51 PM
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Nice thread... (lol)
Well, I believe the "joker" of the harp is that it is a very nice effect machine (besides being able to play rockin melodies and licks).
So sometimes we get up there and we want to rip an awesome solo, but somehow we get stuck at the four hole bend. So you think "damn it, why did I always come back to this stupid note". However the unknowing audience thinks "wait, that sounds awesome,... whats it called? - ... a wail. aha."
I guess what I want to say is: What we play may be mediocre. If there is an acceptable bent warble, a couple of wails or a magic dick note at the end. As a whole it will sound pretty good to the audience.
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http://www.youtube.com/germanharpist
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Patrick Barker
173 posts
Feb 11, 2009
8:00 PM
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Most audience members think its pretty awesome that that there's a guy up there that can play harmonica however crappy you do. Besides, they aren't going to boo if you aren't being an idiot up there. What seems like a bad performance to you may be a rare opportunity they get to hear some blues harmonica live.
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"Without music, life would be a mistake" -Nietzsche
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gene
130 posts
Feb 11, 2009
10:19 PM
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A diatonic harmonica is full of notes that are "right." It's easy to accidentally hit a "right" note. If you accidentally hit a "wrong" note, you don't stay on it long, so to non-harmonica players, it sounds like it was a stepping stone in your tune. (I'd bet that if you play crappy on a chromatic harmonica, the audience would notice.)
Also, the harmonica has a...I dunno...a natural, organic quality that sounds good even if you just play one note over and over. (An exageration, but you know what I mean.)
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Oisin
114 posts
Feb 11, 2009
10:54 PM
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Or the player. I know some of the best times I've played are when I've been artifically relaxed...or at least that's what the voices told me.
Seriously though I do think that a beer or smoke do help. I know a snooker player who can only play good after he's had quite a few drinks and can't play for sh*t when he's straight.
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harmonicanick
136 posts
Feb 12, 2009
1:25 AM
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have you ever picked up the wrong harp when jamming in with a band. I play in 2nd position mostly and twice recently have done exactly that because the band was so loud and i cant see without me glasses.
Though i changed as soon as I heard/noticed, apart from the other harp players noone noticed, possibly due to intoxication..
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mickil
26 posts
Feb 12, 2009
11:48 AM
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I've often had the same thought as Oisin, ie, 'As we probably listen to mostly harp music we know what is good and bad playing but the audience are not quite as obsessive as us, so to them it sounds great.' The only thing I can add is that I think the audience respond better to your playing if you seem to be having fun while you're up there. It's reassuring to know we've all had the same experience cos everyone can play cr*p sometimes.
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'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchen; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty' - Frank Zappa
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harpwrench
14 posts
Feb 12, 2009
2:04 PM
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That's why guitar players don't like us.
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mickil
27 posts
Feb 12, 2009
2:22 PM
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No that ain't it. The harp in our front jeans pocket just gets us more female attention!
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'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchen; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty' - Frank Zappa
Last Edited by on Feb 12, 2009 2:23 PM
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Oisin
117 posts
Feb 12, 2009
2:50 PM
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Hey man...that ain't no harp in my front jeans pocket,
That's my mojo!!
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oldwailer
501 posts
Feb 12, 2009
5:45 PM
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My SBS 14-holer is great for the front jeans pocket!
BIG Mojo!
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MrVerylongusername
142 posts
Feb 13, 2009
3:14 AM
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In Rick Estrin's DVD he talks about the "rule of three" If you screw up, play the mistake again - twice - and look like you meant it!
In my experience, the average person in the audience will probably only ever have heard harmonica on Dylan records. They will eat up anything - warts and all - and tell you that you're amazing. You can either be overly modest and feel like a fraud or lap it up and make the most of the attention.
Final comment is that often what you think sucked, because it wasn't what you went for, actually sounded OK. It is pretty hard to be hideously out of tune unless you picked up the wrong harp and didn't realise. I've recorded gigs before and then gone over the recording to pick out the bits that I thought were dire. They're never that bad. If you listen to what he says - my guitarist never has a good gig. Never. Always complaining about dead fingers, lifeless tone or bum notes. The music and the audience reaction though tell a completely different story - even in a room full of other guitarists.
BTW Oldwailer - get a Hohner 48 chord and bigger pockets!
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Randy G. Blues
2 posts
Feb 13, 2009
11:31 AM
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As I play I know I make mistakes, but as has been said, the trick is to cover them so only you know that they were mistakes. Miss a note? Miss it a few times in a row and bleed it off the the correct note so it sounds like it was purposeful, or bend it into the correct note.
Last night I reached an epiphany and realized that I have advanced my playing quite a bit over the last couple of months. I hit the old jam I use to play weekly (for over a year) before joining my current group. After my set I sat and listened to the two harp players on stage. I was able to pick out the mistakes they made and how they covered them. it doesn't make me a better player, but it makes me realize that I am not the only one making mistakes.
"Is that a chromatic in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?"
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snakes
93 posts
Feb 13, 2009
9:45 PM
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So even though I feel like I suck I should actually listen to the people that say they like what they hear? I always thought they were just being nice. There may be hope. I enjoy practicing too much to ever quit...
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gene
131 posts
Feb 13, 2009
10:02 PM
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"...should actually listen to the people that say they like what they hear?"
Part of you should. It means your playing is enjoyabe to listen to.
The other part of you should ignore them and practice to not make those mistakes.
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Bluzdude46
22 posts
Feb 14, 2009
4:27 AM
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I read in an interview of Jerry Garcia once that he couldn't really tell how the overall performance is while you're playing it because you can't really review something that's in process. He stated that he's had many nights when he felt the energy wasn't there or he was not playing as well and more or less gave up on the night to go back and review the tapes and listen to stuff that was popping with intensity and really mixing well with what the other musicians were doing.
I guess the moral of the story is two fold. It's more important when Jamming to play WITH the guys you are on stage with not just worrying about what you are doing on harp, and 2 never pass up a chance to record and listen to yourself afterwards.
One of the best compliments I've ever gotten was from a guitarist I sat in with in the band The Dalton Gang he said he really liked the way I played the little fills and played WITH him and the bass player, not just constant lead. His overall opinion of Harp players is that we all just want to pull out all out tricks and play lead constantly and that he much preffered playing with me.
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