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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Seeking Advice on Practice
Seeking Advice on Practice
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Honkin On Bobo
143 posts
Jan 07, 2010
1:18 PM
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Most of the threads that I've seen that address practice come at it from the angle of "what should I be practicing"?
But I coming at it a bit differently. I've been in a rut for a while now. I'm just having a hard time motivating myself to practice. It's just not fun. And so predictably I've been spending (read: wasting) time here chatting on things that are not moving me an inch closer to being a better harp player.
So my questions are these: How do you keep it fun? What tricks do you come up with in your regular routine so that woodshedding is fun for you? Or do you just bite the bullet and make yourself do it, because you know in the end it will make you a better player. I'll entertain any and all ideas... and more than that... just hearing other peoples viewpoints, experiences and or struggles might be a cathartic thing for me. Seriously, even if its never been an issue for you.. tell me that too...because maybe it will mean I'm not really cut out to play this damnned little instrument.
This thread is maybe mistitled...mayber it should be retitled advice on motivation. I don't know. I feel like the music is in me...I just can't seem to quite get at it.
Thanks in advance to any and all responders.
Last Edited by on Jan 07, 2010 1:30 PM
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mickil
807 posts
Jan 07, 2010
1:27 PM
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I think we all end up where you are from time to time.
I've read people on here say that they give it a little break from time to time: that might help to keep it fresh.
When I feel lifeless and stagnant, I don't try to play any 'music'; that requires feeling. Instead, I'll just practice a few boring exercises to keep the chops up.
The loll - or is it lull? - does pass and enthusiasm does return. I doubt that any of our journeys with this thing are trouble free.
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YouTube SlimHarpMick a.k.a. HarmonicaMick
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toddlgreene
393 posts
Jan 07, 2010
1:31 PM
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Listen to something, anything different than what you've been listening to while in your 'plateau'(it's deer season, and I don't wanna assume you're 'rutting' ;-D). Different styles of music as well. Instead of playing the same patterns you're familiar with, play the new melodies in your head. This works for me. I listen to lots of different music, including a lot of progressive rock and metal at times. Dream Theater usually inspires me, believe it or not.
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~Todd L. Greene
crescentcityharmonicaclub@gmail.com
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RyanMortos
548 posts
Jan 07, 2010
1:33 PM
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One thing I do is practice different things from different sources. There's a lot of advice out there. One day practice something from a Jason Ricci vid, the next an Adam lesson, the next puck up some piano sheet music & figure it out on your harmonica, the next day play everything in 3rd or 4th, the next look at a blues harmonica transcription book and learn a new song, scales, scales, scales. There's tons of stuff out there to learn & practice. When I find myself bored I find something new to practice or something I put down but wanna take up again, worse comes to worse I throw on a backing track(which should be read throwing on a good blues cd) & just play! No matter what I practice I keep in mind to have fun & enjoy playing (all practice is playing). Hope this sparked some ideas :) .
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~Ryan
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window." - Stephen Wright
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
Contact:
My youtube account
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Kyzer Sosa
77 posts
Jan 07, 2010
1:35 PM
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Ive kept it fresh for a year by keeping focused on two or three tunes I really enjoy. Alternate them as you become stagnant. I find that those songs change, but theres usually always three in rotation that I concentrate heavily on. Sometimes I just concentrate on the things I haven't gotten down, other days, I play only the parts that I know. Im not much on scales, though i should be. I dont worry, for now, about positions or progressions, though I should...and I also put a lot of attention to making the instrument speak. It's one thing to play a note, but another to make it sing. Take a week off...
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tookatooka
957 posts
Jan 07, 2010
1:43 PM
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I think I'm where you're at at the moment Honkin. I only play for my own amusement so there is no real pressure to be outstandingly good. But having said that I do want to be good for my own satisfaction and the challenge.
I think part of my problem is that I play solo and apart from Adam's Front Porch Blues video, there are not many other videos that feature just the harp as the only instrument in its own right.
That's the sort of thing I want to play and I feel it's up to me to invent my own melodies which I'm finding particularly difficult.
However I've been in the doldrums before and know that a little spark will ignite more enthusiasm before too long. It's just frustrating while I wait for that spark to occur. in the meantime (like Mickil said) I just keep up the exercises to keep the chops exercised and ready for the big one.
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Last Edited by on Jan 07, 2010 1:45 PM
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congaron
394 posts
Jan 07, 2010
1:51 PM
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I slap on a rack and play guitar. Then I just do anything and everything I can think of with some time-honored progressions (not blues, sorry).. I play melodies, harmonies, chords, different rhythmic variations. I end up losing track of time it is so enjoyable. I will also throw on a rack and play percussion..congas/bongo/shaker/djembe/whatever.
Lately, I have been listening to the Carlos Deljunco (spelled right?) video somebody posted here a while ago. I try everything in it in small chuncks until I can either do it or realize it is beyond me at the moment. I particularly like where he plays alone and it sounds like the band has come in...but they haven't yet. So, rhythm playing underneath a melody..or more correctly, in support of and between the phrasing of a melody...that's something I'm really hammering on right now.Adam had a jam I call "cool jam" where he just jams along on a long progression he describes as "and it's not a shuffle." It is video .010 in his series and I modify it lots of ways to practice my rhythm and solo playing. I just play and play...at work when possible, since I run a machine that often gives me up to 45 minutes of dead-head time as it runs.
I listen to B.B. King's bluesville on xm satellite radio on my dish package. There is plent there to keep me interested. I even try to copy Dylan or springsteen....there is a "sloppiness" there that is tough for me to replicate. I think it's good to try, since it makes a sound i don't usually make.
I practice to the Gussow videos, Ronnie shellist videos, even an occasional JP allen video, but his are much simpler to me now and My wife uses them more.
I took a short excursion back into dedicated trumpet that didn't hold my interest because it made me want to play my harp chromatically like a trumpet...lol. Back to harp.
For me, guitar and percussion lend themselves well to rack playing and add a twist to basic practice.
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nacoran
711 posts
Jan 07, 2010
1:56 PM
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One thing you can do is get a bunch of Mp-3's all in the same key, put them in a play list, grab your harp and just play through. (You can add a key in the metadata since it's probably not listed, then Media Player will let you sort by key). Follow the melody, make up harmonies, whatever. It doesn't even have to be harp music, or all the same kind. Make it a good list of songs you like playing. Then switch to another harp and position with the same list. I hate keying songs myself, so I use this:
http://dbhovel.com/Extras/MuseOn.aspx
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phogi
164 posts
Jan 07, 2010
2:38 PM
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I'd agree with most things said here. I'd add this: try some external motivation. Find someone to compete with, set a goal, reward yourself with something when you achieve it. Find other people who live by you that play, get together, jam. Go see a harp player play a live show.
Also: if you are not having fun practicing, you are doing something wrong. For me, its when I've placed long term goals on my short term goal list. Oops, but easy to fix. Lots of short term goals are a good idea. I try to surround myself with them, so that I hit one no matter which direction I go. Sometimes my short term goal is "stop practicing so much!"
I also keep things going by being involved in music in many ways. Teach, listen, play, perform. The idea is to totally immerse yourself in the world of music. Hang out with musicians, find a teacher, etc...
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Aussiesucker
497 posts
Jan 07, 2010
2:50 PM
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I am where you are at Honkin. Understand perfectly.
The scales, arpeggios, and exercises are pretty dull. But necessary. But I also figure we are here to enjoy so I play what I like.
My problem is moving ahead far too quickly and instead of having a solid repertoire of ca 20 tunes that I can play perfect I have 300+ that I play badly. I hear a tune I like and it grabs my attention & when I have it in my head I move onto another.
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Honkin On Bobo
148 posts
Jan 08, 2010
1:31 AM
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Aussie:
"20 solid tunes played perfect vs. 300+ that you play badly"
Man I know how that feels. I actually I'll take it a step further, I don't have 300 I play badly, I have 300 i can only play parts of. It is thouroughly effing frustrating. Particularly when trying to play along with some of the blues master's who are bending, tongueblocking, this and that.
If someone asked me what I can play, I'd turn on a blues tune and go " see that part right there...from 2:40 to 2:47?...that?.....well i can play that".
Last Edited by on Jan 08, 2010 1:43 AM
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mankycodpiece
83 posts
Jan 08, 2010
3:27 AM
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i took up the diatonic because i needed a new chalenge as i'd become so stale with the chrom and guitar.
i don't play in bands anymore,so there isn't realy any motivation to knuckle down.
to be painfully honest,i just tend to doodle,making stuff up,or playing along with CDs.
i haven't gotten round to overblowing yet.
i tend to think the best advice has already been given.
if you can't get up for it,take a break until you're ready again.
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congaron
400 posts
Jan 09, 2010
7:34 AM
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I would add one little tweak to what i wrote already.
I play any instrument with one goal. I want to make the music mine ...live, with my band or alone or with my wife.
I want to be free with the instrument to express what i am feeling each time I play out. Nothing is canned, even if i work on licks and scales and arpeggios and glissandos...rudiments. Nothing is the same way I did it on the album, or the last time I played it live.
Sure, it's clearly recognizable within each song/melody/rhythm...the vocals, guitar, bass and drums carry the song like they did before I was in the band..it's "their sound." I make it "our sound." I vary some within the basic structure of the song each time we play it, but mostly in my solos.
Practice is like any other repetitive pattern played to increase speed and accuracy on the drums or any instrument, really...I don't look for a place to use them in music, but they are important in practice. The rudiments free you to just play when it really counts.
I play the mandolin..it is wonderful and expressive. I play guitar...it is wonderful and expressive. I play Bass (ditto) ....I personally wish all guitarists would play mandolin and bass. I think they don't know what they're missing.
I play the trumpet, congas, bongo (not the same, BTW)darbuka, djembe, drums, many different hand percussion "toys" and sing. The harp is my latest, least-played instrument (one year at the end of February). It is as wonderful as the rest and gets more so every day. As a tool for my music, it has definitely become a requirement. It's just so expressive, like another voice.
I strive for expression. Technical single note perfection is nice and has its place, but a little roughness can be good too. The more you practice, the more you get to choose if you will play perfectly or play "rough" like the old bluesmen often did.
Okay, it's more than a little tweak. For me, music is a passion. How I get there is dependent on who I play with, where i am, what we play..I want to be ready to be ME every time, in all those situations. Now the Harmonica is a permanent part of the means to that end. I must say, I wish I had figured it out before, but there's no need to go backward. Forward is looking great.
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waltertore
77 posts
Jan 09, 2010
7:38 AM
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I posted this on the net in response to someone who commented on my songs posted yesterday with me playing the drums for the first time. They basically said how can you sound so good on your first attempt and people like him work so hard at it.
I swear if one just plays to have fun, learning new instruments isn't hard at all because there is just joy involved. No matter how bad I might sound throughout my playing days due to blindly jumping onto new instruments, beats, genres, I felt wonderful. Joyful noise is a real thing! Unfortunately as we grow older, creativety is overshadowed by the big mean critic in us. The sound is never good enough. It should always be good enough because it makes our creative side feel good. I say throw that big mean critic in the bonfire and get on with having joy.
I also would venture to say that I have put in at least 20 hours a week having fun with music and not a minute on trying to learn something from a book or video. What is that about 3,000 hours a year? Times that by almost 50 years and what is that 150,000 hours(math in my head is not so good)? these are very conservative estimates. For many years I played 10 hours a day. To break this down furhter I can say that when I play I hear a whole band in my head. Let it be solo guitar, or one man band. Even with the one man band I hear a real band playing in my head. This may be classified as fantasy, but it actually works in learning the instruments you hear. I know this goes contrary to the established way of learning instruments. I remember hearing stories by lightning hopkins and guys from his era that were raised on rural farms. they took screen wire, broom handles, cigar boxes, and nails, and made guitars. They would say they played music on them. Most of us think - wow he played all that stuff we hear on record on one of those things. Wrong. He made joyful noise, but his fantasy was hearing that good sounding guitar stuff that he eventually was able to get on a real guitar. Now guys build these cigar box things with real pickups and expensive gear in them. I bet lightning's belly would be aching from laughing so hard. He would probably say- why in the hell would anyone build a piece of garbage like that when they could buy a real guitar. the power of fantasy, driven by the need to hear what satifies your soul is the most powerful learning tool on earth. I have been asked for years to write an instruction book on working with special needs students learning proper behaviors and work/life/social skills. I refuse because all it takes is applying common sense/real life consequences. set up a classroom that involves these things and you got all the book right before your eyes. The same goes for learning music. Allow yourself to hear the sounds that make you feel good when you play and you will get there instantly. The world may not agree, but you feel it. That is all that matters and as the years go on, you master these sounds via the instruments that make them. Does this make sense??? Walter
PS: If the book learning approach gets you to this same spot, ignore all I just wrote :-)
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walter tore's sponotbeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=157137
http://www.youtube.com/user/waltertore
Last Edited by on Jan 09, 2010 10:24 AM
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LeonStagg
89 posts
Jan 09, 2010
7:40 AM
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If I hit a rut I play along with backing tracks as I practice. For me, it keeps my mind more engaged with creating, rather than focusing on structure and mechanics.
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Honkin On Bobo
153 posts
Jan 09, 2010
10:21 AM
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Walter,
Thank you, it makes perfect sense.
And your words were more inspirational than you could know.
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waltertore
79 posts
Jan 09, 2010
10:32 AM
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Thanks Honkin On Bobo! It really saddens me to see people hiding in shame as they play. I say let the greatness in you out. No one else can do you. Be proud of that. Whether you are a beginner or a known player, we all are the same if we have this approach. I learn this everyday from my developmentally delayed high school students. They love to draw. They draw a picture on every bag of Max's T- Biscuts for Dogs and Max's T- biscuits for Horses (we make these from scratch and sell them). They are so proud, satified, and happy, when they see their pictures. There is not one polluted thought of wrong in their makeup with art/music. Our system crushes creativety from an early age. Look at any public school music or art program. They are set up to churn out clones. I am so thankful that I was told I had no talent and told to stick to sports, when I tried to join the school band, choir, and art classes. I never did learn a thing about how to do art or music and I have done them with a self discovery based passion since I was a baby. Walter
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=157137
http://www.youtube.com/user/waltertore
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Hobostubs Ashlock
275 posts
Jan 09, 2010
10:52 AM
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Waltertore there is a lot of wisdom in your words,I have fun with what i play on the harp im a beginner and know it but when i play to a song i feel i just play and have fun,im trying to study some classic irish tunes that require everything just right and its a struggle i still have some fun with it,But sometimes i like to just play no rules to get in my way be it right or wrong.I was nervouse about posting songs on here for allmost 9 months cause of the talent on here but said the heck with it and posted some songs,im glad i didnt get critisised about them cause ive allways had a low music self esteam starting with my guitar playing ive been at it around 15 years and there so many better players just in my town,it got to where i wasnt having fun trying to learn or play guitar luckly i found the harp and fell in love with music again mistakes included,ive played a few paying gigs without even knowing how to play ol susana which i can now play lol but the point is i had fun doing it and just played from the heart.I wont let the harp get me down like the guitar has at times,but guitar players are very big headed most times i never could get that confident i wish in a way i could the best musicians i know have big heads but i dont know how much fun there having
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waltertore
80 posts
Jan 09, 2010
11:14 AM
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Hi Hobostubs Ashlock: Sorry to hear the guitar had such negative sides to it for you. I am glad you posted your songs. I recorded my first record around 1983 in brussels. They wanted to know where the guitar player was. I said I was both harp and guitar. All they had heard was a demo tape. I had a real slick guitarist - douglas McKenzie. Doyle Brahmall II played rhythm guitar behind him in Teresa and the Brewers. Doug didn't make the trip, so I became the guitar player and harp player (with a rack). I had never played guitar in a band context and just went for it. I am proud that I did that. Doug and I have stayed close over the years and for about 3 years he played bass with me in the 1 man band context at every saturday gig I had in sonoma county, Ca(2002-2005). Doug had hardly any experience on bass but went for it. We had a blast.
The guys with the big heads just have big heads. Playing big has nothing to do with having a big head. It actually takes away because underneath the big head they are playing with shame. That is a shame. Walter
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=157137
http://www.youtube.com/user/waltertore
Last Edited by on Jan 09, 2010 11:16 AM
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Hobostubs Ashlock
277 posts
Jan 09, 2010
11:32 AM
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thanks waltertore
I still play guitar but over the years ive only played it in public at jams a 3 or 4 times i cant seem to bring the energy that a frontman needs playing it.And it shows with the audience,but even though ive only played harp a year in feb.I feel relaxed playing at jams i even get request to play with the other musicians i have fun on the harp and it shows even with limited skills that i cant seem to get on the guitar,The guitar even after 15 years i feel real nervouse but the harp i just go for it,but then again im the only harp player at the local jams i got em fooled lol and its fun
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congaron
401 posts
Jan 09, 2010
12:25 PM
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That's AWESOME! Thanks for the link. I wish I could afford one..maybe some day...i really like that.
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wallyns10
127 posts
Jan 09, 2010
5:11 PM
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I smoke a lot of weed and drink a lot of liquer, and then I play along to new music. Just playing with music to let it out of you instead of sitting there and running over the same riff for 2 hours to get it perfect, thats what helps me to break my ruts. Playing not for practice and not for performance but for just pure and simple enjoyment, just let loose and you'll get through it. You do need time off though, just like everything you need some moderation.
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wallyns10
128 posts
Jan 09, 2010
5:13 PM
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Try getting hammered and playing along to a live track from hendrix or the allman brothers and don't think about learning anything, just play through and feel the chord changes...its very therapeutic and motivational I think.
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Hobostubs Ashlock
284 posts
Jan 09, 2010
5:47 PM
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dont baogart that joint man
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