DATE: Tue, 25 Jan 1994 04:32:40 CST From: G.Jacks~radford.ac.uk Subject: Re: Harmonica World, again
Steve, I didn't know you were on line!
It's while after the event I know but.... In a copy of Harmonica World, you mentioned an old man who had played the harp for years but was awfull.
One of your suggestions was that he NEEDED to learn to read the dots to get any better.
I would strongly disagree!
What he needed was to learn to be self critical, to LISTEN to himself. Also to have a friendly, helpful critic on hand who could say, "no, not that, more like this".
It seems unlikely, at least to me, that learning to read music will necessarily make one a better player.
Although you did not actually SAY it in the article, the tone of the piece suggested that to be any good, you had to read music, and those of us who don't are no hopers, (maybe even below the salt?).
Brendan Power (for one) says he doesn't read music really, and that it would take him around half an hour to work a piece out from the dots. I cannot find any fault with his playing because of it.
I know a fair few music sight readers of long standing, who can only be described as poor musicians.
On the harp you cann't even see the position of the notes you play because it's stuck in the gob!. This is one of the things that I feel make the harmonica an intuitive (for most folk!) instrument to play.
This is not to say that reading music would not help, but it's not quite the whole story at the end of the day.
(Not intended as a flame by the way, well... not a nasty one). :-) :-)
