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From: Winslow Yerxa <76450.32~ompuServe.COM>
Date: 20 Jul 96 17:11:45 EDT
Subject: Formal Harmonica Education

TO: internet:harp~arply.com

Educated people tend to look down their noses at the
accomplishments of the unlettered, and miss out on the value of
both their accomplishments and the advantages of their learning
processes. For centuries, they kept the "oral culture" under
their thumbs by means of this disparagement.

What has become evident from the recent thread on harmonica
education is that the unlettered, for their part, are no less
prejudiced than their "educated" counterparts in their disdain
for formal harmonica education. Perhaps, in part, as a backlash
against the intolerance and poor teaching methods that have given
formal education a bad name. (And perhaps because many of the
people I am calling unlettered (the ones posting to this list)
are in fact highly educated people who turn to the harmonica for
a free-wheeling release from the pressure of their highly
structured and demanding occupations and don't want their
playground spoiled.)

At the same time, harmonica players wonder why the general level
of harmonica playing ability is so low compared to other
instruments (and why harmonica players are often not taken
seriously by the public and especially by other musicians). Could
it be that the existence of formal education for piano, guitar,
saxophone, etc., means that higher standards have been created
for these instruments, and that even those who hate standards and
formal instruction have nontheless benefitted from them
indirectly, due to sophisticated techniques and understanding
passed to them by someone who got them from a formally educated
musician?

To each his own road. You may wilt in the classroom but thrive in
the poolhall. You may shine on the recital stage but feel lost and
oppressed at a jam session. Go where you will flourish, but don't
knock what doesn't personally suit you - it may be perfect for
someone else - and, much more important, it may be an indirect
source for much of what comes to you as an enrichment of your
musical environment.

Given that, who could possibly be against harmonica education?

Winslow Yerxa
Harmonica Information Press
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