Re: [Harp-L] Subject: Who decides who is Bad or Good?

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Music is communication: first with oneself, then with other musicians,
then with an audience.  If you can communicate effectively with
yourself, other musicians, and an audience -- if you can get across the
sounds that are in your head and your heart -- then you're making music
that matters. 

Feedback from others tells you a lot about whether you're succeeding in
getting your message across, and whether the message, once received, is
considered worth listening to.  But only you know whether you're playing
what you really hear in your head and your heart.  So the first answer
to the question "Am I a good player?" has to come from within.  And the
question itself is more like "Can I play what I hear in my head and my
heart, and if not, what's preventing me from doing so?"  The answer to
that question tells me what I need to learn next.

Very few of us will ever achieve the kind of technical and emotional 
brilliance that we associate with a Beethoven, a Little Walter, or a
Charlie Parker. If our music has value -- and it does -- it's because it
expresses something that's unique to who we are.  

You're good enough when you can play what you hear in your head. 
Whether what you hear in your head is great is another question -- but
until you can play what you hear in your head, it doesn't matter.

Thanks, Richard Hunter
hutnerharp.com