[Harp-L] Re: practice

[Joe <abcdeasy@xxxxxxxxx>]

I've become a firm believer in practicing scales.  Some days I
practice 15 minutes, some days 30 minutes but I always have a harp in
my pocket.  If I only have 5 minutes I can play a few scales.  Better
than no practice at all.

 I think the following are key things to practice.

1. Tone - Getting good clean single notes.  Clean bends on pitch.
Clean octaves, splits etc.  Nothing more frustrating than hearing
someone "slurring" their way around the harp.  I'd rather hear a few
good notes than 10 bad ones.
2. Timing - Practice with metronome, foot stomping whatever works for
you.  Timing is VERY important.  Again same frustration hearing
someone thats way behind or ahead of the beat.  Not good.
3. Scales - Scales help you move around the harp with a musical
reference.  Riffs will fall into place much easier after learning some
scales.

The rest will come on its own with more experience. Hit some jam
sessions and don't be afraid to experiment and have fun !

Blind Lemon Yoder


On Mar 17, 11:38 pm, Tony Smith <Tony.Sm...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> What should a good practice session consist of. What's
> the optimum time for a session.
> Listening to so much great stuff I sometimes get a
> little overwhelmed.
>
> Give me some tips.
>
> Tony
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