Tips for a non-musician?

You can watch the berliner phiharmoniker on your tv if you like. Its all I do with my tv.

Regarding music, you need to get the best teacher you can get. Someone who inspires you and you want to work for.

Next to this human teacher, I aways thought that an instrument is a teacher too. I ended up as graduated musician, but my toucher on instruments is still not very good. I wish I had a good instrument in my youth.

I have not used him myself, but know several who have, no bad reports, so look up Ben Hewlett. Also try Sonnyboys Musicstore. Videos, etc from both

Like with every instrument it takes quite a while to get a kind of grip of the instrument, and enough control to start enjoying what you are doing. Depending on the complexity of the instrument and your personal talent and time available it might take anywhere between 6 months and a year before you reach a delightful moment. Up till that point one needs to keep motivation and discipline. So my tips for that:

- get a good teacher which you meet on a weekly base

- practice every day, no exceptions, practice will help you to get easier to the aha point

- if possible find others with the similar journey

- commit yourself upfront to give it a serious try, don’t drop it unless you at least can play some music

- if you are not capable, make sure you learn to read music from paper at the same time, don’t rely on methods which work totally without the ability of reading music 

- have fun, start playing simple tunes, playing and hearing yourself motivates...

Bert Schurink posted:

- if you are not capable, make sure you learn to read music from paper at the same time, don’t rely on methods which work totally without the ability of reading music 

 

Bert, sorry, but I have to disagree with you on this point. It is called the Suzuki method. First make music by listening, only once that is done, connect it to the music on paper.

The Suzuki method is basically an observation how people learn a language and how this can be applied to music.

All music starts with listening, listening, listening.

Interesting that you decided on a harmonica. As it's a deceptively difficult instrument. Easy - if you wanted to learn William Tell'. And yes, most of the best blues 'Harp' players couldn't read music. If your jamming with other musicians and they are playing in a key of E you'd just whip out your E Harp.

But success is in music theory. Scales and modal scales.

The best blues Harp players would use it like a Jazz musician and improvise over a piece,  selecting a Harp that might not have been in the key of the song but bend the notes and shape it so it gave feeling and a different texture that still sounded musical, especially with some types of blues that changed keys throughout the song.

I have a buddy that's been playing the Harp for nearly 30 years and who also loves his blues, has had some success with it, is still learning techniques on how to bend, shape the notes and with breathing.   As like a Didgeridoo, you need to learn cyclical breathing - blowing out the same time as breathing in.

If your serious about learning the harmonica, I would recommend learning the Didgeridoo.  

Chromatic harmonica is an exceptionally ductile and expressive instrument, that I have loved a lot of times when played properly. My only suggestion is – being it a chromatic instrument – to learn the basics of theory and harmony and then make an effort to play it also by ear, by memory, with your heart. Always useful is to replay something we've heard, to search incessantly for the heard chord, melody, song. Learning by ear and heart is better than having a lousy teacher.

When I was 12 or so, I lived with my guitar in my hands, even in the bathroom... Become mad about music and your instrument, and play, play.... Use your ears and memory, and don't rely too much on the myth of 'so many hours of practice, so much result': it's an American myth to convince people that as anyone can become President (true), so anyone can become a master musician (untrue). Bullshit: being mad about music will take you farer. Just love music and don't get tired of it.

Best

Max

Nigel 66,

If the moderators don't allow this then sorry.

On Groupon at the minute there is a online harmonica course for £16 instead of £299.I don't know what the course consists  or wether it would be even suitable but maybe worth a look.

Scott

Ardbeg10y posted:

Bert Schurink posted:

- if you are not capable, make sure you learn to read music from paper at the same time, don’t rely on methods which work totally without the ability of reading music 

 

Bert, sorry, but I have to disagree with you on this point. It is called the Suzuki method. First make music by listening, only once that is done, connect it to the music on paper.

The Suzuki method is basically an observation how people learn a language and how this can be applied to music.

All music starts with listening, listening, listening.

I would be ok with your approach as you also end up with being able to read....., if you can't read at the end a lot of music will never open up to one....

While I have respect for those that learn by 'the method', and I certainly respect that they have acquired skills and knowledge and a very solid foundation on which to build, I would put forth that there are other ways to learn. Considering my daughters secondary school education, I'm aware that people have different learning styles, and benefit from different 'methods'.

So I'd put forth that the OP  gives different methods a try until one suitable to his needs and wants, is found.

For my own experience, I bought an instrument, and tried 'the method', but I couldn't find any enjoyment from learning notes, chords, music notation, nor from playing the boring examples in every lesson.  There was seemed to be, so much memorization, and I have a crap memory for details.  So I ditched that, quickly.  No fun.

I ended up, learning by playing along with music I liked.  Every night for a couple of years, I would plug some music into my amp, sit down and start messing about. Simply trying to hit notes in unison, or improvising along with the music.  At first it was a shambles, but over time, my ear tuned in, my fingers began hitting the right notes, and then I started trying more and more difficult fingerings and tweaks. 

I've been playing now for 10+ years. I have no idea how to write down, or explain to anyone what I'm playing.  I can't read music at all. I have zero knowledge to pass along. I am likely doing everything wrong and I would likely make musicians cringe if they saw me.

But, I can spend hours and hours playing along to music I enjoy. I can play along to anything, and I just loose myself in it.  

It has taught me to listen extremely carefully to music, and in that, I have learned to enjoy music to a much much deeper level. I now hear the weight of pick used, the roughness of the players finger pads, the tone and shine of the guitar strings, the movement of the fingers along the guitar neck, the subtle almost imperceptible movements the guitarist has added to the music to create feeling. It has made me respect more and more, what a good musician does.

Do what makes you happy and what makes you stick with it. Figure out where you want to end up and find the most enjoyable way to get there.  My 2 cents.

For my four cents worth, from my teens I learnt to play basic guitar, learning all the basic chords originally from my friend.  Then I started to compose my own little songs all recorded on a cassette and reel to reel tape.  I was very lucky because I could learn rock solos by playing consistantly the same song on my turntable and finding the notes on my guitar.  I most probably played the solo the hard way and not as the artist  did on the record .  Now I listen to Mozarts Clarinet Concerto on you tube and attempt to play parts of it on my acoustic guitar.  From this whole experience I never learned any musical notes.  Musical notes on paper are totally complex frightening stuff for me and if someone forced me to learn this method of music I would be put off playing music for life.  This is most probably the wrong story for the OP, but I feel for him wanting to play.  All I say find a good teacher (not necessarily a traditional music teacher) who would show you the 'way' and make you connect with music on your own terms. I had my friend who made it so much easier for me....