I write:
I can see where you are coming from, Warren, but I can see John's
and others points as well. I think lessons can be valuable, but so is
developing ones own rapport and relationship with the interest. There
have been very accomplished players who have never have had a lesson in
their lives (true of many of the Celtic and other ethnic folk players
throughout the history of folk music), as well as players who've had
years and years of lessons (as is de rigueur in the classical tradition
of the pedal harp.
Someone wrote:
>>> There's only so far you can go without it, and when you decide you
want>more>>> power and speed, you'll have to unlearn all that sloppy
technique you>taught
John responded:
>>IMHO, eventually learning "proper" technique should give no more
problem >>than it would learning it in the first place. And you'll
still have >>whatever "improper" technique you have taught yourself,
for whatever it >>is worth.
Warren ripostes:
>I would heartily disagree with this statement. Every time you sit down
to>play the instrument you teach your fingers, arms, back muscles,
etc.,>MUSCULAR HABITS. These habits are beyond the reaches of your
conscious>mind, and are hence exceedingly difficult to unlearn when
(and if) you ever>reach the point where you wish to transcend the
self-imposed limitations>of bad technique. After complaining about the
"irrationality of the awkward>finger and hand positioning" imposed upon
him/her by harp teachers for>perhaps years, a harpist might suddenly
reach the point of mastery where it>abruptly becomes clear why the hand
and finger positioning are ABSOLUTE>REQUIREMENTS to reach a higher
level of proficiency, where the lack of the>early muscle training, and
the existence of incorrect habits, will>eventually damn the progress of
the serious harper/harpist. I emphasize,>formal training is not
necessary if you don't care about reaching a high>level of proficiency,
but appears to me to be imperative if you desire to>attain any level of
true mastery of the instrument.
I rise to the challenge:
I think that you are right, up to a point. Some habits are
extremely hard to unlearn, while others, once understood as impeding
are easily dropped, never to return. Funny how that works.
As to proper technique, standards for this have fluctuated through
the centuries. A careful study of harp methods through the last three
centuries or so will show radical differences of approach to technique,
hand position, etc. However, there is no question that beautiful music
continued to be composed and performed throughout the history of the
instrument.
Someone wrote:>
>>> I'll be forever grateful that I did it this way. I failed at two
>instruments>>> in my life because I thought I could teach myself.
Now, I'm succeeding>with>>> my harp. It's really happening. Geez, you
spent all that money on the...
John wrote:
>>Again IMHO, the harp is unlike any other instrument, in that it is
very >>obvious how it works, and even a child can pick out a tune right
away.>>Not so with guitar, violin, etc. Not even with piano, unless
you tell >>the child to ignore the black keys. So maybe Lin could have
taught >>herself harp, even though she failed at two other instruments.
I wonder >>what instruments they were?
>
Warren wrote:
>This again shows the treachery of the apparent simplicity of the
>instrument. How often, at harp competitions, have I observed
>self-congratulatory hacks plinking out tunes (with some degree of
>adroitness!) with one finger on each hand, showing off their skills in
>crowded rooms, applauding themselves that they, without training, can
keep>up with the rest of the harpers present! I suppose that I really
cannot>fault them they are finding some degree of satisfaction and
even joy in>their perpetual mediocrity but I find it pernicious that
they have>condemned themselves to never transcend that degree of
mediocrity. These>pseudo-musicians are so busy feeling proud of the
fact that they were able>to progress to their one-finger tunes without
formal training that they cut>themselves off of the richer
possibilities of the instrument! They care>more about self
congratulations than they do about developing skill and
>mastering musicality. I cannot help but feel that their lives are
poorer>for choosing pride instead of music!
I write:
Warren, I suggest that it is not really important who is the better
player or who is taking the "right" approach (a relative term at best).
The purpose of taking up the harp, for most of us, is not to compete
with each other--the reason I never enter competitions, but to create
beautiful music as best we can. Our ideas, our approaches, our
attitudes about the music we perform and our technical approaches to it
are in a continual state of growth and change, but we must honor
ourselves and those around us for do the best that we (and they) can do
at the time.
>Warren continues:
>This is just my humble opinion. I speak from the experience of being a
>self-taught hack at the piano, one blessed actually, with a great
deal of>talent. I initially found some degree of pleasure and even joy
in my music,and I had a sense of satisfaction in performing for my
young and>inexperienced friends who gave me abundant accolades because
I was able to>force some crude tunes out of the piano, but that joy has
long since turned>to frustration because of the limitations I face
having learned neither>proper technique nor theory. During my youth
when I should have been>building a solid foundation for future musical
successes, instead I was>constructing a vacuous chimera of musicality.
In a sense I damned my>musical career, selling out for the mess of
pottage presented by>undeserving applause from audiences who knew even
less about music than I>did!
>
>My wife, on the other hand, is completely the opposite. She has been
>training for years with an incredibly talented harp teacher. This
teacher>has brought her to vistas of music my wife had literally never
imagined>before, pointing out both musical nuances and techniques that
would not>have entered my wife's life without the guidance of someone
who had been>there before. Unfortunately, the first year or two with
this teacher were>wasted wasted on UNLEARNING the mistakes and bad
habits developed by my>wife before entering the tutelage of the true
professional. The incorrect>hand position, the incorrect posture, and
even the incorrect way of>thinking about and analyzing the music were
chains that fettered my wife.>True progress could not be made until the
chains were severed a painful>and time-wasting process.
>
>Although my wife was playing at parties within months of her purchase
of>her first folk harp, it was after only a few months that she butted
up>against a plateau. She could have stopped there, but any joy in her
music>would have been swallowed up in her knowledge that she was a mere
>pretender, feigning musical skill on the sheer power of the uniqueness
and>beauty of the instrument itself, rather than experiencing the pride
and>satisfaction of actual musical accomplishment. Again, the unlarning
>engendered in transcending the plateau was far more painful than
studying>with a teacher from the start would have been.
>
>Again I state if you do not care about becoming a proficient
musician, if>you want to spend your time impressing people who will
never be able to>appreciate the finer subtleties of excellent music,
then training with a>teacher is unnecessary. But if what you care about
is making MUSIC (rather>than just getting hackneyed applause), then a
teacher who can see the end>from the beginning is absolutely necessary.
>>My wife and I have walked both paths: one guided by a teacher and one
left>to his own devices. We can state clearly and unequivocally, the
mastery>enabled by studying with a teacher is infinitely more
satisfying than the>meanderings resulting from undirected exploration
on ones own.
>
>Just my humble opinion.
>
>Warren Smith
>
>
Warren,
Having spent different periods of my life taking private lessons,
group lessons, learning from peers, teaching myself through the
experience of arranging and composing some three hundred compositions
and songs, I feel there are things that can be learned from all
approaches. What works for one period of development may give way to
another approach at other times, and what works for one person may not
work for another. This is the beauty and magic of musical growth and
discovery as well as the rich diversity found in this always surprising
and unpredictable species we call humans.
Lauren