Advice to Hank from Brian in Tennessee
Back some months ago I received some advice from Brian in Tennessee. I was stuck in Level one; trying too hard to make it sound better than was necessary. Below, in brackets, is the advice Brian provided for me (I saved it because it was so helpful):
[Hi Hank,Level 1 is challenging, but very doable. The main thing is don’t expect perfection. I think for level 1 good enough is good enough. Watch the student videos of Sharron and Hob and you will get a good idea of what David looks for to complete level 1. There are also very helpful hints in the videos with Sharron and Hob that are not in the main lesson videos. If you get frustrated it’s time to stop for the day or move on to something else. I found it very helpful in the beginning to do short session 2 or 3 times a day than to do a long session. Keep the harmonica on you everywhere you go and print and cut out one solo harmonica exercise or one chorus from the study song and carry that with you everywhere. Whenever you find your somewhere waiting on someone else pull out your harmonica and go to work. Anyway, that has been working for me. Good luck and enjoy the learning.]
I recently revisited these recommendations; good thing I did because I find myself repeating the same tendency to not accept good enough as good enough here in Level 2. And also Brian's advice about listening to David's lessons with Hob and Sharon are filled with tips from David. Thanks Brian.
I think Brian's heart-felt advice can be of use to others, so I wanted to put it out there.
Hank H.
An old boss once gave me some great advice when I was foundering in a project:
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
Hank,
I've been absent for several months dealing with health issues and was surprised on my first visit back to find your message. Thank you for your recognition.
While there may be a time and place where perfection is necessary, I think perfection is often more destructive than helpful. It’s also one of the things that I find hardest to let go of myself.
If a person demands perfection when playing music, they will likely stop when they make a mistake and start over which will likely lead to frustration. After listening to many artist interviews, I find the best artists deal with mistakes by emotionally letting go of the mistake and playing through. I personally have encountered this in many aspects in life. If we were meant to be perfect, we would be angels and not men.
Remember that I am only a student myself and there is much about music I don’t know, so use by advice cautiously. Unless you want playing harmonica to be a job, have fun with it and don’t let it get you down. If you can master having fun with the harmonica you will probably become a master player.
Brian in Tennessee