Boredom Busters
Hi All,
I'm currently reading 'The Practice of Practice' by Jonathan Harnum (which is excellent by the way). In it, he talks about finding ways of breaking the boredom of practice and so I thought I might buy a bullet mic and amplifier. Can anyone recommend a cheapish bullet mic and amp. I live in the UK.
Thanks,
Mark.
As ever Rob, you come up with some valuable advice. It sounds like boredom isn't really an issue for you.
Over the years, I have played a handful of different instruments (penny whistle, guitar, drum kit) but vey little in the way of public performance and I think that is why boredom has taken hold and ultimately, I have given up. Playing alone has its limits when it comes to personal fulfilment.
I have jammed on harmonica with a guitarist friend and recently, played some improvised accompaniment at a Harmonica UK workshop, led by Katie Bradley, the British Blues artist. That was scary but incredibly valuable. I think that there is a significant fear about playing in public but I know that if I did this regularly, boredom wouldn't feature at all.
You have got me thinking about ways I can play in public and thanks for the links to David's mic and amp reviews. I'll check them out. The prices of some basic kit looks affordable.
Mark.
Mark:
Re your mention of Katie Bradley, I hadn't heard of her before, here on this side of the pond. Looked her up and heard some of her music. Really good stuff! Also looked up Folkestone. Now want to visit. We've been to London, Bristol, various parts of Devon, and Bath, but never coastal Kent. Looks like a great place to visit.
What part of the UK are you in?
Hi Rob,
Yes Katie is a talented blues artist and also very humble. I also attended a workshop with Will Wilde, the famous rock harpist. Will is a very good teacher.
I am located in greater Manchester. Stockport to be exact.
It sounds like you've explored some of the Southern reaches of England. Maybe it's time for you to meet some of us friendly northeners the next time you're across the pond :-)
Mark.
United, or City?
One of my sons-in-law is a Devonshireman from Torquay; loves Torquay United; and favors Chelsea in the Premier League. The other is from West Africa and is a lifetime Arsenal fan. When they joined the family 15 or so years ago they determined that I should get into the mix by selecting a team to become a fan of. After studying some UK soccer history, I picked the Spurs. This season that's looking like a mistake, but I'm stuck with it.
I've seen some of Will Wilde's YouTube stuff, and hope to hear him live and in person someday.
At the risk of getting off topic Rob, I am really neither a United or City fan. I was born in Sheffield and my team is Sheffield Wednesday...they reside in the second tier of the English football league. Yes, Spurs always seem to do well without actually winning anything. I notice that the England women are playing USA women at the end of this month and the US team have an English coach.
I wonder how many soccer players also play harmonica? I think I just rescued the conversation from moving into the harmonica wilderness :-)
Mark:
Here in the U.S. there's the famous story about the Yankees' Phil Linz and his harmonica (https://lastwordonsports.com/baseball/2024/08/20/yankees-phil-linz-harmo...), but I can't find any similar incident in FA history. I'll keep looking.
Looks as though the Owls are firmly in the middle of the Championship table this season. But the team has quite a history. Maybe back to the Premier League some day?
Mark:
Re your start on this thread back on October 9th: I found a used copy of Jonanthan Harnum's The Practice of Practice and have started into it. Really interesting and useful stuff. Thanks for the recommendation!
-Rob
No problem Rob.
I am almost at the end of the book and have changed the way I practice in
a number of ways, as a result of reading it.
Mark.
I'm off topic again Rob but if you get a chance, check out the highlights of yesterday's game - Sheffield Wednesday vs Derby. Highlights only take around 5 minutes to watch. The goal to observe as a thing of beauty is Josh Windass' goal ...goal no. 2 for the Owls.
Hi Mark.
Watched the extended highlights on YouTube. Windass' goal at about 62:00 was one of those things that is not only extremely rare, but only happens in a match being played in Colombia or Bolivia at 8,000' or more elevation! Whenever I'm at a Sac Republic (USA 2nd tier) match and see our goalie trotting up closer to the midline, I hold my breath in case an opposiing player tries that sort of shot. But I've never see it actually work. What a great goal! (Tho' sadly the Owls' win over Derby County isn't really bringing the team any closer to promotion.)
Back on topic: My most recent Boredom Buster has been pulling out my small collection of tremolo harps, and paying the small subscription fee for Tony Eyers' lesson site. While he focuses on Celtic and folk styles, I've been working on some 3rd position blues on one or another of the tremolos, and hope to try it at our local jam some time. And going back to one of Harnum's suggestions in The Practice of Practice, re keeping instruments set up and easily available, I recently bought a nifty little DaBell four-tremolo case. Each of the four tremolos I own came with a plastic case of such size that they made Hohner's case for the CX-12 actually look compact. And thus the tremolos pretty much stayed in a drawer. Now all four (G, A, C, Low D, good for blues in A, B, D or E) are out on my desk with my diatonic harps, ready to go.
I've actually known about the "keep it out and available" hack for years. Teaching ukulele, whenever a new student asked "what should I get next?" after buying his or her first instrument, I've always advised getting a uke stand or wall hangar, and keeping the uke OUT of the closet. Some years ago, at my urging, my brother-in-law had restored a classic Gibson J-45 guitar that had languished in his closet for decades. A year later I asked him how his playing was going, and he told me he didn't play it very often. When I next visited I noticed that the restored guitar was back in its case in his closet. For his next birthday, I gave him a guitar stand. And learned that he was leaving the guitar in the stand in his home study, and as a result, playing for at least a few minutes every evening when he got home from work!
That "keep it out and available" hack is part of David's counseling about having a "pocket pal" harp on you at all times. Pulling it out while waiting in the parking lot when you arrive early for a dentist appointment fits right in with Harnum's "guerilla practice" hack.
Hey Rob.
On the topic of boredom busters, I have put a harmonica in the car so that I can do scales and practice bends whilst sat in a car park.
I looked on the Sac Republic website and it looks like your team has quite a nice set up. The kit (white with a red diagonal stripe) is very similar to the kit of the Peru National Team.
It's interesting how football is regarded in different cultures. Whilst most fans would know that soccer is the same as football over here, it is a word which is rarely used, possibly because football is the national game over here. I know that in the US, the word 'soccer' is used more frequently, possibly to avoid confusion with NFL (which we call American football)
Mark:
Of course. "Football" is what folks in helmets and shoulder pads play. But "Fútbol" is when Mexican soccer teams come up here to play friendlies against US 11s. And what you have over there in the UK is a bunch of guys wearing shorts in freezing, wet, weather, weekly dashing the hopes of whatever group of local fanatics show up.
Mark:
Wow. Ways to bust boredom?
Just about anything new can re-ignite practice enthusiasm, at least until the "new toy" glitter wears off. Even a new (and possibly different brand and/or model) harp can do it. Or if you're playing diatonic blues harp exclusively, try a harp in a new tuning (e.g., minor, harmonic minor, or even "major cross"). But if you've never worked with a mic and amp before, that could be fun too. Start with David's mic review series at https://www.bluesharmonica.com/mic_reviews and small amp review series at https://www.bluesharmonica.com/amp_reviews. (You should at least be able to find a Laney amp in the UK.) Or look for an old PA or vocal mic at a garage or fleamarket sale, and if it doesn't seem to work, find an electronics geek who might fix it up for not too much money. (And be aware of the role of impedence in mic output. E.g., a lot of vintage and current vocal mics are low impedence, and need an impedence converter if you're plugging into a guitar or harp amp rather than a PA amp.)
But how about this for curing boredom? Do you perform in public regularly? If so, you can try to do something really different from your usual. And if you don't perform regularly in public, do this: Commit to playing something that might be a bit of a challenge, at an open mic or jam. Then invite as many friends and family as you can. It might give you a really good case of stage fright, but that's a good thing. It certainly blows away boredom. And I can guarantee that even if you end up thinking to yourself that you didn't do a very good job, friends, family, and the other musicians at the open mic or jam, will all applaud loudly and pat you on the back (so long as you're honest about how new you are to the process - don't try to BS anyone).
Finally, I tried to find Harnum's book in our local library system, without success. So I ordered a used copy on line. Looking at the Amazon "preview," his bibliography cites a number of books that David has talked about here in the Forum. Always something new to learn about learning! Thanks for the recomendation!