Is It Possible...
To get worse with practice. :) Been doing Blues Harmonica's lessons for 5 weeks, Seems I progressed well, "Walk With Me", chours 1 & 2 memorized and playing with the jam track. Still mistakes but although I feel I"m progressing I also feel I hit the proverbal wall. I'm also doing the lesson 1 "Movements", and probably putting in at least 90 minutes daily.
So, is this type of progress "normal?" (Actually I'd just like a bit of encouragement;)
Thank you. As far as harmonica yes, raw beginner. I'm a piano player for 50 years or so but, it has been so long sine I've tried playing a new instrument, I've forgotten how hard it maust have been. I have been trying to do at least 90 minutes daily and I notice that after 15 - 20 yes, my muscles get tired and I start to leak air, and hit the 1/2 hole I guess you'd call it. It may very well be my lip muscles. (I'd rather think that then to think I suck at sucking:) Thank you again.
When you learn something new, you use a lot of mental and physical resources, so it's good to pace yourself.
As you work on something new, you feed raw information to the elves in the room behind the locked door. They go to work to process all this new information but it takes them time. If you feed them too much too fast, it may slow them down or even make them tired and confused - just like you feel if you practice for too long.
So give it some time. Don't practice beyond the point where your coordination and concentration start to flag. Give yourself - and the elves some recovery time.
Bob Are you starting as a raw beginner or have you had prior experience? I had found level one challenging even though I had prior harmonica playing experience, especially since I did not tongue block. I suspect it may be tough for anybody just starting. I found if you practice too hard for too long you get tired and make mistakes. Take a break for a while and then go back it when you are refreshed. The nice thing about these lessons is you go at you own pace and can do them just about any time. Persistence is also key. You will improve over time. If you have specific challenge areas, there a lot of great people here to help you out. Brian