Feeling vs. Theory: The Great Harmonica Debate Unveiled
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- Опубликовано: 4 июл 2024
- In this video I want to address some of the main concerns students have about learning theory and why they shouldn’t.
Do you need to learn music theory to be a Blues harmonica player?
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TIMESTAMPS
01:14 - Expression and feeling...
02:27 - Harmonica is simple?
03:56 - Great players learn through experimenting
05:03 - Does theory box you in?
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Good stuff as usual. I was recently a bit stunned when I got involved with a 78 year old who was "pretty cool with a limited amount of technique". I consider myself to be RUclips trained, largely by you and others. He described himself as self-trained. He has been playing "blues" by himself and with others for over 20 years, and had 20 -odd harmonicas. He put on a G backing track for us to play over and took out his G harmonica and played away, sounding not too bad. A conversation between us was virtually impossible as he had no idea what I was talking about.. I guess my point is that technique and theory are two different stages which I would have liked you to make more of a distinction about. Apparently, some get by with neither. He definitely has a "personal style" and I suspect that he is nor all that unusual.
You are still the best instructor for my level. I find Luke's stuff very good too. Actually, all you guys are really good, and we 80 year olds owe you a big thanks..
I remember Jon Gindick once saying something along the lines of “there’s certainly a place for music theory, but that place certainly isn’t at the beginning” or something like that. His beginners approach seems to be to arm the pupil with some simple, easy to learn riffs that help you learn the basics whilst producing a sound that is actually rather good so that it’s fun.
I think I’ve learned more theory with the harmonica by accident. I’ve learned to play something new and, lo and behold, it had a piece of theory attached to it that I learned without knowing it.
I own a map but sometimes I can't decide where to go. So, I ask my teachers, Tomlin, David, Jason, Liam, Ronnie etc, turns out, they are excellent tour guides. 👍
Everything about this talk is true. It's even more true for those of us who have no "ear"
I recently learned a few weeks ago that my musical hero, Terry McMillan, never learned how to read sheet music nor had lessons with a teacher at all when learning the harmonica. I don't know if he ever learned about music theory, but he learned all the instruments that he played by ear. In the opposite direction, you have me: somebody who was in school choirs for 6 years and had very, VERY minimal music theory knowledge before picking up the harmonica when I was a Junior in High School back in 2018, and long before I started taking harmonica lessons with Todd Parrott, who has taught me a lot more about music theory than what I did back then, two years ago. For me, it is very fun getting to know some of the mechanics of how certain notes fit or not fit into a chord and trying to have Terry's expressive sound on the instrument. I never went to college for music, but having Todd as my mentor is very cool as I have met somebody who is interested in the same era of country music as I am. My focus when it comes to soloing is mostly improv, but you need to know the basics of music theory when it comes to composing songs which I do all the time. I used to be one of those people who thought emotion dominated everything, but I couldn't play to my best ability with the restricted knowledge of music theory that I had when I first started out compared to now. And I have Todd to thank for helping me improve at what I'm doing and for being a good friend.
Hi Tomlin, I couldn't agree more! I bought my first harmonica when I was 11 years old (1980), and I didn't know anything about music theory, not even how to read notes. For years, I didn't get past trial and error versions of some 1st position folk songs like "O Susanna", for which there were simple tabs on a folded paper insert included with my Hohner Marine Band. Yes, there is a certain thrill to being able to "make music" on a harmonica right away without knowing anything about music theory, but once you get past that initial high, you'll be singing the blues standard, "The Thrill Is Gone". 😉
Been watching you for about 5 years. I’ve always thought your tone was one of the best. Inspirational to us wannabe’s. Thanks for all you post.
great lesson as always
Another good take on this argument, thanks!
Knowledge is power. I am yet to come across an activity, skill or hobby in which knowing more about it can hinder progress in it. “Feeling” is usually an excuse for people who want quick results and are too lazy to put in the work.
I know a professional harp player who knows so little theory that his students cannot find the C notes on a C harmonica. He was my first teacher. In our first class I asked him to show me the blues scale (I’m a guitarist and wanted to know). He said ‘you don’t learn blues with scales’, but the truth was he couldn’t properly explain it. Luckily I soon found a real teacher who helped my not to repeat what I did on guitar, which was to learn by ear. I am a good guitarist but it took me twice as long to learn to play well as it did on harmonica.
Piano players can usually tell you what notes they are playing, guitarists can’t (ask one to show you all the F notes on the B string, it will take them ages😂) and harmonica players are usually the same. Cheers!
Thanks Tomlin for the Music theory class. I'm not all the way through it yet, but so far, I've learned what the difference between a Cmaj7 and a C7 cord. I learned some music theory while taking voice and guitar lessons. I knew 7th cords are like transitional cords but never understood why. Now I do. Thanks
Nicely put across thanks Tomlin.
Great talk😊
Hello Tomlin,
Started harping about 6 years ago. Watched many videos, yours and others, to the point of picking out what was useful for ME to use in my harping and disregarding the rest. This practice, for myself, leads me to a quicker learning experience and not an overwhelming one. Music theory? What can I say, I take some and usually leave a lot. LOL. For me, listening to the old guys, Williamson, Cotton, Lil Walter, Jr. Wells, Butterfield, Sam Myers and on and on has brought me to a level that I'm very comfortable with and progressing further coming easier.
Just my thoughts.
Thank for your thoughts and videos.
Vince.
Great video. Learning the music theory might be helpful. But: the question is how many time you have left for the harmonica ... after the work and the family-duties? I guess not very much time. So, I would suggest to every beginner and intermediate player to concentrate on technics (bendings, vibrato, tone ....), on improvising or playing songs instead of learning the music-theory. In my opinion and experience the theory is only useful for advanced players in a band and, of course, for music-students.
I see where lack of theory can be a problem. I am trying to improv over The Thrill is Gone on a G harp, 3rd position, Key of Aminor. So I am trying to work out the chord changes so I know what notes work. So it looks like it is I for 4 bars, IV for 2 bars, ? for 1 bar, V for 1 bar, & I for 1 bar. So totally lost.
Hi Tomlin. I can't seem to find the link to the music theory course.
Here you go - tomlinharmonicaschool.com/p/music-theory-for-harmonica-in-10-minutes-or-less
@@TomlinHarmonica
Thank you.
► [INSERT LINK TO MUSIC THEORY COURSE]
Apologies we went live a little too soon - tomlinharmonicaschool.com/p/music-theory-for-harmonica-in-10-minutes-or-less
I just wish i can pay one of your courses. Lol
Or any course to learn .
But i will have to continue with free short youtube lessons. 😂
I think it's the impenetrable nature of the textbooks and the insufferable attitudes of (some) music profs that contributes most to the fear. You can pick up theory-as-tips from musicians, and over the years you will assimilate that knowledge into your own coherent "music theory"
But you have to consider that once you start learning notes and theory, there's a huge chance you'll quit music.
Why does music have to have a theory? It's not like theorizing why there is good and evil. Why do there have to be different key signatures? Why not just play the notes that sound good in relationship to each other? It' complicates my small brain. I don't get it.
Music theory will tell you why those notes sound good in combination. For example, they may be in a scale or be in the arpegio of a chord.