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From: Moandabl~ol.com
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 22:36:49 EDT
Subject: Re: another great moment of self discovery... long but worth it

Hello fellow listers...
I thought I would pass along, with his permission, an email from my friend Ed
in Pennysylvania, a lurker on Harp-L from time to time and now a true harp
player.... What follows is self explanatory:

Well, Sunday has come and gone. It went really well!! I played on 2
songs. This Train and Celestial Shore. I had done these many times in the
past with parts that I had originally made up. However, the songs were
sounding tired to me. I was tired of them and knew that they needed improved
upon.
I could have done them in the usual way and all would be fine to the
listeners. But, my insides just wouldn't do that. I messed with them and came
up with fresh/refreshing ideas. (even improved on the train effect, a break
through)
This Train went well; it's a song that always gets them. One of those
guaranteed hits with the audience.
I was having trouble with Celestial Shore right up to show time. I was
getting freaked. I just kept blocking. (players block?) I couldn't even fall
back on my usual way of playing it. That was tied up in a knot too.
Fortunately I had some parts of it down solid. I was sure of 2 parts only. I
figured that I'd lay that down and hope something would happen that worked.
I got to the church an hour earlier than everybody else. I sat in the car
and just kept struggling with Celestial Shore. I put the harp down and had
prayer. God new my troubles. I asked Him for help because I was STUCK!!
We all get to church early and go through the songs once. Something
happens. Celestial Shore came off great!! I'm thinking, if I can only
duplicate that when the service begins!!
Here I am, fingers cold as ice. Panic all over me. Trying to act like I'm
in control of myself. The people file in and take their seats.
The guitarist goes through the intro. The bass, drums and keyboard join
in. The vocalist starts singing. She a 20ish girl who sings like a bird. This
girl has some pipes. Beautiful voice. I'm doing my thing with chords and then
horn lines with octaves(simple but effective) Sounds right.
Now here goes(panic). Here comes my solo,,,, sweating bullets. I hug the
mike and pour all I'm worth through the harp, following the chord changes
just right. Climbing up to higher notes. Tongue-blocking to the left and
playing single notes on the right(as usual) Slide into a pucker. Switch to a
U tongue for holes 8 & 9 bends. Reverse every thing going back down to the
low end. Fantastic!! Nailed it!! The singer is inspired, she belting it out
with emotion and inflections. Thiiiis is gorgeous!!.
Then all of a sudden, it REALLY HAPPENED!! The harp just started playing
itself. Weaving in, out , around , and under this beautiful voice. Playing
runs that I had never played befor. (stuff that I could hear in my head but
could never make happen ) This was an incredible happening!!
The song is over. The audience is clapping and energized. Our leader is
grinning. I walked over to the side and sat in a pew and simply thanked God.
It was God that let that happen. I have only had a few times in my life when
I could feel the absolute presence of God and this was one of them.
Ed


:)
Steve "Moandabluz" Webb
one of many fools for the harp