Welcome to the Harmonica Jam!
This is the Harmonica Jam FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) whose purpose is to answer questions about the Online Jam. We have been running jams online for about
seven years, since 2001.
The Harmonica Jam 14 started in February 2008 and will run until the end of July 2008.
Myself, Rick Beall, operates the jam. If you have any technical problems or need help,
the best way to contact me is through the Harmonica Jam Forum at
www.HarmonicaJam.com . You can leave comments privately
or in the Administrative area. Many of the jam forums have moderators, feel free to ask them questions also.
What is the purpose of the jam?
To make harmonica practice fun!
We are a learning site. Great music is created here only accidentally!
The goal is to make practice more fun, not create "perfect" songs. Whatever level you are at, and however you play today, that solo will be perfect for our site. Practice is more fun because you will know other people will be listening and commenting on your playing. It is amazing how motivating a few positive
comments can be, and how educational a few well thought out criticizms can be.
With that said, some really great music is created here, and many folks go on to join bands or at the very least hold their own with pros in local jams.
Basically, the jam exists as a place which gives you backing tracks,
you play to them, send'em them back, and you get feedback via comments and points from the other players.
Just how does the Jam work?
Go to the backing track page. Download the MP3 backing track. Play the Backing Track and record your solo against it using recording software. Save your song as an MP3 or a WAV file. If your recording software outputs your song as a WAV file, use something like the Lame encoder to convert it to an MP3 file in an extra step. Send the MP3 to the ListeningPost page using the buttons on the form. People can then listen to your Song and vote and comment on it.
Other musicians have about 14 days to comment on it. They comment both by writing comments and by voting. At the end of 14 days if your song track gets enough points it moves to the "Gold Room". If it does not receive enough points, it falls into the invisible "Back Catalog". If your track goes into the "Gold Room", your name appears on the sites front page for the duration of the jam.
When the Backing Track author uploads the Backing Track, he chooses the genre of the song. Currently we have Blues, Jazz, Country, Rock, Gospel, Solo and Misc. "Solo" is for solo harmonica. But you can also have voice, percussion, and bass, but no guitar, piano, banjo or other instruments playing in the middle register.
For many Songs, the fun needn't stop there. You you can burn them to CD to give to friends or upload to other web sites. But keep in mind that occasionally a Backing Track Author does not want a particular Backing Track used off-site, so be sure to read about the exceptions, and pick your Backing Tracks accordingly.
One of the cool things about the site is that just by practicing, you will create your first CD almost automatically! Use some photo editing software to make a cover, and you have a great Christmas present.
What is the difference between the 'Main Stage' and the 'Open Mic'?
You put your best stuff in the 'Main Stage'. Songs retain their position at the top of the list longer there, because you are only allowed to upload one song every 5 days. In the "Open Mic" you can upload a new song once a day, just like a blues vitamin. In other words, songs scroll down from the top spot of the "Main Stage" in a more leisurly pace than they do in the "Open Mic", so they may get a little more exposure there. The "Open Mic" is a kind of overflow room for the "Main Stage".
How does voting work?
Voting is pretty simple, you can give someone a A, B, C, or a comment. We don't have any grades below C because if you practice, you are automatically a winner.
You are allowed to vote once for each STrack (Song Track).
Each Jam is a "percentage jam", that is, to win you need a certain percentage of the total possible vote. For instance as I write this, in the Main Stage, to win you need to earn 40% of the votes possible. When you win, your song moves into the Gold Room.
To take a closer look at the Main Stage,
"Votes Possible" is calculated as NbrOfPeerVoters X 5 points X .40
percent . A Peer Voter is anyone who has uploaded a STrack onto the site during the current jam, and has logged in some time in the last 7 days. He is an active harmonica player. If there
were 35 Peer Voters the numbers would be 35 X 5 X .40 = 70 points . You need 70
points to move our song into the Gold Room!
Your song would go
gold and at the end of its 10 days would move into the Gold Room.
The NbrOfPeerVoters is the total number of people who have uploaded a STrack during the current jam and have logged
into the system within the last 7 days.
To see the actual numbers used within a jam, go to the jam's Song Charts Page, scroll
down to the bottom, and read the explanation that contains that jam's actual numbers.
When someone uploads a STrack everyone (except themselves) is given 1 vote (You can't vote for yourself.).
If they then remove the STrack, the vote is subtracked from everyone's vote stash.
If someone's Available Votes was already 0 when this happened, then their Available Votes
would go into the negative numbers.
Votes are tallied by both Popular and Peer modes. That is, you
can see graphs displaying how well everyone liked your STracks, and how well your
Peers,
other musicians who uploaded STracks, liked your STrack.
You are not allowed to vote for your own STracks. Hey, we all like the smell of our own
shorts as my wife likes to say. The Jam software rejects those votes.
You are allowed to comment on your own STracks. We would love to hear
any story or technical details you would like to share. The story can really help people enjoy your song, enter into your world for a minute and may boost your vote rating. And we all learn from the technical details.
Each person is only allowed to vote for a particular STrack one time.
If a STrack gets a lot of votes, this means that a variety of people voted for it,
rather than one person liked it "a lot".
Everyone gets to vote. Votes are tabulated for the Peers (musicians), and for the Popular Category (everybody).
How are the winners picked?
The three musicians who get the most songs into the Gold Room are the winners. Their names will be recorded in this FAQ for their eternal glory. You can see everyone's current stats in the Main Stage here:
Main Stage Charts Page.
But really, everyone who practices is a winner.
The BTracks (Backing Tracks) don't have as elaborate a tracking system as the
STracks, but they are rated too. In the Charts of each jam you can see which
BTracks were used the most, and the ones used the most are the winners. You don't get any more objective than that.
How much does the jam cost?
The jam is basically free.
The jam uses the "Contribution Model". People are asked to contribute what they can, based on the worth they personally get out of the jam and on what they can afford. People who donate more help subsidize the people who are unable to donate.
People who donate $5 or more, or who contribute 5 new backing tracks, or who generate a lot of sales in the Harmonica Jam Store have access to extra features. Currently their Song Tracks will remain visible when they move to the Back Catalog. Other features will be implemented in the current jam. Jams run for 6 months, and when they end the Special Access List is reset.
We use PayPal to accept donations. You can donate in one lump sum, or subscribe to donate monthly. I encourage people to subscribe, since it helps me estimate cash flow into the future, helping me plan new features. We have our own private server. Donations buy bandwidth, disk space, and help pay me back for the 100's of hours I have worked on the jam. Click on one of the donation buttons, to learn more.
How do BTrack and STrack permissions work?
Each of the Backing Tracks (BTracks) is loaned to the Harmonica Jam by the Backing Track Author. The Harmonica Jam does not own any of the Backing Tracks. The Jam is more like the phone company connecting you guys. Each Backing Track has its own contract that the user of the backing track must abide by when he uses it. There are only three contract types: "BTrack Restricted/STrack Restricted", "BTrack Restricted/Song Unrestricted", or "BTrack Unrestricted/STrack Unrestricted".
BTrack Restricted, STrack Restricted.
BTrack use and any resulting STracks are restricted for use on the current jam only. Permission from the backing track author is required for any other use. Do not use it on other sites, CDs, or even copy it to another jam currently running without permission from the author.
BTrack Restricted, STrack UnRestricted
Although the BTrack can only be used in the current jam, the STracks derived from it can be used anywhere as long as you (a) you name the backing track author (b) you cite HarmonicaJam.com, (c) if you make more than $500 off the resulting STrack you need to renegotiate money with the BTrack author.
BTrack Unrestricted, STrack Unrestricted
You can use the BTrack or STrack anywhere you want, as long as (a) you name the backing track author (b) you cite HarmonicaJam.com, (c) if you make more than $500 using of the resulting STrack you need to renegotiate money with the BTrack author. The BTrack can be used as a Backing Track elsewhere.
We have three different Backing Track contracts because authors make backing tracks for different reasons. Some of them sell their backing tracks elsewhere and use the Harmonica Jam as a fun way to sharpen their skills, so they do not want their Backing Tracks or the Song Tracks derived from them used off site. These folks often only want their Backing Track to be visible on the Harmonica Jam within a certain time window.
Other Backing Track authors are sharpening their skills and use the resulting songs to build up a sort of musical resume. Others just love music and love sharing. So we have different contract types.
The contract or permissions statement for any Backing Track can be read from the page where you downloaded the Backing Track.
When does someone have full rights to a Backing Track?
Musical copyright law says that an artist can copyright melody, lyrics, and a
particular distinctive arrangement, but no one can copyright a sequence of chords.
So, if there is a song you really love playing, you can record yourself playing
the chords, make up a different melody, make up new words, and you will be
"street legal".
You also want to be 100% sure you have full rights to share the "performance" on the backing track. You need to know who originally created the backing track and what musicians are playing on it. The only exception might be if you bought some royalty free loops and you yourself constructed the backing track from it. Also, if the track was originally a MIDI track, then I want to know who originally sequenced the MIDI.
How can I make Song Tracks that do not violate copyright law?
United States musical copyright law says that an artist can copyright melody, lyrics, and a particular distinctive arrangement. So, even though you know you could play the melody or sing the words to a well known song to a backing track --Don't do it! On our site, you have to make up a new melody and new words.
Did you know that every time you sing "Got My Mojo Working" at an open mic, you are supposed to be paying BMI or ASCAP fees? When enforcement actually occurs, bars have been forced to close. You might think you are keeping the blues alive but you are breaking the law. ASCAP can fine you for singing "Happy Birthday". They have threatened legal action against the Girl Scouts for singing around the camp fire (the last one was a public relations nightmare for them). It may sound crazy, but that is the reality in which the Harmonica Jam has to live.
Even performing a public domain song is dangerous. This is because although the song itself is public domain, different arrangements of it may have been copyrighted by various artists, and you may be singing a copyrighted arrangement without knowing it. Also, sometimes artists copyright public domain songs and BMI and ASCAP pursue those fees just as diligently.
If you are interested in learning more, Harvey Reid writes about the shadowy but all-powerful tendrils of ASCAP and BMI, and read about folksinger Richard Phillips who beat ASCAP and BMI by singing only his own songs.
Are the laws evil? Some of that cash goes to the bluesman or his surviving family. The laws are harsh, but can be kinda friendly if you are on the receiving end. On this learning site, we get around the harshness of the laws by writing our own words and melody. So guys, let's do ourselves a favor and not attempt to stretch the law. Stretch your imagination.
What is the difference between Popular and Peer voting?
The Popular vote includes the votes of everyone who visits the site, registers and votes.
The Peer votes only include the votes of other harp players who have uploaded STracks.
Both types of votes are important.
Winning the Popular vote can be meaningful because it means your music connected with the
largest group of people. An interesting point of view that someone might use
is that they won the Popular vote
because their music connected with the most people, but they did not win the Peer
vote because
harmonica players naturally over-emphasize the technical aspects.
Arguing from the opposite direction, someone might say that the Popular vote is
naturally skewed by the harp players with the most web surfing friends. Winning
the "Peer" vote is more meaningful because
it is like winning an Oscar or Grammy where only the "industry insiders" vote,
that is, other harp players.
How does unlimited commenting work?
After you cast your vote and comment, you can comment again by going throug the voting motions
and choosing "Comment". You can post an unlimited number of comments
this way.
Giving people feedback for their playing is a central goal of the Harmonica Jam, so
we encourage you to leave lots of comments.
How many times has the jam run before? Who were the previous winners?
In seven years we have run the jam 14 times. Our history is below.
Harmonica Jam 1 Winners Dec 2001
1st Place Mojo Red
Other winners in the first jam are lost to posterity.
Harmonica Jam 2 Winners June 2002
1st Place Wild Willy G
2nd Place Dennis"Harmaniac" Cooper
3rd Place Will Vogtman
Harmonica Jam 3 Winners Dec 2002
1st place Claudio Brutti from Italy,
2nd place Paul Lassey from France,
3rd place Tinus from the Netherlands,
4th place Martin from Bulgaria
VIP Winner Wild Willy G (Wild Willy Actually had the most votes of anyone again!)
Harmonica Jam 4 Winners Sept 2003
1st Place Tinus from the Netherlands
2nd Place Edi Baur from Switzerland
3rd Place Flash from Louisiana.
Harmonica Jam 5 Winners July 2004
Most Popular Player
1st Place D
2nd Place Flash
3rd Place SweetAndBlue
4th Place Lionheart
Best Player as Judged by Peers
1st Place D
2nd Place SweetAndBlue
3rd Place Mueleski
4th Place Mark Wilson
Most Popular Backing Tracks
1st place "Busking Blues" by SweetAndBlue
2nd Place "Chicago Blues by Blue in Green
3rd Place "Down on Stage by SweetAndBlue
Harmonica Jam 6 Winners February 2005
Most Popular Player
1st Place Davey G
2nd Place Frank
3rd Place HarpLips
Best Player as Judged by Peers
1st Place HarpLips
2nd Place Davey G
3rd Place Frank
Most Popular Backing Tracks
1st Place "A Boogie" by Steph Wilson for a track by martin@bluesblast.com
2nd Place "Key to Harp" by SweetAndBlue
3rd Place "Blues Grooves" by Steph Wilson
Harmonica Jam 7 Winners October 2005
Most Popular Player
1st Place Frank
2nd Place HarpLips
3rd Place Bro Bob
Best Player as Judged by Peers
1st Place Frank
2nd Place Bro Bob
3rd Place azzazzello
Most Popular Backing Tracks
1st Place "Nothing Cures the Blues" by Blues Tom
2nd Place "Blues No More" by Blues Tom
3rd Place "Black Magic Boogie" by Kiwiblues
Harmonica Jam 8 Winners February 2006
Most Popular Player
1st Place HarpLips
2nd Place Bro.Bob
3rd Place Peter Holliman
Best Player as Judged by Peers
1st Place Bro.Bob
2nd Place HarpLips
3rd Place Peter Holliman
Most Popular Backing Tracks
1st Place "Baby Blues" by SmoothBluesr
2nd Place "Blue Balls Blues" by SmoothBluesr
3rd Place "Puddy Tat" by SmoothBluesr
Honorable mention goes to Blues Tom for the many great backing tracks
he provided, including "I'm the Man" which would have
come in 4th, if we had a 4th position.
Harmonica Jam 9 Winners February 2006
Most Popular Player
1st Place HarpLips
2nd Place Bro.Bob
3rd Place Steph Wilson
Best Player as Judged by Peers
1st Place Bro.Bob
2nd Place HarpLips
3rd Place Steph Wilson
Most Popular Backing Tracks
1st Place "TKOBLUES" by to-tired
2nd Place "LGBoogie" by to-tired
3rd Place "Da Raggae Bluz " by Rev. JT
Harmonica Jam 10 Winners September 2006
Most Popular Player
1st Place Bro. Bob
2nd Place Peter Holliman
3rd Place Little Kenny
Best Player as Judged by Peers
1st Place Bro. Bob
2nd Place Peter Holliman
3rd Place Little Kenny
Most Popular Backing Tracks
1st Place "Slow Gin" by Martin Jones
2nd Place "Red Moments" by Kjell Karlsson
3rd Place "Big Bad Blues" by by Mr. America
Harmonica Jam 11 Winners February 2007
Most Songs that Went Gold
KiwiBlues 9
HarpLips 8
Steph Wilson 6
Davey G 6
Most PopularBacking Tracks
1st Place "Acoustic Swing" by Martin Jones
2nd Place "Southsite Boogie" by Roj
3rd Place "Down At The No Name Bar'n Grill" by dblues
Most Prolific Backing Track Authors
dblues 19
Peter Holliman 18
Wyred 8
BamBamBustaWyte 7
Martin Jones (Steph Wilson) 7
Harmonica Jam 12 Winners July 2007
Most Songs that Went Gold
KiwiBlues 11
Lips Angelo 10
Blues in Green 7
TonyH 6
Most Popular Backing Tracks
1st Place "My Three Day Creep", by afrosippi, used 34 times
2nd Place "What You Gonna Do?" by afrosippi, 26
3rd Place "If The Blues Got U Baby" by afrosipp, 25
Harmonica Jam 13 Winners December 2007
Most Songs that Went Gold
BlueInGreen 14
Peter Holliman 14
Sebastian 13
Tonyh 13
Most PopularBacking Tracks
1st Place "Breakn My Back" by Mark Wilson, used 22 times
2nd Place "DeltaShuffle n Slide" by StratSlinger, used 19 times
3rd Place "Misty Monday" by Frosty
4th Place "Wailin at the Wall" by Blues hamster, used 13 times
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How do I upload songs?
A song track must be uploaded against a particular backing track. You can choose one of the
existing backing tracks, or you can upload a song track played against your own backing track
if you upload your backing track first. You must have full rights to anything you upload.
If your song is just solo harp with no accompanment, we have "dummy"
backing tracks labeled "Solo_1", "Solo_2" etc. against which you can upload.
Songs must be in MP3 format.
Am I limited to playing to the backing tracks?
Yes and no. You must play to a backing track on the site, but you can upload your own backing
tracks also. This allows other people to use them.
Before uploading a Backing Track to the Harmonica Jam, you must have and grant permission to use the Backing Track, and you must follow the United States music copyright laws. Be sure to read the cited links in this FAQ.
Once I make a song track can I burn CDs and give it to my friends?
For most of the song tracks you create, you will be able to burn them to CDs, or upload them to other online music services as long as you mention the backing track author as the author, and cite the Harmonica Jam. Also, if you happen to make over $500 from a song using the btrack, you need to renegotiate the money with the backing track author. Also, you can not distribute them for use as backing tracks. We will call this the "Restriced BTrack/Unrestricted STrack" license.
So you can do what you want with the music you create from the backing tracks.
But there are some exceptions which are described in this FAQ and which are listed on the download page of the Backing Track itself.
I thought musical copyright did not apply in a teaching environment?
Fair use in a teaching environment is a lot more restrictive than you might think.
Since we are not affiliated with an accredited university, and are a fledgling
commercial organisation where some money changes hands, we cannot hide behind educational
fair use. Therefore, we only use songs for which we have
full permission. Blues was born of restriction, and this is just another one.
Negative, positive? I actually believe this restriction is the water necessary to nurture the plant of creativty that grows within all of us.
Can I sample or include other artists' work in my STracks?
United States copyright law does not allow you to sample artists outside of the Harmonica Jam without paying. For BTracks and STracks on HarmonicaJam.com, by default, if a BTrack or STrack has the Restricted permission, then you cannot sample it without asking first. Remember, that some of our artists sell their work elsewhere, so they do not want it generally available. But with that said, many of our artists will grant you permission if you ask.
What does the color coding of the song and backing track titles mean?
If a Song Track has a green color then it has no votes and is
a brand new Song Track. A blues Song Track has received
some votes, and gold Song Track has met its voting goals. It has gone gold!
A red Song Track is about to disappear from the jam due to
not meeting its voting goals.
So, songs age in the jam, depending on how many votes they get, and the color coding indicates where they are in this
process.
If a Song Track meets its voting goals, after the run in the current jam is over it is moved into the Gold Room where it can be listened to until the end of the jam. It will also be visible in the person's Online Album.
Not only the Song Tracks undergo a process though. If a Backing
Track is used enough times, it remains in the jam until the jam
closes.
Backing Tracks disappear if they are not used enough. The color coding of the BTracks is similiar to that of the STracks.
Does the jam need more backing tracks?
You betcha! We always need more backing tracks! You can record a single guitar
or an
entire band, or create MIDI files, or ACID files or whatever works. Compose, convert to MP3, and then upload. I'm
learning how to play a little shuffle on a guitar myself so I can toss some up.
The rule is that you have to have full rights to that backing track. Music publishers
can copyright lyrics, melodies and particular arrangements, but they cannot copyright a
sequence of chords. So all you have to do is create your own arrangement of any song
you like without the melody.
You also must own the particular performance which is on the backing track. I wouldn't want to use backing tracks by Doug Puls, or Jon Gindick, or anyone else unless I had explicit permission from them. There may be no copyrightable melodies or arrangements on the Backing Track but these guys performed or are responsible for the performance on the backing track, and if you think about it, they need to feed their families too.
If you're wishing we did some song that you're really digging, create a
backing track similiar to it for us! Or make a request in our Backing Track Author forum and you might get lucky.
Can I upload the same STrack again?
You can, but it is bad etiquette unless you changed something, or the jam ended
early and you don't think people had time to listen to it.
Can I upload a solo without the Backing Track?
Solo harp has no backing instruments, so you are cool there, but other than that, any
Song Track you upload has to be played against a backing track currently in the jam.
Can other instruments appear in a solo track?
We do allow a few other instruments to be in a solo track. You can have bass, percussion,
vocals, multiple harmonicas, and maybe something simple like a jews harp. But you can't have
guitar or piano or any other instruments that use the middle register.
Why do Song Tracks disappear after awhile?
Each jam has its own rules concerning Song Tracks "timing out". The goal of the
site is to encourage you to continuously practice and upload new material, rather
than to aggregate material already created.
Why do Backing Ttracks disappear after awhile?
If a backing track is not used enough, it too falls off the bottom of the jam.
For instance, as I write this, in the Main Jam a backing track has to be used 5 times
in 60 days or else it disapears.
Why does the jam use MP3 files?
MP3 files are more generic and common than Microsoft's wma files, and Real Audio's
ra files. You can find more free software and utilities for them. This will give us all more
options and save us money. But MP3 is not open source. Maybe someday we will start using a truely open source
audio compression like Ogg Vorbis.
Is there any free software I can use to listen to the Jam?
In order to listen to the music in the jam you can use anything that plays MP3s,
that includes WinAmp, Microsoft Media Player, the Real Audio Player, and others. I
use WinAmp because there are
no enforced ads like Real Audio, and it does not try to
take over my PC like Media Player.
Is there any free software I can use to record my Song Tracks?
A lot of people are using the open source
Audacity.
In order to upload Song Tracks to the Harmonica Jam you need an MP3 encoder. Audacity has an
MP3 encoder built in. Some software does not. If you software does not, then
a well known MP3 encoder is the the Lame encoder.
When you upload, you can upload two versions fo your solo, a low bitrate and a
high bitrate version. We consider 24kbps - 64kbps low bitrate, and 65kbps - 128kbps as
high bitrate. In order to help us keep the bandwidth usage down, please don't upload anything
higher than 128 kbps.
Why do we have to log in?
In order to upload songs you need to login with a name and password. You can
also create a stage name by which you can be known. Anyone can create
a login for themselves. In order to leave comments you need to login first. In order
to upload backing tracks you need to login first. But without logging in, you can
still listen to music.
Right now, logging in is a little confusing because the site is made up of a bulletin board and a "jam queue"
back end, and each have separate logins. Both bits of software have the same color scheme, so it can be
a little hard to tell which you are in. It's best to use the same name and login for both.
What sort of picture should I upload?
Send us your head!
We like people to send close up pictures of their faces. Your picture will appear next to the
songs you upload, and will also appear on the
main page of the Harmonica Jam along with pictures other jammers.
The pictures help us get to know each other in this sometimes impersonal internet. If we ran into each other at a Harmonica
Jam Camp or SPAH event we would be able to recognize each other.
The pictures you upload can be gifs
or jpgs and should be 50 x 50 pixels in size, and no larger than 20K.
I'm lost. How do I navigate this site?
If you get confused, you might try starting out from www.HarmonicaBoogie.com.
From there the perspective might seem more logical.
Why do I have to log into the forum and jam queue separately?
The site is made up of two different software applications that use the same color scheme. They will be integrated
some day, but I have other features to add before I create the integration. To avoid confusion, it is best to
create the same name and password for both the forum and "jam queue".
Everyone has an Online Album? What is that?
You can Hang your Name on our server!
You can set up an "Online Album" which displays just your music and all the comments made
about your music. You can customize it with text, html and links.
Your Online Album will be your stage name hung off our server. You can get to your
Online Album by clicking on your picture wherever it is displayed.
Your Online Album will display all the songs you have currently running in any jam, and all your songs which made the Gold Room. If you donated, then your Online Album will also display any songs of yours in the Back Catalog.
To set up your Online Album, go to or click the following:
ListeningPost
Click on your name or log into the jam
Update Information
Click the check box under your stage name
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click "Update your Information".
Now, if you click on your picture anywhere it appears, you will be taken to your Online Album. The "Update your Information"area also has various fields you can fill in to customize your Online Album. In particular, if you have another website somewhere, you can add it to "Home Page Optional Link 1" and it will be dislayed on your on your Online Album and by any backing tracks you upload.
What sort of criticism and comments are you looking for in the jam?
Hey, I'm really glad you asked!
For great criticism, you need to answer 3 questions about the player:
- Where are they coming from? (How were they playing 3 months ago.)
- How do they sound now?
- Where are they going?
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At the Harmonica Jam, we often have to infer (A) and (C) from (B), the only thing present.
But, without (A) your criticism may be too harsh, and without (C) your criticism may be
just plain irrelevant. What's a poor critic to do? I don't know --that's why constructive
criticism is a bit of an art form.
If the criticism is too withering, then the act of practicing and uploading to the jam
may cross the line from fun to stressful, discouraging people from participating.
On the other hand, if criticism is too light, it makes people feel no one is really
listening so why bother. If there's no content then you don't learn anything, and we are
all here to become rock stars as fast as possible (ahem) , so, man, we need that
honest feedback.
Knowing the answers to (A), (B), and (C) is the best, but I do have a shortcut for
getting around imperfect knowledge. After months of cogitation on this subject, I
decided that Mom was just about right: Never say anything "bad" without saying
something "good" to balance it. I call this Yin/Yang criticism.
Yin/Yang criticism has a way of generating answers to questions (A), (B), and (C).
Suppose we have the worse case scenario where you listen to a solo you really don't
like.
Most likely, there is something good about the person's
playing, and by forcing yourself to listen more closely to uncover it, the critic
may learn something himself. Looking for the good in something you don't like is a way of
forcing yourself out of your own pre-conceived notions. I also found it is a way of
remembering stuff I forgot a long time ago. This learning/remembering process usually
mysteriously provides clues for questions (A) and (C).
But, closer to Mom, you could justifiy Yin/Yang criticism from a psychological stand point also.
Whether people admit it or not, they have egos, and if you sting them, you should
always give them something good to hold on to because this will help them absorb the
medicine. You could also call this the Mary Poppins principle.
I'm having a problem, who should I contact?
If you have questions or are experiencing difficulties, you can leave me, Rick Beall, a message at the HarmonicaJam.com in the Administrative
area. I don't put my email address online because of the automated email harvestors which run through the site and then turn around and sell your butt for a penny. But I do want to hear your concerns. You will have to create an account with a valid email address but I promise to protect your email address like I would protect my own.
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