February 15, 2021

What do breath and thought have in common? I find this question fascinating because it focuses on the mysterious ways we can find and use our greatest powers. Breath and thought both run in the background all the time, and some magnificent intelligence controls them so you are free to do other things.

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But you can also take over and consciously breathe and consciously think. Your subconscious mind that runs your breathing and does most of your thinking is open to suggestions. You can train it by repeating something over and over until it sinks in. Then the new patterns run 24/7 in the background. A 1% improvement in breathing or thinking then gives you massive results on autopilot, for the rest of your life.

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Practicing the harmonica can get you deeper into this game of mastering your mind and breath if you appreciate how these basic functions connect to being an awesome musician.

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I listened to an interview with Jerry Seinfeld where he talks about his mind training process. His take: you have to treat your mind like a dog. Simple commands over and over till you succeed, followed by rewards for desired behavior.

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When you succeed at this basic power of giving yourself a command and then following it you grow levels of power and freedom that are worth more than any amount of the usual prizes in this world- money, power, etc. Money and power just magnify whatever level of self-control you already have through training (or lack thereof).

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Here is a list I put together for myself – some of these things may seem obvious, but I’ve found these reminders necessary to keep me on track:

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– When you are practicing your harmonica and you get frustrated, stop and take a deep breath, or two or three. You will feel tension evaporate and sanity return.

– Pay attention to what does not feel right when you are practicing a tune or phrase and then use your thinking to generate clarifying questions. Questions like “what is going on here?” and “what do I think I am doing compared to what I am actually doing?” can often make some simple thing suddenly jump out and clear things up. I can’t tell you how many times I have done this and discovered something as simple as “I am playing the wrong notes”, or “I’m confusing the note layout of the second octave with the third octave”

– Reward yourself for good behavior. Just a quick “yes!” when you get it right will reinforce the pattern you are trying to create. And it feels good…

– Be consistent – just like training a dog, keep the commands simple and repeat as often as necessary till they sink in.

– Check your results. The way I test myself on the harmonica is to play the phrase I am training on with a metronome and increase the speed to see how well my self-programming is working.

– Small daily focused practice sessions get results that blow away epic occasional sessions.

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I hope you find these ideas useful. I’d love to see you come out of this season of lockdowns with a whole new set of skills that give you a real sense of accomplishment.

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Writing these letters is one of my practices, and I really appreciate that you take the time to read my ideas. Thank you!

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Oh, and one more thing – as part of my own practice, I am now putting these letters on a schedule so I can practice being more consistent – Monday is the day I chose to send them. I am a little late today, was hoping to have this ready to go this morning.

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I’ll tell you more about that in the next letter…

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“Life does not consist mainly – or even largely – of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thoughts that are forever blowing through one’s mind.” – Mark Twain

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Learn a slip-jig for Saint Patricks day!

​Here is a youtube video with sheet music and tab to play along with to learn a beautiful slip jig (9/8 time, or 1,2,3, 1,2,3, 1,2,3, for each measure…)

​And a new video of a short, structured practice session​

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And if you have not signed up for my beginner harmonica course (a great way to review your foundation skills) you can sign up here:

​https://www.ultimateharmonica.com/p/the-ultimate-beginner-harmonica-course​