Top Harp Gigs In Brighton: Aki Kumar, Dave Ferguson, Joe Filisko

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Wilf

Let the four winds blow, let ‘em blow, let ‘em blow

Well the Good Doctor and Stomping Stu from the local allotments have been busy organising visitations from a few of their favourite overseas harp slingers this summer. Check out the details below and get your buns on down to Brighton for a shot or two of what you know does you good…

Aki Kumar                            Dave Ferguson                 Joe Filisko
San Jose (USA)                  Cape Town (RSA)           Chicago (USA)
Fri 31.May 2013                 Sun 2.Jun 2013               Fri 26.Jul 2013

Harp Heroes 1

 

 

 

Continue reading →

Posted in Announcements | 2 Comments

Au Clair De La Douzième Position (Shedding Light On 12th Position)

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Wilf

365 Tunes For The Four Hole Harmonica Au Clair de la Lune, mon ami Pierrot

Today Otis the Harp Surgery’s postman dropped off a delivery from those lovely people at Amazon.co.uk; Pat Missin’s handsome new manual, The Ultimate Miniature Harmonica Tunebook. And as he trudged round the duck pond, amidst the late snow and expectant quacks, Otis was whistling a familiar French folk tune.

Listen to

‘Pour l’amour de Dieu’, the Good Doctor sympathised as he gingerly opened the Surgery’s front door, ‘come inside and warm yourself before you freeze your assets’. ‘Don’t mind if I do’, replied Otis pausing from his musical méandre, ’Get that kettle on. Mine’s a Julie Andrews’.  Continue reading →

Posted in Hints And Tips, Reference | 1 Comment

Doublecrossed and Blue

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Wilf

Steve Baker 1I’m gonna pack my bag

A third annual day of Harpin’ By The Sea completed, and another bucket load of memories collected!

Listen to

This year we had the very great honour of welcoming Steve Baker to his UK homeland, fresh from his tour of India. During a full programme of harmonica workshops,  Steve offered his wisdom and expertise to a select group of advanced harmonica players, many of whom had travelled across the country to meet him. Meanwhile over forty newcomers attended the workshop for complete beginners with the Harp Surgery’s Good Doctor. Continue reading →

Posted in Gig Reviews | 10 Comments

Harp Surgery Challenge

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Wilf

Calling all harps!

Now that the Christmas and New Year celebrations are behind us, even for our funky Spanish neighbours with all their Three Kings business (we love you), the folks down here at the Surgery have been checking out a few statistics.

And before you go getting all excited, no we don’t mean the vital statistics of Our Monica, the Harp Surgery’s own domestic Godess from up North.

If you’re a regular at the Surgery, you’re probably familiar with the ‘Where in the World’ globe on our homepage. It’s over there on the right >. You can tell at a glance who’s visiting us, and from whence they cometh. For all our visitors, regular or new, you can enjoy flying your flag while you’re here. You can probably see your right now. Which is nice. Continue reading →

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Country Harping With The Rolling Stones – Sweet Virginia [..with tab]

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Wilf

Wadin’ through the waste stormy winter

Fifty years on, old big lips and the gang are back on stage delivering their special brand of rock’n'roll. And we still like it!

Coincidentally, we got a call from our good friend Gordon Russell, asking if Harp Surgery had a student who could add the harp line to a song one of his own protégés would be performing locally. ‘What’s the song?’ the Harp Surgery’s Good Doctor asked. ‘Sweet Virginia in A, by the Stones’, replied the ex-Doctor Feelgood axemeister.

Listen to

‘No sweat me old mucker, we’ve got just the person.’ Cue Harp Surgery’s junior player of the year 2011 and 2012, Josh Cooper, age 10. Josh and the Doc duly put their heads together and this is what they came up with.. Continue reading →

Posted in Announcements | 9 Comments

The Moothie

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Wilf

Happy St.Andrew’s Day

Cantie Saunt Dandie’s Day tae ye! Or if you’re a speaker of Scottish Gaelic, Beannachtai ne Feile Aindréas!

Listen to

We had considered running an article on how to play Amazing Grace, but discovered, to our surprise, this may not be the traditional Caledonian Air we’d imagined. We also thought about the Sky Boat Song, or Scotland The Brave, but harp tab for this is freely available on the interweb. So instead, we decided to post an introduction to the tradition of the Scottish mouth organ – or Moothie. And, as a small bonus, we’ve thrown in a neat little bagpipe trick we picked up from Joe Felisko..

Continue reading →

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Blues Harp Radio – Radio Caprice

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Wilf

Cruisin’ and playin’ the radio

The Good Doctor had closed the Harp Surgery for the day and was just settling down to a medicinal Jim Beam when the doorbell rang. It was Otis the postman with some extra news for blues harp fans.

Otis had been messing around with the Internet Radio App on his new bluespad and stumbled across Radio Caprice’s twenty-four hour Harmonica Blues channel. Perfect for after-hours listening at the Surgery.

With no particular place to go

Radio Caprice is a free Internet Radio Station broadcast from Russia and can be located through most Internet Radio search engines. Listeners are treated to the classic tones of masters such as James Cotton, Big Walter, Rod Piazza, George Butler and Junior Wells, as well as one or two very pleasant contemporary surprises. Ron Sorin, The Pera Joe Blues Band and Sven Zetterburg are just a couple of examples the Doc and Otis grooved on down to.

Switching to cold shots of Stolyichnaya in celebration, Otis and the Doc stoked the winter coal fire and kicked back for an evening of top class entertainment. David Rotundo’s That Girl had them shimmying like a pair of old hippies on flower power. Nostrovia Radio Caprice!

Posted in Internet Blues Radio | 1 Comment

The Harmonica At War – Lili Marlene [..with tab]

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Wilf

LILI MARLENE [..with tab]

Underneath the lantern, by the barrack gate

Had we been shovelled onto a grimy conveyor belt and pitched alongside millions of innocents into the inferno of the Great War (1914-18), there is a strong chance we would have had a musical companion. An emollient for the mental and physical agonies of front line duty.

Portability, cost and availability predetermined the choice of instrument. And while a variety found their way to the front, it was the humble harmonica that became the proprietary antedote to the sting of industrialised warfare. And it’s probably the reason why so many Europeans still relate stories of a family elder who played the mouth organ.

This Remembrance Day is no different to any other – they are equally important.  As Santayana famously wrote: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. It’s just that this year we have the novelty of an extra number 11. At the eleventh hour (GMT), on the eleventh day, of the eleventh month -  of the eleventh year - we remember the fallen.

Continue reading →

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Harmonica Mid-Winter Festival: Sat 2.Feb 2013, Brighton & Hove (UK)

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Wilf

HARPIN’ BY THE SEA - WE’RE BACK FOR OUR THIRD ANNUAL HARMONICA FESTIVAL!

  • Sat 2. Feb 2013
  • 11.00am-11.00pm 
  • The Brunswick, Holland Road, Hove, BN3 1JF

Harpin’ By The Sea, with support from the National Harmonica League, is hosting it’s third annual Harmonica Day to brighten up your mid-winter.

Special Guest - Steve Baker (Hohner)

This is our third successive annual event. The last two years have seen a BIG crowd, from harmonica novices and enthusiasts, to intermediate and expert players, all seeking ways to improve technique and engage with each other. If you’ve always wanted to make music with a harmonica, or improve what you do, this is your chance.

The ‘Complete Beginners’ workshops will be led our own Richard Taylor, while Keith Charnley will be leading those who have already started but need to improve. Steve Baker, Darren Causton and Will Greener will be leading sessions for Intermediate and Advanced players.

Our very special guest, Steve Baker, is a consultant to Hohner Harmonicas and is world renowned as a harmonica innovator and teacher. This is a rare visit to the UK from Steve, who is based in Hamburg and will be visiting especially for this event. Steve wil be leading specialist workshops and performing a set in the evening, alongside our other with harp-friendly bands. Continue reading →

Posted in Announcements | 5 Comments

Jesu Joy Of Man’s Desiring – J.S. Bach [..with revised tab]

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Wilf

Switched On BachHark, what peaceful music rings!

[To the Memory of the great Herbert Harris, Choirmaster and Organist of All Saints Church, Harpenden, UK].

Welcome to the Harp Surgery, where one minute we’re honking the blues and next minute we’re power harping on a tangent. Time now to turn the clocks back three hundred years to the ornamentation and etiquette of the Baroque.

Whether or not you’ve studied classical music, it’s a certainty you’ve encountered its superstars. In absentia, these dudes have colonised elevators, call centres hold messages and even TV theme tunes (check out The Antiques Roadshow ) for decades. Our house favourite is Johann Sebastian Bach. Jesu Joy Of Man’s Desiring, composed in the early 1700′s, was regular fayre for the Good Doctor as a junior.  And somehow, Bach was hip. Continue reading →

Posted in How Do They Do That?, Tab | 8 Comments