"Grab your harmonicas, make yourself comfortable and let the good doctor fill you in. This won't hurt. Harp Surgery is all about kicking down doors and making hard-earned knowledge available to all. It's also about encouragement. The good doctor says, 'I can do it - so can you. Here's how..!' I hope you enjoy exploring and learning from the information on offer. Bend it like Beckham? Bollocks to that. Let's show 'em how it's really done!"

Son of Dave: Same Old Sound, Maybe New Sunglasses

Posted by Elwood

Son of Dave
An interview with blues harmonica man Benjamin Darvill
Son of Dave found his coolness through the only legitimate means available to us skinny white guys: Wearing your granddad’s clothes and a creepy grin, and making bizarre, gut-busting music that goes oomph-a-doomph in the night. The one-man beat-boxing, harmonica-playing phenomenon has a new album coming out on March 22: Shake a Bone. The Harp Surgery’s Apprentice found him in the Blues Kitchen, North London, lurking behind a pair of sunglasses and a huge plate of Tex-Mex.

Shake a Bone promises to be a stripped-down affair – less layering than in recent Son of Dave albums and a closer approximation to the live performance. Here’s what he had to say… Read more…

March 7, 2010 | Leave comment

Interview with Christelle Berthon

Posted by Elwood

Elwood the Apprentice in conversation with the undisputed harmonica queen of YouTube.

By turns bold as hell and surprisingly self-doubting, Christelle Berthon is one of the most closely watched harmonica players on the web (over 2 million pairs of eyeballs, according to her YouTube stats). She’s a different kind of harmonica hero: instead of gin-soaked juke joints where the smoke hangs low off the ceiling, she found fame playing to jam tracks in front of a web cam at home.

She took time out of her gruelling practice regime to tell us about her decision to dedicate herself to harmonica, and share some insights to her style and influences. And as we soon found out, chasing the dream ain’t easy.

Download the rest of the interview in MP3 (12MB)

February 19, 2010 | 2 Comments

3rd Position Blues Harp – An Introduction

Posted by Wilf

Harp Pic 2‘Anon they move, In perfect phalanx to the Dorian mode, Of flutes and recorders.’ Paradise Lost (Milton)

When we first take up the diatonic harp, we’re on a mission from God. Nothing, but nothing’s going to get in our way. In rapid order we buy some cheap shades, a big hat and set off on a crusade to find that sound. You know the one. It goes da DA da da and fits in your briefcase.

We raid every jacket pocket in the house and dredge the sofa for loose change. Then we invest our accumulated capital in a used copy of Play Like Walter in Ten Minutes while bidding for an entry level harp with a fancy name. Read more…

February 12, 2010 | 6 Comments

Harmonica Links: The Best And The Worst

Posted by Elwood

Talk about the blind leading the blind! Elwood the Apprentice has a rant about amateur hour out there on the Internet

It’s not in the Harp Surgery’s nature to be negative. The reason for that is the Good Doctor: he’s a relentlessly positive guy who’s always looking for the best in people. It’s kind of rubbing off on me. We try to dole out the best advice possible to users, but when it comes to reviewing the goods and services in the rest of the harmonica world, we often go by the “Elwood’s Mom” Policy: if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. If someone isn’t worth our time, we’re more likely to hold our tongue and look the other way than strip ‘em naked and throw them into the flood lights, if you catch my meaning. Read more…

February 10, 2010 | Leave comment

Little Bitty Pretty One (Rockin Robin) – Rod Piazza [..with tab]

Posted by Wilf

Little bitty pretty one, come on and talk to me

Rod Piazza 2 ©FrankVigil.comIn a previous post we had the good fortune of reviewing Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers live in Las Vegas. It was a welcome treat as the Harp Surgery has always been a fan of his work. Little Bitty Pretty One (Rockin’ Robin) brought back happy memories of a time when this instrumental was a hot topic of conversation. It is not just a catchy tune; more importantly it includes a devilish switch between separate draw bends in hole 3 and the straight draw in hole 2. Something the Harp Surgery likes to call a wobble.

Wobbles can be executed in several departments of the harp. They are achieved by direct bending in one hole (this could be a draw bend or a blow bend), rolling into an adjacent hole and then returning to the original bent note or, as in this case, a second bent note in the original hole. Join us on our journey into rocking blues and all will be revealed. Read more…

February 5, 2010 | Leave comment

Pencil Full Of Lead – Which Harmonica?

Posted by Wilf

Fraser Speirs by Harry MillburnI knew it was a G harp, but is it a high G harp?

Regular visitors will remember we recently ran a post about Paolo Nutini’s priapic UK No.1 hit Pencil Full Of Lead from his chart topping album Sunny Side Up. When the song first hit breakfast radio, the Harp Surgery resembled a madhouse as The Good Doctor, Elwood, Otis and Monica cavorted around the kitchen in total abandon. The The Riverboat Captain is still sounding his horn from the wheelhouse and singing along.. most of all, I’ve got my baaaaaay-bee!

One player from Nutini’s band, The Vipers, caught our collective eye of course – Fraser Speirs, Scotland’s Laird of the Moothie. That’s King of the Gob Iron to those of us south of the border. And having listened to the track with his good ear, The Doc concluded that Fraser was using a G major diatonic in 2nd position for the harmonica solo. A week or so later, Otis delivered a letter from our dear friend Tenbar who wrote I’ve been trying to figure out the Paolo Nutini track and knew it was a G harp, but is it a high G harp? Straight away the Good Doctor dispatched a missive to the tartan territories, enquiring about Fraser’s choice of instrument and which position he used on the hit.

Read more…

February 3, 2010 | Leave comment

Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers – The Railhead, Las Vegas, Thursday 14th January 2010

Posted by Wilf

You just wait till he does his walkabout and gets up on the table

Rod Piazza ©FrankVigil.comThe Good Doctor found himself back in Vegas for the post-Christmas lull. It was strange seeing folks in coats and jackets complaining about the cold in a City that is normally a kiln. But the white tops on the nearby mountains, the absence of crowds and an ill wind blowing through the valley spelt winter in Sin City.

The Doc was in need of something to warm the soul and what better than a Vegas helping of Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers? He jumped a cab and rode out from the Strip to the Boulder Station Hotel and waded across the Casino floor to the The Railhead. Standing in line, he was engaged in conversation by Carol, a regular winter migrant from Michigan. Oh I’ve seen Rod Piazza many times. This your first? she quizzed. The Doc nodded and smiled, showing full British reserve. Oh you just wait till he does his walkabout, gets up on the table and Honey starts playing that piano with her toes. The Doc’s grin broadened. Sounds more like the Cirque du Soleil he thought to himself. Read more…

January 28, 2010 | Leave comment

Harmonica Podcast: The Kids Are Alright

Posted by Elwood

Harmonica Podcast 1Download the podcast (19.7MB)

As the world stumbles into a new decade, we at the Harp Surgery find ourselves contemplating the future. But we’re not thinking about jetpacks or three-course meals that you can take as a pill. No, we’re thinking about the future of the harmonica. Okay, jetpacks would also be pretty cool, but for his debut podcast, Elwood the Apprentice mumbles his way through five young players who are poised to become rising stars of the harmonica.

Read more…

January 23, 2010 | 4 Comments

Seydel Söhne Competition Winners

Posted by Wilf

Congratulations to our competition winners

Seydel Quiz VouchersWe know that many of you have been waiting for news of the competition result and now that all the formalities have been completed, we can bring you up to date. Thanks for your patience! Thanks also to Bertram Becher at Seydel Söhne for making this special event possible.

As advertised, on the 11th January three names were drawn at random from our pool of correct replies and the winners were notified by email. We are delighted to announce that the lucky recipients of a Seydel e-shopping voucher are Matthew Squires (USA), Tony Westlake (USA) and Jörge Lange (Germany). Congratulations to Matthew, Tony and Jörge and a big thank you to everyone who sent in an entry. Read more…

January 18, 2010 | Leave comment

Culture Club Harmonica II – Karma Chameleon [..with tab]

Posted by Wilf

Karma Chameleon single coverIn Culture Club Harmonica part 1, we studied Judd Lander’s harp playing on the band’s top 10 hit, Church Of The Poison Mind. Their follow up single, Karma Chameleon, went flying to the top of the charts worldwide, where it stayed for several weeks. To this day it remains a classic of 1980’s pop. Culture Club and Boy George had well and truly arrived.

To recap for a moment, Judd Lander is purported to have taken lessons from Sonny Boy II during his formative playing days in Liverpool. He subsequently relocated to London where he found studio session work and launched Charisma Records. His playing is not complex, relying as it does on cross harp blues sequences, but it is highly polished and instantly recognisable. Full of natural tone and excellent phrasing, Judd Lander gives his harp licks real ‘voice’ without resorting to digital trickery or overdriven tubes.

Read more…

January 15, 2010 | Leave comment

Kudos

"I love your site, it's the best of them all." Mark Feltham

"harpsurgery.com is one of the best harmonica sites on the internet: consistently both informative and entertaining. I visit it regularly. Great job!" Jerry Portnoy

"Hey I love your website and you are a super smart writer, a great thinker and thorough contributor to our wonderful harmonica community. Thank you for all you do for everyone. You rock!" Jason Ricci

"Simply one of the best jobs I've ever seen on the internet about the harmonica: very clear and at the same time I can feel your dedication to this instrument." Christelle Berthon

"Good site. I enjoyed the style of the reviews and was delighted to see a bevy of my favorite young harp players presented in The Kids Are Alright." Steve Baker

Partners

Translate


View Archive Articles