Background It was Blues at The Fort, Portsmouth 2007 and the Good Doctor was in the backstage marquee with The Elevators. Three years earlier he was playing the same gig with The Blackjacks. ‘Who else is on the bill tonight?’ he asked. ‘Eddie Martin is after us,’ came the reply, ‘and The Blues Band are [...]
Read more..Ken had a very productive session this evening, learning how to blow bend. He reminded the Good Doctor the first blow bend on hole 10 is necessary to complete the upper major octave (doh-ray-me..): 7B 8D 8B 9D 9B 10D (first blow bend..) 10B’ 10B. We read through the blow bend page from the Harp [...]
Read more..According to the logo, The Cantab Lounge was established in 1938. Don’t ask who by or what for, but do take it as read that this is Boston’s answer to Chicago’s Rosa’s Lounge. A 15 minute taxi ride from downtown Boston took the Good Doctor across the Charles River and into Cambridge, with MIT and [...]
Read more..This was a genuine and very welcome question asked during a session at the Harp Surgery today. Before answering, a smile grew on the Good Doctor’s face. His thoughts flashed back to a time when he first noticed how other harp players’ vibratos seemed faster, more appealing or more perfect than his own. He recalled [...]
Read more..Why do my lips freeze up? It happens to us all – embarrassingly this can be in the middle of our showcase number, live and dangerous on stage. It’s happened to me on Whammer Jammer a few times. As with all things physical, if your muscles aren’t used to it, they rebel. Ever tried to [...]
Read more..‘Apart from the known and the unknown, what else is there?’ Harold Pinter What is the ‘Top End’? Holes 7-10 and everything that goes with them. When I first took up the harp, it seemed players always asked each other two questions: ‘Do you tongue block?’ and ‘Do you use the top end?’ At that [...]
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