Testimonials

Zoom Harmonica Workshops 2020
Thank you so much Richard, you’ve been a huge help, not just to my harping, but to my state of mind. Merry Xmas & Happy New Year.

Thanks very much for all your help over the last year. It’s been great to have something to hang on to in these strange times. Look forward to actually meeting up at the Brunswick sometime next year Chris.

JUl 2015 010Blues Saturday 2016
Thanks for a good day in High Wycombe yesterday. It was really useful to have some face to face learning as it meant a few things clicked into place. I’ve been trying to learn on-line and there are a lot of mixed messages out there. A few pennies dropped and I can now see clearly how to link my guitar scales to my harmonica playing. Andrew Stevens

Harpin’ By The Sea 2015
Beginners Workshop w Richard Taylor 13 (HBTS 2016)Thanks and congratulations for a successful day. I have been teacher and pupil in various disciplines and found the quality of the workshops was excellent. Three sessions were varied and well-balanced. The same applies to the show! So well done ya’ll! The only downside for me is that hearing such excellent musicianship is quite dispiriting when you see how far there is to go! Mike Davids

 

I was in the beginners’ workshop. Brilliant! It was like School of Rock! Beginner

Harpin’ By The Sea 2014
Richard, thank you for your hospitality at the 2014 Harpin’ by the Sea festival. It was great to HBTS 2016 3hang out and interact with so many blues harp enthusiasts in the UK. I snuck into your class for a bit and I was very impressed by the way you’d captivated your diverse group of harmonica students through your insightful and thoroughly entertaining presentation. I must add that I’ve been a fan of your Harp Surgery site for many years now. I especially enjoy the manner in which you impart wisdom (with humour!) on how the harmonica can be employed to great musical effect in a variety of contexts and genres. Btw, you still owe me that lesson on how to play those tasty Cajun licks you were showing off the other day! Aki Kumar 

National Harmonica League Festival 2009
That was a great session you gave on Saturday. I hope you don’t mind if I steal some of it for fellow students at Canterbury College? I get such a lot from those gob iron weekends. Would you be interested in running one like that at our Uni? Jim Davies

Mr T 2 (HBTS 2015)The first website I went on when I got home was yours. I enjoyed the weekend hugely. Such a lot of good tips, advice and questions answered. It really gave me the impetus I needed to take my own harp playing to the next level. Pete

Blues Harp at Sussex Academy of Music
I came to your beginners’ harp class and have since been having a wonderful time chugging away on my harps so I just wanted to say a huge thank you. John Ambrose

Thanks for the very informative introduction to the harp, it has made me even more determined to learn to play it, especially after hearing you knock out some tunes so effortlessly. I am going to get to grips with finding my way round the harp and getting clear notes every time. I will definitely be back for some more tuition. Aaron Walpole

That [intermediates’ workshop] was great, very thorough and very inspiring. Looking forward to the next! Malcolm McLeod

HBTS 2016 2Beginner’s Workshop at Brighton Music Box
I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the Harmonica workshop in Baker Street last Saturday. I am now keen to book a couple of one to one classes that would hopefully set me well on the road to blowing clear single notes and breathing correctly. Daniel Gray

Thanks for the workshop yesterday. Jen and I would now like to take a series of one hour lessons. Alba Lewis

Corporate Team Building
Thanks so much for the session on Friday. It was such good fun and we really felt we achieved something new in our live.! Paula Chin (Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd)

Harp Surgery Website
HBTS 2016 4Dear Doctor, this is just to let you know that your harp surgery site is absolutely excellent! Thanks loads for all the effort put into that – you are a true Healer! 🙂 Daniel (Czech Republic)

Thanks for the spot on the website. I was very impressed, good information and a broad range of musical styles represented. Normally I am wary of groups of two or more harmonica players unless they’re attending a workshop as I just play and teach and don’t build or modify the instrument. I will visit the website on a a regular basis. Congratulations and best wishes. Fraser Speirs (Paolo Nutini & The Vipers – Pencil Full Of Lead)

I not only want to thank you for one of the best reviews that my book has ever gotten, but for your excellent Web site. It’s really well done and is a great resource for anyone interested in the world’s finest instrument. Unlike too many sites, it’s very well written, too. Cool stuff. I go back to the days when there were very High Wycombe 2015 3few resources for harp players. It’s just phenomenal what is out there today, and your site is one of the best. Kim Field

Thanks for the work that you are doing on Harp Surgery. It is a fantastic resource and I am a regular visitor. It is written with both humour and your obvious love for the humble little beast that we play. I am disappointed if I ‘come on in’ and the ‘cupboard is bare’. Have I missed an article; a technique? Quick check! And I appreciate how much work you must put in to make it happen. Prior to this I scratched around for titbits of information. Please take care and keep up the site, it is just brilliant. Carl Sutterby

Full to the brim with lessons, tips, tricks and trivia. Wilf is an amazing teacher: funny, down-to-earth, and wise as hell. www.harmonicalinks.com

HBTS 2016I thought I would drop you a line as I just stumbled across your harp surgery web site. Dave just gave me a list of new material for us to look at, in amongst it was Love Me Do by the Beatles. Not being a particular fan of them I was vaguely familiar with the tune and rather dismissive of it. As soon as I looked at the score for it I realised there was a problem finding a diatonic to play it on. I also decided to scour the net and see what I could find out about this superficialy simple harp part. That was when I suddenly found myself reading your piece on the tune and then the link to Pat’s analysis of it. I found it fascinating and very useful too. So I thought I would e-mail you to say thank you. I have had a bit of a look around your web site and can see there is a wealth of info there that I should digest and learn from. Once again, thank you for your web site, I shall return again and again. Ginny Bourne

[In Sachen Online Tutorials ist harpsurgery.com meiner Meinung nach so ziemlich das beste, einfach mal vorausgesetzt dass du mit der englischen Sprache klarkommst]. In the case of online tutorials, in my opinion Harp Surgery is quite the best, so simply explained that you easily understand the English instruction… Your lessons are much more helpful than any books or explanations I know. Thanks to your website, I found my way into harp playing pretty fast. Florian Eschelor

NHL 2009 Beginners WorkshopI’ve been to the Harp Surgery site and was amazed with some info I got there! Found some awesome stuff there! Thanks very much for the tip! In my humble opinion you own one of the best harmonica websites on the web and I thank you for that! Breno

While I’m writing in, this is a great site with some fantastic information and some great write-ups. Keep up the good work, fellas; us perishing neophyte harp-blowers need it! Barron van Deusen