Apprenticeship Series Reviews - Shows 

London Harmonicas

Elwood 1 Comment , , , ,

Elwood blows some amateur harpLast Wednesday Elwood the Apprentice attended a year-end performance with London Harmonicas, the informal collective that meets every other Tuesday at The Torriano Pub (7.15pm for beginners, 8pm for intermediates). What he saw was a glorious vision for the socialist future of harmonica. What he heard was a little less glorious…

I’ve attended the London Harmonicas gatherings for the past two months and have really enjoyed it. There’s an excellent mix of players – a few who are navigating their first bends, a few who play real sweet and low, and most of us somewhere in between. There’s no official teacher and no elected leader, but a couple of the advanced players have stepped forward to lead us, Moses-like, to the promised land.

It’s egalitarian, it’s informal, and a fantastic place for any budding player like me to soak up some wisdom from a few seasoned players… and maybe even help a few fellow players out. A few weeks ago, for instance, I taught a guy how to bend his notes. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. (more…)

Announcements 

Merry Christmas from the Harp Surgery

The Captain 0 Comments ,

Arthur TolcherNot Now, Arthur!

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a little bit of Morecambe and Wise, so here’s a tribute to classic comedy.. and a forgotten harmonica hero.

Arthur Tolcher was born in Staffordshire in 1922, and his family theatrical history meant he was destined to tread the boards of music hall. He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of popular tunes and and played a variety of harmonicas, interspersing that with sight gags and jokes. It would do Arthur a disservice to call him a ‘novelty act’ since he was tremendously accomplished and was called upon for sessions whenever a harmonica was required.

Eric and Ernie often toured with Arthur, but as their star rose, his career seemed to stall. However, the two comedians found a little place in the TV spotlight for Arthur. Dressed in full concert garb, harmonica in hand, he would rush on at odd moments (or after the credits rolled), and would just manage a brief burst of the Spanish Gypsy Dance before Eric cut him off with a classic catchphrase.

Here are Eric and Ernie happily explaining Eric’s classic paper bag trick to David Frost (you’ll all be trying this at home) when Arthur dashes on for a quick tootle.

Arthur passed away in 1987 and was the subject of a retrospective on BBC Radio 4 in 2007, his story told by Roy Hudd. Thanks for the memory, Arthur.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Announcements Beef Up Your Bends 

Beefing Up Those Bends – 2 Draw

The Good Doctor 1 Comment

Batman & Robin XmasHoly Diatonic Batman!

Elwood The Apprentice had just finished wrapping his last set of replacement reed plates for Christmas when from somewhere downstairs… Zap! Wh@ck, Whåp, B#ff,  Biƒf, P*w, Zôwie, Spl@tt, Tºot.. He ran to the Good Doctor’s study.. Holy Diatonic Batman! What in the world is this? Revolving walls, hidden rooms, disguises? What is the Good Doctor’s wild secret? Has he ventured into the night to engage in mortal combat with modal meddlers, chromatic criminals, or some overblown oddballs intent on jamming his reeds for good? Is that him caterwauling in the Harp Surgery’s outhouse with Cat Woman? Or has he stepped out incognito to practice his two draw bends? Quick Otis, to the Harp Mobile.

Relax dear reader, the Doc is simply preparing a seasonal stocking filler for you to rehearse between your Christmas pudding and the Queen’s speech. You remember the old Batman & Robin TV series? All handbag fights and satin knickers. Well bizarrely enough the theme tune is actually a great resource for honing those two draw bends. Grab a C major harp from your bat utility belt and join us for some caped crusading.
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Announcements 

Win a Voucher for Seydel Söhne Harmonicas

The Good Doctor , , , , ,

Seydel Söhne 1847 Classic[Note: competition now closed.]

Harps down, heads up! Our lovely friends at Seydel Söhne are offering you the chance to win an e-voucher to the tune of €30.00 (US residents $40.00). If you submit three correct answers to our quiz before midnight (GMT) Jan.10 2010 and are one of three lucky names drawn at random from the Harp Surgery’s ugly hat, an e-voucher will be winging its way to your inbox.

All you have to do is study our competition questions, find the correct answers on the Seydel Söhne website and drop us an e-mail, stating your country of residence and your three competition answers (you can also access the Seydel Söhne site by clicking the yellow logo in our Partners menu to the right). (more…)

Announcements Apprenticeship Series 

Happy Birthday Junior Wells

Elwood 4 Comments , , , , ,

Happy Birthday Junior WellsThe Hoodoo Man would be 75 today.

Harmonica great Junior Wells was born December 9th 1934. It’s remarkable to think that someone who played with Muddy Waters in the early days would have been so young today (he was 19 in 1952 when he joined Muddy’s band, and died in 1998, aged 63).

I like Junior a great deal, so I’m celebrating him today. His harmonica style strikes me as being deceptively simple: he knew when not to play. And when he decided to play, he could make that thing wail like a cat being set on fire.

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Harp Tips 

Harmonica Effects 1 – Police Sirens

The Good Doctor 2 Comments , , , ,

Jake, Elwood and The Blues MobileOur Lady of blessed acceleration don’t fail me now

As we know, every Blues Harp player grows twitchy when they hear the sound of Cop Cars in pursuit. Unless, of course, they happen to be driving one themselves. But have you ever tried to imitate the sound of a police chase on the harmonica? Grab your nearest diatonic and we’ll take a look. But before we do, just a few words from our sponsors, fresh from the Mount Prospect City police auction..

  • Jake: The Caddy. Where’s the Caddy?
  • Elwood: It’s been traded for a microphone.
  • Jake: I can see that.
  • Elwood: Like it?
  • Jake: No I don’t like it
  • [Elwood floors the gas pedal and leaps an opening drawbridge]
  • Jake: Car’s got a lot of pickup
  • Elwood: It’s got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it’s got cop tyres, cop suspension, cop shocks. It’s a model made before catalytic converters so it’ll run good on regular gas. What do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?
  • [ a brief pause as Jake lights his cigarette with a Zippo lighter – having previously thrown the electric car lighter out of the window]
  • Jake: Fix the cigarette lighter (more…)