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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Starting a local harmonica meet up - any advice?
Starting a local harmonica meet up - any advice?
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Adam Pritchard
109 posts
Aug 03, 2016
12:32 AM
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Hi all,
I'm thinking about starting a regular, local harmonica group/meet up/gathering etc here in Cheltenham UK. I've been playing blues harp for over 25 years and in that time have only met a handful of other players, (by which I mean people who have taken the harmonica seriously enough to go beyond the basic blues wail and train rhythm). I now know a few other players in the area and thought it would be good to meet up regularly, trade tips, tricks, techniques, talk about gear and generally share our love of the instrument over a pint our two. I've also done a fair bit of teaching in the past so would happy to include some instructional stuff each meet, and would be open to all levels of player.
I'm wondering whether there's any other MBH members who have done something similar or who run a regular group and would be happy to share their experience, pass on their wisdom, what works/doesn't work etc that could help make my first meet up a success.
Thanks
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Jim Rumbaugh
1209 posts
Aug 03, 2016
5:26 PM
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#1 someone needs to play a guitar and/or know the words to a song.
In the beginning months of "The Harmonica Club" in Huntington, WV, it was a mix of guys taking about harp, or playing harp, or listening to a CD, or playing a CD, or playing with a CD. People would try to start a song and frequently it would fall apart.
I found if instead of playing harp, I would strum 3 chords on an acoustic guitar, and sing a melody, things started falling into place.
If you want the group to grow, there has to be something in it for the people showing up. You may find yourself giving more than getting.
#2 Give lessons as a group or privately to the "new" guys or less experienced guys. It doesn't have to be long, a riff or 2 will do.
#3 be consistent with the meeting time. Our club almost vanished in it's first few months when weather turned cold a people started staying home. On one night, it was me and the 2 club founders. They said, maybe once a month is enough. I said no, it needs to be once a week. The next week it was me and 1 other.
That was 2001. Yesterday at our weekly meeting we had 5 harp players, 6 guitars, bass, piano, drums, a vocalist, and a total of 7 singers.
If you have something to give that people want, it will grow
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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
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