Harp debut

This is my very very time playing in front of anyone! Ive made a couple videos, but no one was present when i recorded…i was asked to try this song! His first time singing it, my first time playing it! I dont have any musicians to play with, so i play with videos…just having fun and enjoying my harp adventure!

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Great, John @johnreffitt1962 !! I really liked it and I’m sure you had fun playing live for the first time! :boom:

You can be proud of that video!

Regards,
– Slim :sunglasses:

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Thank you for the kind words! I had a blast! Hoping to do more in the near future!

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Hello @johnreffitt1962,
a good selection of songs! Wow, great play, definitely keep going. It sounds even better directly on Youtube :wink:. Exactly the right thing here in the gray winter blues. :metal:

Greetings from Astrid :woman_in_lotus_position:

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Thank you! It was a lot of fun! I was so nervous!

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@johnreffitt1962, I do believe you! But you don’t notice it at all and you’re in the rhythm too. :smiley:

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Again, thank you! :blush:

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Yeah @johnreffitt1962 this is SO FANTASTIC! Smiling ear to ear over here. Good for you for getting up and playing in front of people. That’s the best way to grow. And you played a real solo, man with phrases and leaving space and everything. So proud bro.

Constructive criticism - consider working on your -45 TRILL as a great way to bring climax to your solo.

Doing a really long -6 would be a nice way to add a real moment of climax as well.

But yeah, just really solid first performance that you can feel so proud of! People were obviously feeling it. Your rhythm was in the pocket, and then you took a bona fide solo.

YOU’RE OFFICIALLY A HARMONICA PLAYER! :raised_hands:t3::sunglasses:

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Good job, John. Was fun wasn’t it?

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Thank you so much! I admit I was nervous at first, but when I felt the audience getting into it…man, what a feeling!

I am grateful for the kind words! I am still going through your beginner to Boss course…I’m up to about lesson 95! Great stuff! I know how to do a trill, just not sure where to apply it…should it be over the 4 chord? Any help in this would be greatly appreciated.

I’m looking forward to finishing the course, but I find myself going back over some material that I didn’t fully understand in the beginning, but makes more sense now! Is that normal?

I’m loving this journey that I’m on! I owe everything I know about playing the harp to you and JP …hope he’s doing well…can’t wait to see where this goes! I already have a friend with a band who keeps inviting me on stage! Haven’t got the nerve yet, but I’m working on it!

Keep up the good work! Thanks again for taking the time to listen to and critique my first solo ever!! (In front of people)…

Happy Harpin!

John Reffitt

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You can literally do the -45 trill ANYWHERE in the form and it will sound great and people will love it. Just think of it as the tool to grab out of your belt when you wanna take the crowd to a higher level. :wink:

YES!! That’s precisely how I designed the course - so that value can be milked out of it for years to come. Even the simplest lessons have some element for intermediate players to consider and explore. Many people have said that they got the most out of the course their SECOND or even THIRD time through it!

DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!

You are ready for action John! Nothing will grow you as much as performing in front of people. :grin:

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Ok, so i took your advice! They requested i play this song with them! https://youtu.be/lWnQPFb-Slk?feature=shared

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Well done. I bet you’re a whole lot less nervous now.

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Right on John. Keep working on the trill man. More trills. More trills. MORE TRILLS!!!

Your playing sounds great! Tasteful.

But you’re kinda stuck on one thing so we gotta add some more options to your tool belt. Try exhaling ALLLLL the air from your lungs and then doing the longest trill possible. Right now you’re mostly playing shorter notes, so mixing that up with doing a reeaaallllyyyy looooong trill will mix things up nicely and add more excitement to multiple choruses of solos.

Keep up the great work John!! :raised_hands:t3:

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Thank you for the feedback! I do feel like I’m painting myself into a corner!! I will take your advice and see about adding more trills! I think I’m concentrating too much on single notes…it’s easy to get stuck in a rut! Looking forward to sending more videos! I truly need the feedback! Thank you again!

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Congratulations on this performance! I hadn’t seen it before @johnreffitt1962.

That takes some nerve to get up and play like that in front of an audience.

Besides enjoying your playing and the band, I enjoyed watching the crowd. One couple, I’m not really sure if they were dancing, holding each other up or trying to do a little foreplay on the dance floor, but they looked like they were having fun. Them along with the guy filming made it a huge challenge for your photographer.

In retrospect, maybe would have been good to let the in your face photographer do his thing and then ask for him to share the video with you :joy:. Probably could make a cool video splicing the two angles together :v:

Harp on! :clap:

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Thanks for the kind words! Everyone seemed to have a good time! In all fairness, there was a lot of alcohol involved!! The video idea is great, but dont know the gentleman fiming me and havent seen him since…thanks again, glad you enjoyed it! It was a lot of fun! :laughing:

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“The more you drink the better I sound!” :rofl:

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