Why did you pick up the harmonica? My very long story of why

Dankeschön und ebenso @DitchParrot. :grin:
Dann geht es dir mit der Deutschen Sprache so wie mir mit Englisch.
Aber dank dem Kurs mit Luke lerne ich nicht nur Harmonika spielen, sondern hole mein Englisch aus den dunkelsten Ecken meines :brain:.
Das funktioniert sogar! Ok, Englisch ist einfacher als Deutsch, die Grammatik.
Aber wie du siehst, kann man hier überall hin kommunizieren, herrlich.

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Oh my gosh that was one of my FAVORITE movies when I was in high school, LOL. CLASSIC!!!

I’m so glad you are doing it now! Hope you love the course.

Rock on,
Luke

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Hey, @DitchParrot that’s all you need – at least for ordering drinks!!! :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: :ok_hand:

Welcome to the forum and happy harpin’,
– Slim

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Yeah, maybe the acting wasn’t stellar, but the music dang sure was! It also featured the magical guitar-playing of a still fairly young Steve Vai. I’m sure you knew this, Luke – Vai played all of Macchio’s parts as well as his own in the “head-cutting duel.” I’m sure they had ol’ Ralphie Boy practice as much as he could leading up to the filming, but there’s no way he could’ve gotten to that level.

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I showed that movie to my wife a few years ago as she had never seen it or heard of it before, and she loved it too!

Yeah my good friend in high school named Gretchen Menn - she went on to become a great guitar player, she fronts an all girl Led Zeppelin cover band called Zeperella among other things - anyway her dad was an editor at Guitar Player magazine and he was the one who got movie producers to hire Steve Vai to play the devil’s guitar player.

BTW - when you see Ralph Maccio’s hands playing guitar in that movie, you’re actually seeing the hands of the great slide guitar master Ry Cooder!

Rock on,
Luke

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Ry Cooder was instramental in creating the video ‘Buena Vista Social Club’. An iconic video on Cuban music. An incredible story that’s a must watch. Do yourself a favour and search it out.
Robert
London, :canada:

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Like many others I always said I wanted to learn. Last year I told my kids (all older now) that I was going to learn over the holidays. Funny now that I have been practicing for nearly a year.

Kids and all are surprised at the progress. I am so glad I started playing. Very good stress relief.

-EH

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That’s awesome @Eric! Thanks for sharing, and congrats on your progress. Keep on rocking man!

Aloha,
Luke

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When I was in high school I was a tuba player and loved it! It was really the only thing that kept me in school. For years I’ve been wanting to play a instrument again but the tuba was a no go [ they’re very expensive lol ]. Then one day between patients me and my partner were listening to the radio and “The Hook” by Blues Traveler came on. I got to thinking that John Popper was phenomenal, me and my partner were joking saying I should learn to play and on a whim I bought my first harp. I’m glad I did as I’m loving every second of it.

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NIIIIIICE! LOVE that story. I’ve been a big Blues Traveler fan since I first heard them in the 90’s. So glad that you’re back into the magical musical world again.

Rock on,
Luke

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Although I played harmonica (a very cheap one) when I was a kid I didn’t play for years until deciding to pick it up again a year ago. I first decided to re-learn guitar as a retirement project for various reasons, but then added keyboards/synths, electronic wind instruments, drum pads and harmonica to the mix. So I’m now trying to play a number of instruments but none of them very well! Anyway I get a lot of fun out of it. As I have dexterity issues with my ageing hands and fingers, I find playing harmonica and EWIs a little easier than guitar - apart from occasional shortness of breath. My only issue is I can only play when no one else is around - a confidence thing :slightly_smiling_face:

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I hear a lot of cool blues riffs in my head. I’ve played the guitar for about 15 years and can improvise some solos but not as as col as the ones in my head. I was Hoping the harmonic can do it for me. I was at a jam with a drummer, keyboard sax, a great guitarist and me with my electric guitar. The guitar guy started a 12 Barr blues in A. I pulled out my D and had your blues lesson riff written in front of me. I started following it. All of a sudden I didn’t need it and started to expand it. I was amazed .It sounded really good. I’ve played with these people for years and they didn’t know I started playing. I comped too. What a thrill. I got lots of compliments. For all you older guys I’m 76 and loving Luke’s lessons.

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GREAT stuff ingog. You’re absolutely right about that MAGIC moment when you realize you can really play. Enjoy the journey my friend.

Robert
The Great White North

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WOO HOO!! Great story @ingog! These are the kind of magical moments that make all the diligence, persistence, and patience pay off!

Rock on,
Luke

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Trapper here, it’s frigid cold today so I’m sitting here adding my own “very long story of why”. I played drums in a little rock band while in high school, but when I left home (a long time ago) I left the drums, too. Gramps played some harp so I carried one with and jammed to the radio. Along the way connected with other musicians and one night sitting in a bar listening to a local blues band the lead guitar recognized me and invited me to jam. Since then I’ve been fortunate to play with a number of bands doing live gigs and some recording. There’s a vibrant local music scene where I live and a lot of great musicians. Right now I play with a talented singer/guitarist named Josh Palmi. Mostly duo stuff but sometimes we gather some friends and form a band for some project. Covid kind of shut things down for a time but are starting to pick up. We’re just local guys that don’t make much money but have fun, and I consider myself lucky these talented folks let me blow some harp alongside them. There really is nothing like live shows.

Josh Palmi and The Strange Frequencies, Can't Keep Me Down - YouTube Josh Palmi

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Thanks for sharing your story. I have always been amazed at how musicians are able to do what they do.

Nice video, looks like you’re all having fun :blush: :+1:

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Brrrrrah. You sound AWESOME man!!! That’s some real nice, dirty, soulful harp playing man. Thank you so much for sharing this vid.

I’m gonna share it another post to make sure it doesn’t get lost way down deep in this thread.

Really great video quality and audio quality too!

If I can just added in one piece of constructive criticism. You gotta work on your 10"! I was waiting for it when you were up there, but it never quite happened. :wink:

I’m seriously impressed Trapper!

Rock on,
Luke

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Haha, thanks Luke. Yeah, pushin’ the high goes better some days than others, there’s always room to improve! That show was produced and broadcast by a PBS TV station, hence the quality. Fun stuff. For anyone interested: the harp is Lee Oskar key of B, 2nd position (F#) through a Shure 58 vocal mic straight into the board.

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I never played an instrument as a kid, but always enjoyed music, particularly live rock bands. Took the eldest son to see AC/DC and the support act was ‘The Living End’. Their double bass player puts on a real show, and the eldest decides he’d like to ditch piano lessons and learn double bass. Then takes up electric bass guitar as well. Playing in a jazz band and a pub rock band and Dad is the roadie. Son is 6’3” tall, so it’s a full-size double + quad speaker combo amp + 2 x 15” extension cab + electric bass + pedal board etc. – hard work for the roadie. Middle son takes up guitar, and the boys start playing together. I’m missing out – but I want to learn something simple and SMALL. Wife remembers I really liked a song by Spectrum (from 1972 – I’ll Be Gone) which featured harmonica, so she buys me one. A semester of lessons later and I can start jamming with the boys. And some of the folks from the lessons want keep going, so it’s ‘harmonicas once a week’ at my place – still is, 12 years later. Now we’re a ‘blues harmonica ensemble’ – a truly rare thing! And I play a bit with the local Blues Society.

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Great story @Maka! Hope you can share some video with us at some point. :pray:t3:

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