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Harmonica Lessons.com visitors submit fiction or non-fiction short stories based on experiences that involve the harmonica or harmonica playing. If you would like to have a short story included in our collection, please note the procedures for submission in the bullet points on the Short Stories main page.
"Best Jamming Experience!"
I spent about 9 months playing by myself in the house when I finally started to make an effort to get out and play around other people. I've had lots of good times and would encourage you to take some chances and get out and play. My most memorable experience was in Hawaii this summer.
My hotel was directly across the street from Waikiki beach. I have a 2 year old, so my wife and daughter would go to bed around nine. I'm a night person so I decided to take my CD player down to the beach and jam on my harp.
I'd been playing for about 1/2 an hour when a very intoxicated homeless guy came up and started listening to me. After a while he told me he used to play harp in a blues band several years ago and then he asked me if he could play my harp. I turned him down and he started to walk away with his head down. I felt bad and called him back and gave him an almost brand new Lee Oskar and told him to sit tight. I ran back to my room and grabbed my other LO in "C" and came back down to jam with this guy. We turned on a jam track and started wailing away. Within 20 minutes or so, several other homeless people came up to the table.
The LO I gave to the original homeless guy started getting passed around to everyone along with a brown bag filled with a big bottle of Southern Comfort. About that time some street performers showed up with their ukuleles, bongos, and a small pignose amp and joined in the jam.
When they started in we really got going. Japanese tourists gathered around our table to listen, and began to applaude at the end of each song which drew more and more people around our table. It turned into a full blown street jam with about 45 spectators, ukulele players, a bongo player, and two harp players going at the same time. To say the least it was an absolute blast. I made it a point to go down there every single night for 5 days straight to jam with these guys and I'll never forget the experience.
I still correspond with one of the homeless guys and am looking forward to going back.
Mark Wilson
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