A number of bandurists answered these advertisements and they had their initial gathering in June of that year. Altogether 18 people came to the first meeting. Each had varied playing levels, musical knowledge, and technical proficiency. Each played different styles of bandura made by various makers. The Chernihiv-style was chosen over the Kharkiv-style by Yemetz as being easier for every one to initially master. A standard tuning had to be chosen which initially also proved problematic. Some of those initially interested dropped out because they could not read music and thought that playing from music was not traditional.