I know a few of you out there are harmonica players, its my birthday on monday and one of the things I've bought myself for the kids to give me is a harmonica its a Hohner special 20 in C which I believe is the correct key to start off in as a beginner
Where should I start in terms of learning?
Re: The Harmonica Thread
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:06 pm
by Jay
If you would have bought a G mouth harp, I would say Neil Young.
A C harp, probably Silent Night?
Re: The Harmonica Thread
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:11 pm
by MikeC
Jay wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:06 pm
If you would have bought a G mouth harp, I would say Neil Young.
A C harp, probably Silent Night?
Eventually you'll need every key of blues harp. And then you'll be able to shout "Neil Young"!
Re: The Harmonica Thread
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:12 pm
by Slowy
Harmonica is only good if you suck.
Re: The Harmonica Thread
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:13 pm
by MikeC
Slowy wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:12 pm
Harmonica is only good if you suck.
Blow and draw.
Re: The Harmonica Thread
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:22 pm
by jeremyb
Slowy wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:12 pm
Harmonica is only good if you suck.
I will definitely suck for quite some time!
Re: The Harmonica Thread
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:33 pm
by Jay
All sucking and blowing aside...
You bought one with a plastic comb, that is good imo.
Start playing straight harmonica, ie, use your C harp for songs in the key of C.
You can Cross harp play this for songs in the key of G.
Don't worry about note bending yet, play straight melody.
Do this often, ie, while driving to work, etc.
And there is always YouTube, but nothing beats practise...
edit - not F, cross harp for key of G
Re: The Harmonica Thread
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:36 pm
by H671
I've had this for about 20 years and I still suck
IMG20221201193344.jpg (3.37 MiB) Viewed 2626 times
Re: The Harmonica Thread
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:07 pm
by Dharmajester
H671's harp is chromatic. That's a serious undertaking.
The blues harps are much simpler. A C harp is for the key of G. For E you will need a B harp etc etc.
I learnt by playing along with Cream's "Rollin and Tumblin" and the live "Train Time" but Little Walter is the go to artiste...
The Hohner Marine Band range were the only harp in the running back then and i still find them easier to bend notes on than the modern plastic bodied versions.
Re: The Harmonica Thread
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:36 pm
by Jay
Dharmajester wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:07 pm
H671's harp is chromatic. That's a serious undertaking.
The blues harps are much simpler. A C harp is for the key of G. For E you will need a B harp etc etc.
I learnt by playing along with Cream's "Rollin and Tumblin" and the live "Train Time" but Little Walter is the go to artiste...
The Hohner Marine Band range were the only harp in the running back then and i still find them easier to bend notes on than the modern plastic bodied versions.
Thanks, I corrected my earlier post. The way I understand it is that the fourth is used for cross harp. So G, A, B, C meaning a C harp can be used for playing G songs. For E it would be: E, F, G, A, so an A harp, not a B.
Re: The Harmonica Thread
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:54 pm
by Dharmajester
Jay wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:36 pm
For E it would be: E, F, G, A, so an A harp, not a B.
Yep, senior moment, meant to say for B it would be an E.
Re: The Harmonica Thread
Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2022 7:40 pm
by Jay
And here is SOME harmonica playing
Re: The Harmonica Thread
Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2022 8:14 pm
by Delayman
I dropped by to see if JB had made a mouth organ joke. To be honest it’s a little disappointing to see this is a JB thread and such low hanging fruit was left…standards are dropping….or raising…
Re: The Harmonica Thread
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2022 8:31 am
by jeremyb
Delayman wrote: ↑Mon Dec 12, 2022 8:14 pm
I dropped by to see if JB had made a mouth organ joke. To be honest it’s a little disappointing to see this is a JB thread and such low hanging fruit was left…standards are dropping….or raising…
its a Hohner special 20 in C which I believe is the correct key to start off in as a beginner 