harmonica anyone?

robinhood · Post by **robinhood** » Monday Jul 16, 2012

So being in a blues band and listening to all this "devil music" hahaha is growing my interest in playing the harmonics but honestly since it doesn't have strings I'm completely lost and don't even know where to start. Any advice?

timemoney0 · Post by **timemoney0** » Thursday Jul 19, 2012

Never play anyone else's harp but YOURS

MistValkyrie · Post by **MistValkyrie** » Thursday Jul 19, 2012

-always keep yours clean and never use an old one without cleaning it thoroughly because you run the risk of "trenchmouth".
-lubrication is essential. Lick your lips, lick the mouthpiece, and yes I'm aware I just opened myself up to a bunch of blowjob jokes.
-you can generally find an intro coursebook (and sometimes an accompanying cd of music -mine had a tape but it was like 1990) but its probably mostly old standards and may not cover much of what you're doing so there's a good chance that you'll have to do alot of learning-by-ear for the material you're covering, or even writing your own parts if you're doing originals.
-I think the most important thing is don't push yourself to learn faster than you are able. It takes awhile to get the breathing down and you can get really lightheaded, really easily if you aren't used to regulating your breathing in that manner. So just be careful!
-As far as type of harmonica, you should splurge and get a Honer. They really are the best, my aforementioned one is a Honer (and its still in good shape) and I recently was given an old echo harp Honer from the 50's that my uncle used to own (it still sounds great and is in great shape being that old). Mine is a Bluesband harp and I've heard from people that have owned Marine Band harps that they're also pretty good. Any Honer product would be my general recommendation because they're tough and have great sound for a long time, but as to which style, you'd have to decide that for yourself.
Best of luck to you! I hope you enjoy it.

HurricaneBob · Post by **HurricaneBob** » Thursday Jul 19, 2012

For listening check out Mark Wenner with the Nighthawks. He's one of the best. http://www.thenighthawks.com

riksylvania · Post by **riksylvania** » Friday Jul 20, 2012

Most blues players are draw players, meaning your harp should be a 4th above the key that you're playing in, so you can draw (inhale) more penatonic minor notes. (Ex: if the song is in G, get a C harp to play along)

Blues harps have softer reeds than Marine Band type, so it's easier to bend notes.

robinhood · Post by **robinhood** » Friday Jul 20, 2012

I've watched videos and most suggest starting with c because that's what most instructional materiap is in. Any advice dealing with that? Thanks for the help so far and hohner is the brand I was looking into.

Gallowglass · Post by **Gallowglass** » Friday Jul 20, 2012

robinhood wrote:I've watched videos and most suggest starting with c because that's what most instructional materiap is in. Any advice dealing with that? Thanks for the help so far and hohner is the brand I was looking into.

That may or may not be accurate for what you're doing. As Riksylvania pointed out, if you want to play cross-harp and have a C harp, just make sure you're playing the song in G. If you want to play the song in C, you'll need the harp to be in F. You want the 7th to be flat.

songsmith · Post by **songsmith** » Sunday Jul 22, 2012

I learned from a book called "Harmonica For The Musically Hopeless" by Jon Gindick. It explains things in a way that you don't need a lot of musical background, but even if you have that, it still lays things out in a way that will help you understand the blues in general... "wailing" notes, resolution notes, etc. I'm pretty sure it's still in print, if not, there are lots of other resources available.
Incidentally, it's kind of confusing, but there are several types of harmonica playing. "Straight harp" is playing the melody of a song, like "You Are My Sunshine." Blues harp is different... it's called "Cross harp," and instead of playing the melody, you improvise leads and fills over the chords... or you add to the rhythm section by playing syncopated in-key "chucks" or "chops." At least, that's the plan.

There are also other styles, like slack-key, but unless you plan on diving into Pacific Island folk-music or klezmer, you don't need to know much about that.
The bottom line is that anyone can play harp if they have a mouth, and ear, a harp, and a heart. It's mostly just connecting with the song and feeling it.
Oh, and get a Hohner Pocket Pal. Ten bucks or less, they only come in "C," so plan on playing in the key of "G" as Gallowglass said. Excellent harp, I wish they made them in other keys. Otherwise, a good harp will pretty much always be $20 and over, with the majority closer to $30. I use several different models, The Hohner Special 20, the Hohner Blues Harp, the Hohner Pro Harp, and the occasional Hohner Big River. Lee Oskar also makes a popular harp, and I've played them from time to time, but they're harder to get, and don't last as long for me.

StumbleFingers · Post by **StumbleFingers** » Sunday Jul 22, 2012

If you're starting from scratch, this DVD is well worth the $10:

Beginning Harmonica

It covers the very basics and never hits you with too much too fast. By the end I felt like I could make worthwhile music come out of the harp. Win.

robinhood · Post by **robinhood** » Tuesday Jul 24, 2012

songsmith wrote:I learned from a book called "Harmonica For The Musically Hopeless" by Jon Gindick. It explains things in a way that you don't need a lot of musical background, but even if you have that, it still lays things out in a way that will help you understand the blues in general... "wailing" notes, resolution notes, etc. I'm pretty sure it's still in print, if not, there are lots of other resources available.
Incidentally, it's kind of confusing, but there are several types of harmonica playing. "Straight harp" is playing the melody of a song, like "You Are My Sunshine." Blues harp is different... it's called "Cross harp," and instead of playing the melody, you improvise leads and fills over the chords... or you add to the rhythm section by playing syncopated in-key "chucks" or "chops." At least, that's the plan.
There are also other styles, like slack-key, but unless you plan on diving into Pacific Island folk-music or klezmer, you don't need to know much about that.
The bottom line is that anyone can play harp if they have a mouth, and ear, a harp, and a heart. It's mostly just connecting with the song and feeling it.
Oh, and get a Hohner Pocket Pal. Ten bucks or less, they only come in "C," so plan on playing in the key of "G" as Gallowglass said. Excellent harp, I wish they made them in other keys. Otherwise, a good harp will pretty much always be $20 and over, with the majority closer to $30. I use several different models, The Hohner Special 20, the Hohner Blues Harp, the Hohner Pro Harp, and the occasional Hohner Big River. Lee Oskar also makes a popular harp, and I've played them from time to time, but they're harder to get, and don't last as long for me.

Thanks for the advice johnny as usual. I'm going to get that book because it was suggested to me twice and its on amazon for like 5 bucks and my pocket pal is on its way. I figure if it doesn't turn out then I wasn't very invested. Thanks for the help everyone.