The Harmonica Thread

Its all in the fingers, or is it?

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The Harmonica Thread

Post by jeremyb »

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 :lol: 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?
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Re: The Harmonica Thread

Post by Jay »

If you would have bought a G mouth harp, I would say Neil Young.

A C harp, probably Silent Night?
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Re: The Harmonica Thread

Post 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"!
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Re: The Harmonica Thread

Post by Slowy »

Harmonica is only good if you suck.
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Re: The Harmonica Thread

Post by MikeC »

Slowy wrote: Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:12 pm Harmonica is only good if you suck.
Blow and draw.
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Re: The Harmonica Thread

Post 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!
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: The Harmonica Thread

Post 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
Last edited by Jay on Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Harmonica Thread

Post by H671 »

I've had this for about 20 years and I still suck :lol:
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Re: The Harmonica Thread

Post 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.
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Re: The Harmonica Thread

Post 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.
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Re: The Harmonica Thread

Post 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.
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Re: The Harmonica Thread

Post by Jay »

And here is SOME harmonica playing


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Re: The Harmonica Thread

Post 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…
They keep telling me tone is in the fingers, but I have yet to see a "look at my fingers" thread.
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Re: The Harmonica Thread

Post 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…
Gotta keep peeps on their toes!
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