Harmonica [Merged]

[Buckwheat]

Any harp-dogs out there?

I play diatonic harmonica
Pretty good at straight harp melodies, getting better at cross harp blusey riffs.

[Buckwheat]

I must be the only harp-dog here.:D

[Pick it up!]

i'm learning the harmonica

[Buckwheat]

Hey, another harp-dog!!

What sort of harp do you play?
What sort of music do you want to play?
:D

[Pick it up!]

i have a marine harmonica (the one that says its the most common, most played harmonica ever)
i'm buying a book on all the styles of harmonica from guitar center.
the harmonica players i like best are Bob Dylan and Joe Whiteford.
so something like that.

any good harmonica sites out there?

[Buckwheat]

I play a Marine Band harp too.
Just bought a Lee Oskar, it plays a lot smoother than Marine Band, costs a little more too (about $6 more here).

I love the Blues, old stuff, new stuff....like it all.
Check out some Muddy Waters.

Here is a site for you, it's pretty good. (pickings are kind of slim)http://www.harmonicalessons.com/

Merry Christmas!

P.S. Get me the title of that book, I might want to check it out.

[Pick it up!]

hey, if the guitar is capoed in the 3rd fret, what kind/key of harmonica do i need? thanks.

by the way, i rented a Bob Dylan movie today, hes a great harmonica player.

[Buckwheat]

The key of harp you need depends on what key the song is in and which style you are playing.

If you are playing straight harp (meoldies, usually accenting blow notes), the key of harp is the same as the song.
ex) Key of song is C -- Key of Harp is C

If you are playing cross harp (blues riffs, accenting draw notes)
the key of harp is 4 letter keys up.
ex) Key of song is C -- Key of harp is F

Cross harp is usually used for accompaniment.
Fits kind of like Horn lines.

I have a book called "Country and Blues Harmonica for the Musically Hopeless" by Jon Gindick.
It's real good, get one if you can find one. It comes with a tape.

[p-bass]

I play crossharp mostly but am learning straight harp and I also play some chromatic. I found the easy way to tell what key harp to ues in crossharp is to find what key the song is in, then move one position counterclockwise on the circ of fifths. ie song in the key of E use an A harp.
thanks <>< <>< <>< J.S.

[rorybrownbeard]

Does anyone have the Harmonica tabs for The Happy Song by Delirious? I'm just learning harmonica and wanted to learn that song for my band class.

[acoustic]

Is the harmonica hard to learn cause I wannnt to learn it? It sounds cool!

[Buckwheat]

It doesn't take very long to learn the basics.

Takes a long time to learn to play it well

[p-bass]

One of the best learning vidios that I have found is Norton Buffalo's blues techniques. published by homespun vidieo. Anyone that has the basics down and wants to learn advanced techniques ie: note bending, octives, vibrato ect.... would do well to get this tape
your brother in Christ...... J.S.
<><

[El Jefe]

Hey it's great to hear some harp players getting together.
I play an Oskar harp, actually about 8 of them, but not all at once :cowboy:
I learned with the book "Country and Blues for the musically hopeless" too! It is a great book, and tape.
Here is a great harp site that I also count as my "teacher" http://www.volcano.net/~jackmearl/ There are alot of hymns here. I do special music on my harp from time to time, usually it's an old hymn played in straight harp. I also enjoy backing up our praise band too. I usually echo or harmonize w/ the song line. Sometimes I go off in another direction and play around in the background of the song. It's all good with a harp!
My favorite song is Amazing Grace played crossharp.
I don't really have any favorite player, I like just about any played well, and anything played for the LORD!
Here is a tip that has helped me out tons: Since there aren't that many people who know how to play the harp, they also don't know when you mess up. Don't grimace when you make the occasional klinker, just press on through cause there are no "bad" holes on the harp, just misplaced ones.

[baritone]

Hey there really are some harmonica players here!! I'm learning to play, but I'm so clueless I don't even know what kind I've got. What's the difference between a diatonic and chromatic? I think I knew once. Really.

[guitarplayer4jc]

I have a diatonic Hohner that I haven't played in a loooong time.

[guitarplayer4jc]

I'm learning to play, but I'm so clueless I don't even know what kind I've got. I'll bet it's a diatonic! A diatonic harp plays in a certain key, whereas a chromatic harp has all the notes, so you can play in any key. Diatonics are much more common.

[baritone]

Youre right, it is a diatonic. A chromatic sounds awful nice though. Are they more difficult to play?

[guitarplayer4jc]

To be honest with you, I'm not sure. I've never actually played one. :)

[Buckwheat]

Diatonic is usually just a regular harmonica (ex. 10 hole Marine Band) It has 2 sets of reeds (1 top and 1 bottom)

Chromatic plays all the sharps and flats. It has a button on the side which works a slide It has 4 sets of reeds (2 top and 2 bottom)

I just got a Chromatic, it is much more of a challenge to play. Also more expensive.

[robert4xst]

I tried to play harmonica, but I kinda got really frustrated in trying to play it well that I just gave up eventually. I'll just stick to my other insturments. But hey I think harmonica is really cool played well.

[Buckwheat]

Don't give up so soon.

I see you are a sax player.
I've heard the old Blues cats call the harmonica a "Mississippi Saxaphone".

What was it you had so much trouble with?:kcool:

[chubby28081us]

Well I am a bass player who plays harp at the same time I FOUND a harp brand call merico on e-bay. You can get 6 keys for around 17.95 or 12 for 36.00. The guy who puts them on thier has them all the time so just take your time bidding and maybe you can get them cheaper. And if you send your money in fast you will get them just as fast because i did. I THINK THEY ARE JUST AS GOOD AS A BLUES HARP. because that used to be the only kind i would use.

[Mr.Zachcore]

does anyone know of a site where i can find some songs to play?? thatd be great thanks

[iDogcow]

www.harmonicalessons.com

They have some traditional stuff and a few songs like spoonful and mannish boy, etc. A lot of great info on that site.

[Mr.Zachcore]

werd thanks alot man!

[Kyle Riemen]

I play harp at church ever-so-often, and I'm always searching for more songs. The two songs that come to mind are: "the happy song" and "Jesus is the rock".

[El Jefe]

Here is a great site that I learned on. There are mostly hymns, but they are really good and lpentiful.

http://www.volcano.net/~jackmearl/

Enjoy

[CallingTheKtulu]

so yea, i'm learning to play the harmonica, and i was wondering if anyone had any tips for learning well. I mess around with it alot, but i dont really know the notes and chords and whatnot. i have an A harp, and all i've found is stuff for c and g. I also will play along with some blues music, and try to work something out... but i'm always just that tiny bit off...

[Ashleigh]

I have a harmonica and I mess around on it but i dont actually know how to play it so i cant really help you much, they are cool though.

[RhythmicAndy]

I just wanted to see how the harmonica group is doing, being small and all. Well, hidy-ho neighbor and remember to use Hohner harmonicas.

[Ashleigh]

Hohner harmonicas. I have a hohner accordian.

[busnutmedic]

Yeah, hohner is the way to go. I have two, G, C, special 20 models. They aren't bad, but the C is starting to go out of tune. You could start out by playing along with someone playing a song on guitar, piano -or whatever- and just do the melody. After you get comfortable with that, you can add stuff. Eventually you'll figure out how to bend notes. It's just moving your mouth, but I can't describe exactly what it is. Some harps are easier than others, just try to play up a little and it should bend.

I myself am looking for harmonica music. I really have never found it anywhere. Any sources?

Bonnie

[RhythmicAndy]

How does harmonica music work and how do you really play it?

[busnutmedic]

All you do to produce a sound is blow or suck in. You use your toungue and you lips to seal your mouth over one opening, if you want to only play one note at a time.

Inside of a standard harmonica there are two metal plates with little cut outs that form reeds about 1/16 of an inch wide. They are pointed in on one place and out on the other, so when you breath in you play one note and if you breath out you place the reed on the opposite plate, making a different note (half step up).

On a C harmonica it goes through the C scale, c, d, e, f, g, a, b, c, etc etc without any sharps or flats. It's possible to play flats and sharps sometimes, it depends on the harp and how proficient you are at note bending. I'm not exactly sure how I bend..it just happens. Like whistling almost. It's a combination of varying the air and moving the lips and toungue.

Hm...oh, the music. There are some books out with marks where to breath in/out as well as the notes, which are generally written out in standard notation (as on keyboard music). Otherwise you can just read regular music from a hymnbook or whatever. I'm looking in particular for faster country-bluegrass-southern gospel type licks. I'm not sure exactly how they're written out...I think I might just have to find some recorded and slow them down with my digitech.


Bonnie

[Aaron J]

Hey i just got my first harp, and its in G i was wondering if it is possible to play a C chord on it or not? i have found very few harp web sites and such... and they never tell if you can play a C chord on a G harp... i know there are two C notes on a G harp.... any help?

[busnutmedic]

Yeah, you can play a C chord. A G harmonica has the notes G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G. With the notes C, E, and G you make a regular old C chord. You can't however play an F chord, as the F is sharped. You also cannot play a C chord all at once. You have to arppeggiate it I think.

Hope that helps!

Bonnie

[Aaron J]

thanks thats what i needed to know. :D

[doulos777]

There are LOTS of good books out there such as:

Blues Harmonica for the Musically Hopeless

Idiots Guide to Playing the Harmonica

Etc.

Most come with a CD or a cassette tape. THe harmonica is VERY easy to play and master the basics.

It is, however, more difficult to absolutely master.

I learned to play when I was 12. It took about 2 weeks.

[Calavera]

"Country and Blues Harmonica for the Musically Hopeless" by Jon Gindick (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0932592082/qid=1084457751/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-5895911-1749602?v=glance&s=books#product-details) is the single best harmonica book I've found for jumping right into it and sounding good. Gindick also has available other tapes in other keys for jamming/practicing with.

There are two basic styles of harmonica playing. "Cross Harp" is the bluesy riff-based style that we've all heard. The thing with cross harp is that you are actually playing in a different key than the harmonica you are holding. The C harmonica plays cross harp in G, the D harmonica plays cross harp in A, etc. It sound cool, it's fun, and it's easy.

"Straight Harp" is the "regular" way to play. A C harmonica plays the C scale (as someone said above) and it can sound bland and be hard to just "jam" with. It's great for pre-defined melodies but, unless you are Howard Levy, improvising riffs in straight harp can be overly complex when cross harp is so simple and effective.

There's also "Slant Harp" but I never learned much about that. It has to do with minor keys (like using a D harmonica to play with a song that is in E minor.

Anyway, I really recommend that Gindick book for the best time-to-fun ratio.

[loseitall]

Welp, I'm really starting to love harmonicas, especially in the Neil Young sort of way. The problem is I know little to nothing about then, besides the fact that you breathe into them and stuff. I thought I'd try my luck and ask if anyone knows about them, like what makes a good one, etc, mostly because I have gotten lots of good advice from knowledgable people here in the past.

[guitarflash]

ok, here it is: www.harmonicalessons.com. This site is, not quite incredible, but close enough. They'll tell you everything you need to know, and more. if you are looking for some basic songs, (by the way, do you know how to read tab?) i've got a bunch, drop me a line at powerputt90@hotmail.com.

[guitarflash]

iight, here is an awesome harp sight: www.harmonicaclub.com. Get the membership, and they have soooo many forums giving advice, tabs(music) and such. Itz awesome!!!!!
:yep:

[guitarflash]

iight, here is an awesome harp sight: www.harmonicaclub.com. Get the membership, and they have soooo many forums giving advice, tabs(music) and such. Itz awesome!!!!!
:yep:

[guitarflash]

awesome site, loaded w/ forums giving tab, advice, and such: www.harmonicaclub.com. If u see anything posted by rookieharpman, thatz me! ;) thanx fur noticing!

[guitarflash]

hey, i'm new 2 the harp 2. I'm not that good, but as a guitar player, naturally i try 2 write songs. I've got a bunch of blues style riffs, and i play a bunch of classic rock songs. An awesome site for aspiring harp players is www.harmonicaclub.com

[drummergirl_amy]

i love the harmonica. its really different and pretty easy to play. i just play kids songs lol and a few songs that i hear i just listen and play them by ear. my favourite is oh suzannah. you get the bass drum going at the same time and it sounds awesum !!!! i have 2 harmonicas one diatonic and one chromatic. my diatonic is in the key of C and it has 10 holes. its my baby lol. im intrested in how you guys learn to play rock songs. any advice?/??

[ElJefe]

Great to hear there are more harp players out there. Some books may help, like I have one called 60 HOT LICKS FOR MARMONICA, by Lonne Joe Howell from Mel Bay publications. It has some cool stuff, but I just fake it! If it is something that I am trying to do just like the recording, then I practice, but for just jamming I try to duplicate certain artists or songs that I have heard. That is another thing, you have to listen to the harp being played. After you have mastered the harp it gets easier to "hear" how a certain lick is done... so I have heard. :)
It all boils done to this practice, practice, practice. Jam when ever you can get another musician, and teach someone else what you know so far...you will be amazed what you know already.
-ramble over-

Jeff

[caeman]

Harmonica thread, come forth! :rofl:

Slow day at work, felt the need to chime in on this long, long silent thread.

I started my learning of the harmonica this year with a Hohner Special 20 Marine Band. Using harmonicalessons.com, davegage.com and harmonicaclub.com to get me started, and then getting loads of tabs from harptabs.com to find more stuff to play, it has been fun. I am certainly not ready to join a band with it, nor do I have any specific plans for it, except to just have fun.

On Christmas Day, my wife's family has asked me to play them a song or three. The mother-in-laws gift to me this year is a Lee Oskar in G that I picked out with her money.

I also picked up a Lee Oskar in C. I gotta say, I like the LO's over the Special 20. The sound is brighter and cleaner.

[caeman]

For the record, Christmas carols sound awesome on a G-diatonic Harmonica.