Any Harmonica players out there?

[thatbasskid597]

So how many of you guys play Harp? I was intrested in starting, but don't have any direction on where to go. Any suggestions on what to buy to get started would get awesome! Thanks.

[bjlevine]

Depends on the song(s) you want to do. Standard harmonicas come in specific keys.

[MikeyB]

subscribed.

I play intro on a few songs and jam on "Can't You See".
I used to play the Hohner Blues Harp, but now I play the Hohner Special 20. Same harp but with a plastic comb which I prefer even though I thought the wooden comb on the blues harp was more "purist".

If you're playing a bluesy style, you'll play in "cross harp" (do a search) where the harp is a 4th up from the song key. E.g. "Cant You See" is in G, so I play a C harp.

Anyway, subscribed cause I can fool folks into thinking I can play but my Bag-O-Tricks is mighty small and I need to get better!

-M

[thatbasskid597]

Originally Posted by MikeyB

subscribed.

I play intro on a few songs and jam on "Can't You See".
I used to play the Hohner Blues Harp, but now I play the Hohner Special 20. Same harp but with a plastic comb with I prefer even though I thought the wooden comb on the blues harp was more "purist".

If you're playing a bluesy style, you'll play in "cross harp" (do a search) where the harp is a 4th up from the song key. E.g. "Cant You See" is in G, so I play a C harp.

Anyway, subscribed cause I can fool folks into thinking I can play but my Bag-O-Tricks is mighty small and I need to get better!

-M

Thanks for the info, I've read good things on the Special 20's so i might give one a shot. Also, if you were to only get one harp, would there be a best key to get? or just any random one that suits your fancy?

[MikeyB]

If your guitarist plays in standard tuning, I'd probably get a "C" harp. Assuming you'll play rock/blues which puts you in cross harp, then you'll be able to play to a song in the key of G which is pretty popular for blues and rock.

[thatbasskid597]

Sweet. Thanks Mikey.

[SurferJoe46]

There are so many sites on YouTube for harp lessons that they stagger the imagination. They can teach you breathing and even start to teach you how to bend the notes - that's the hardest part of harp playing.

Back many years ago I had the unique opportunity to have working for me an apprentice carpet layer. He kinda looked like Grizzly Adams with a long shaggy beard and mustache. His name was Marcos Habif - and his Uncle Morrie (deceased?) and Aunt Sherry (deceased now) who were very good friends (to me, and at that time, my first deceased wife), as they lived across the corner from us in Costa Mesa.

<I just re-read that - there's a lot of 'deceased ' people there!>

He was a pretty good worker and gentle as could be, Little did I know who he really was under all that hair. You've gotta remember that this was in 1966-68 and the hippy/Hashberry thing was still running wild.

Anyway - my wife and I were watching PBS one evening a few years later and I heard his voice, advertising a harmonica called the Great Little Harp, or GLH and he had a book and a cassette tape for sale called: Marcos Teaches You To Play The Harp Instantly!

I fell over when I found out he was a big demand studio and live harp player. I never knew.

Anyway - I've lost contact with him - although I am still trying to find him. If he's reading this (from the Yahoo! and Google Slurp spiders picking up on the buzzwords) I hope he responds and send me a PM.

Anyway - I am waiting for my pre-availability order through GC for these:



I have a fair collection of Big Rivers and even an oddball Hot Metal and a Weekender too. Those last ones are MIC, and not the best quality.

Honestly, I don't recommend the MICs as they won't bend well, although there are the occasional exception. There are even a few sites to tell you how to mod them to get better bending and pitch correction too.

There's a guy called: Kudzu Runner who has a lot of info that you can use. Subscribe to his site and just go through it. He has a neat instructional process of sitting in his car and talking to the video camera and tells you things you need to know about harp playing.

His name is Adam Gussow.

Have fun.