That’s when all of the planets align, right? Oh, wait. That was the harmonic convergence. There are probably very few people who have never blown into a harmonica – ‘harmonica virgins’, I guess they’d be – but I couldn’t let the pun go.
I didn’t want to resurrect the previous thread, so here’s a new Learning To Play Harmonica thread.
I’ve been listening to Blues lately (Howlin’ Wolf, BB King, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, T-Model Ford), and I thought I’d try to teach myself how to play more than Oh, Susannah and the quasi-Blues thing I used to play. Damned if I can find my Hohner Marine Band, but I have a Special 20 so I’ll play with that. I picked up The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Playing The Harmonica. I may not be a harmonica virgin, but I am a complete idiot! The hard part will be practicing ‘by the book’, as I don’t want to disturb the SO and the only other ‘free time’ I have is on my commuting days. (I reckon I can just set ‘home’ on the GPS and turn on the cruise control. That way I can play and let the car drive me home.)
Since I haven’t really started trying to re-learn what little I used to know, I don’t have any questions yet. But I’m sure I will eventually, and maybe others are taking up the harp as well. So here’s the thread.
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I do have one question – not about playing, but identification. My dad had a couple of harmonicas when I was a kid. They were chromatic ones (with the button on the end), and were about 18-20 cm in length. I think I remember the word ‘chromatic’ or ‘Chromonica’ on the plate. I don’t recall what the middle was made of. I think it looked like wood, but I think one was cracked on one of the harmonicas. One of them had a hard case that looked like burled wood or something (most likely simluated – could’ve been brown marbling, too). The case that I remember had a curved top that started with a 90° angle at the back and curved down a bit to the front. Knowing my dad, he would probably have bought Hohners. I think ‘Chromonica’ is a Hohner model, but I don’t remember if that was the word on the plate. My guess is that he bought them in the '50s or '60s.
Any harmonica sleuths out there? If there’s a picture with the case, I might be able to say ‘Yes, that’s it!’
Actually, I think I found it myself. This page shows the middle part of the harmonica, and it’s as I remember it. This page shows a case as I remember dad’s. I can’t tell if the top has curvature, but that definitely looks like the case I remember.
But…but…but…it has a plastic comb so you can’t soak it and mellow the sound!
Actually, I’m fond of the Suzuki Easy Rider line, “despite” its plastic comb. Good, cheap, sweet sound. And it only costs three times as much as my first Marine Band, bought 40-some years ago. Which I, of course, ruined by soaking it and trimming the teeth so that they’d be flush with the frame.
I haven’t been able to take the harmonica seriously since the late 70s, when Jim Ladd started his “Lonesome LA Cowboy’s All-Girl Harmonica Band.”
For those of you benighted souls who weren’t listening to KMET in LA at the time, Jim got a case of Hohner “Little Lady” harmonicas and embarked on a search for the girls “with the best licks in town.” Whoever sent him the sexiest, most suggestive letter each day was chosen and got one to wear as a necklace. Jimm scored epic amounts of tail with that little stunt.
I’ve been in that boat. I’ve ‘played with’ the harp for almost 2 decades now, each time I pick it up I learn a little more, then I get discouraged/bored and put it down again. Last time I was futzing around with split intervals and that was interesting, as I really liked the bigger, richer sound, but since I don’t have anyone to jam with or ask questions to, I eventually get frustrated and decide to take a break. Keep us updated on how you’re doing, and what seems to be helping you. Maybe that’ll give me a boot in the ass and I’ll pick it up again myself.
I’ve heard of folks practicing in the car during their commute, but that brings with it obvious risks. Maybe practicing in the car on breaks or lunch might be more appropriate.
Missed the edit. I got an email from Coast to Coast music a couple days ago saying Hohner is increasing the price on their harps again on March 1st. If you’re thinking of picking up one or more in the near future, you might save 2-3 bucks each if you buy soon.
I don’t take breaks. Too much work to get through. Lunch is running out someplace to grab something to eat at my desk. I could make the time; but I’d either have to do downstairs to the conference room, or else go outside. Either way I’d be making a fool of myself. I prefer to be foolish in private.
SO is finishing up her BS. She’s had one phone interview, and a message from another place. If she gets a 9-5, I can sneak in some practice on my telecommuting days.
The last time I went shopping for harmonicas, I noticed that user comments on Amazon sometimes indicated harps that would play fairly quietly, which could be useful for practice.
Lee Oskars are awesome. Much more consistent and playable than Hohners in general. IMO, the only reason to go with Hohner is if you absolutely must have a wood comb. The only other harps I’ve found that I would rank up there with the Lee Oskars are some significantly more expensive Suzuki (I love the Promaster; the aluminum comb is so cool) and Seydel models. But then another advantage of Lee Oskar is that they don’t have a zillion different models at assorted price points. There are four different tunings and that’s it.
Harmonica books tend to agree that you should start with the key of C, but I find that the single most useful key is A. It’s one of the lowest pitched regular harps, which gives it a nice funky sound, especially if you’re playing alone (high keys like D, E, and F are good for cutting through a full band). And it’s the cross-harp key for E, which is one of the most common keys for rock-blues songs. What key is your Special 20?
Harmonica books tend to agree that you should start with the key of C, but I find that the single most useful key is A. It’s one of the lowest pitched regular harps, which gives it a nice funky sound, especially if you’re playing alone (high keys like D, E, and F are good for cutting through a full band). And it’s the cross-harp key for E, which is one of the most common keys for rock-blues songs. What key is your Special 20?
[QUOTE]
I hadn’t really thought about playing with anyone. No one to play with here. Perhaps I should get an A, then. The Special 20 is C.
#1 thing to know if you want to play blues harp: you do not choose the harp that’s in the same key as the song (which is called straight harp), you choose the harp in the cross harp key. The cross harp key is the one that has one more flat or one less sharp than the song key. So if the song is in E–say you want to jam along to the record of “Roadhouse Blues”–you want a harp in A. Similarly:
(song key -> harp key)
C -> F
D -> G
E -> A
F -> B-flat
G -> C
A -> D
B-flat -> E-flat
B -> E
etc.
#2 thing to know: most of the good notes in cross-harp are on the draw (inhale).
Not an expert, but I believe the actual key of the harmonica is the one running from 3-draw to 6-blow. Further back, because of the laws of music that make it possible to make each hole harmonize with its neighbors, there is a partial scale that is three keys lower than the main key of the harmonica. Due to the physical nature of the instrument, the blow reeds on this end of the harmonica are capable of producing gorgeous effects by controlling how you draw on them, which effects are often exploited in playing blues or rock. Playing mainly on this scale is called ‘cross-harp style’. You can actually fake the missing parts of the scale by ‘bending’ the 2-draw to a lower note than it’s designed for, but mostly cross harp is played because of the gutbucket sounds you can get out of it.
My Marine Band is still MIA, so I swung by Guitar Center today and got a new one. SO says I need to get organised and stop buying things when I can’t find the one I have. And then she pinched me.
The same harp you’re missing and not a new model or brand? After all we told you? And because you could blame the purchase on your invisible friends here rather than admitting that it was your fault your old one went missing? Somewhere in your home? And that you would appreciate it if she didn’t step on it?
Between this and your desire for a Triumph Herald I may never understand you. And I will never understand why that is one one of the very few life details I remember about anybody here.
The first makes sense but I could never understand why you wanted the Herald in the first place. But that’s just me.
I miss Borders. I’d set the kids loose, buy a coffee, curl up with a copy of Practical Classics magazine, and laugh my way through a serious article on restoring an Austin A40.
The hard part will be practicing ‘by the book’, as I don’t want to disturb the SO and the only other ‘free time’ I have is on my commuting days. (I reckon I can just set ‘home’ on the GPS and turn on the cruise control. That way I can play and let the car drive me home.)
