Perfect. Then keep on experimenting and practicing away. I’m sure you’ll get it!
I’ll second, err third the recommendation for Lee Oskar harmonicas. They’re very durable and maintainable, not to mention the wide variety of keys they come in.
That said, I’ve met very few cheap harmonicas I didn’t like. Any available Hohner can work, but you have to be more careful when playing cheaper harmonicas. On most of my cheaper ones, when you really try to push the volume, the reed will crap out and ether buzz or stop vibrating entirely. Most of my more expensive ones can take all the air I’m likely to put out without complaining (but there’s this Marine Band I own…) The one that has the sound I like the best is a Hohner Hot Metal I bought for $8, but I can’t go crazy on it.
What taught me how to bend was someone telling me that it depended on the angle you blow/suck at, so try tiling the far end of it up/down while playing it. That taught me a bit of how it feels to bend, and I was able to figure out how to move my mouth for the same effect from that. Without the notes available to you from doing a bend, the blues scale sounds pretty klunky on a harmonica.
If I were to recommend a first instrument, it would be a keyboard or a stringed instrument, not a diatonic harmonica all by itself. Diatonic ones are pretty limited until you get fairly good at it. But Monty might be on to something by adding a chromatic harmonica. The Diatonic can teach you the basics of the major scale in its key, and the chromatic can let you understand where that key lays within the rest of western tonality. Any chromatic instrument (like a ukulele, maybe?) in conjunction with a diatonic harmonica would make sense to me.
But then again, as pulykamell demonstrated to me in another thread, my experience at learning something doesn’t translate universally.
You recommended the Special 20, which I already have, to me yesterday; but I read something yesterday that makes me want to reply to your 2006 post since you mentioned the Special 20 and the Marine Band in the same breath.
It seems the Special 20 and the Marine Band are the same harp, only the Special 20 has a plastic comb and the Marine Band has a wooden one. The Special 20 I have is even stamped ‘Marine Band’. Hohner has apparently shuffled their product line, and the Special 20 is now in a different series and is stamped ‘Progressive’. But it looks like the Special 20 is the ‘non-swelling version’ of the Marine Band.
I’m a beginner who can play tunes but who needs instruction and practice on techniques. I like the Blues Bands I have scattered around. For a $5-$6 harp, they’re very nice for someone at my level. Going by reviews I’ve read, kids love 'em too. I just like the idea of a cheap instrument that really works. But as you say, you don’t want to blow to hard.
I can play rhythm on guitars, and there are a couple of tunes I know on the tin whistle. My dad had a couple of chromatic harmonicas. The Hohner 64s are sitting on a bookshelf. They’re like 50 years old and don’t work anymore. I did see that new reed plates for the 64 are available for $178, but I’d have to contact Hohner to find out if they’ll fit the older ones. Also, at least one of them has a sticky button. I found a guy several years ago who said he could service them. IIRC it was $200 at the time, and he would only accept one at a time. I’ll get them fixed eventually.
I don’t know any of the specific songs dad played on them. He wasn’t especially musical, though he played the organ and a guitar occasionally. I remember him playing Sentimental Journey on the organ. That’s the sort of thing on the chromatic harmonica. I remember the things he played sounding similar to an accordion.
As far as I know, they’re the same harp minus the comb material. The reeds are the same (or at least they used to be–I don’t know if they changed anything recently.) I find it easier on the mouth, and I like the tone. I like the Golden Melody as well, but besides the shape of the harp (which is quite different), it’s also tuned slightly differently. The Golden Melody is the only harp in Hohner’s line (that I know of) in equal temperament. The others are close to just intonation or Richter , although their turnings have varied slightly over the years. Most harmonicas are also tuned slightly sharp, at A442, because playing them loud will slightly decrease the pitch. I think all Hohner’s harps are tuned to this standard, but some sources seem to say the Golden Melody is A440. I don’t have a tuner on hand to check.
I personally prefer diatonics to chromatics, but that’s because I find the soul of the harmonica in the bends and the various tonal variations this produces. Chromatics can bend a half step, but the bends sound different, and I like the idiosyncrasies of the diatonic and the really growly bends you can get especially from 3 draw. But that’s personal preference.
Speaking of different harmonicas, I bought a Mississippi Harmonica Co. Old Time Harmonica from a convenience store a couple/few years ago. It was $5 or $6 and I couldn’t resist. I finally unwrapped it the other day. (It was wrapped in paper and sealed in a plastic sleeve in the box. I found that charming.) It’s a tremolo harp, which I’ve never played with before. Very different sound.
Tremolos are interesting, and their layout is kind of funky. Usually, they’re set up so each hole is either a blow or a draw (not not both), and it alternates. They don’t strictly produce a “tremolo” (which is a wavering of the loudness/amplitude of a sound, although the term is often loosely used), but rather more of a “chorus” type effect (I’m borrowing that terminology from effects processing) where two notes very slightly detuned from each other play together, creating a “thicker” sound without sounding wholly out-of-tune. Apparently, they are used a lot in East Asian harmonica playing, with some players stacking a C and C# tremolo together to get a full chromatic scale. Lemme see if I can dig up a Youtube…
runs off to Youtube
Ah, here’s a decent one.
Monty, hope I’m not stating the obvious, but you can find a lot of harmonica’s made in China. Or at least you could. Pretty sure these are still made in China but who knows
Here’s a story from 1994: China's Harmonica Heritage
Coincidentally (or serendipitously), this article showed up in my email. It’s dated 30 January, but maybe the mail is slow.
The article is called Is The Special 20 Different Than It Used To Be?, and details the slight differences between the Special 20 I have, and the new Progressive series ones. It looks like the only changes are the reed plates, which have extra holes in them for use on other Progressive series models; and the cover plates, which have different nomenclature on them. So except for the [del]cost reduction[/del] interchangeability holes and the different engraving, the new ones are identical to the old ones.
This thread was started in 2006. I wonder if people are still having trouble finding online resources. I recall that when I was looking to get back into it a couple of years ago, there were a lot of YouTube videos.
It’s not so much having trouble finding online resources; it’s getting recommendations and advice from people you ‘know’.
And someone else might stumble upon the thread and be inspired to pick up a harp.
Still having trouble bending notes. I’ve watched several videos and have attempted to emulate them. This guy in particular makes it look quite easy. Using his technique, my notes didn’t bend at all. I think I might have bent some notes using other techniques, but I’m not sure. I really need live feedback. I still need to sign up for lessons at the local music store.
Another thing I just noticed last night was that the 2-draw doesn’t seem to make much of a note. Weak and flat. This is weird, since I can do single notes pretty well. I tried three other harps (Marine Band, Lee Oskar, and Suzuki Manji, in addition to the Special 20 that is the one I’m trying to learn on), and all of them have funky-sounding 2-holes.
There’s one thing that’s really annoying about all of these videos I’m watching. They all start out stressing the importance of being able to play single notes, and the other basics. It gets tiring hearing the same thing over and over, when I want to get to the bending part. That’s another reason I need a live instructor. And one more annoying thing is when the person in the video suddenly breaks into some real Blues playing. Rather masturbatory, I think. ‘Oooh! Look what I can do! You can do this too, if you practice enough. What’s that? You wanted to learn stuff? Hold on while I harp-wank a bit more.’
Nothing weird with having difficulty with 2 draw. Pretty common issue. So don’t sweat it. But I do think you’re right and some harmonica lessons at the local music store would help you along your path.
Thanks for that link. I’d never heard of difficulty with the 2-draw until I opened it. I haven’t noticed it before because the 3-hole is the lowest I play my ‘campfire songs’. Something new to practice on that 110-mile commute tomorrow!
Bumping this thread because I got the harmonicas out again…
I did end up taking some lessons a couple of years ago. It turns out that I was able to bend notes, but didn’t recognise that I was. The instructor recommended the Cleartune chromatic tuner app for my phone, so that I could see what I was doing. At that time, some notes were difficult to bend deeply, but the tuner app helped. (Today, I need to try to re-learn everything.)
If it wasn’t posted before (too lazy to re-read the thread), the Blues scale is:
2D 4B 3B 3d~ 2D
Where ‘D’ is draw, ‘B’ is blow, and ‘~’ is bend. Personally, I find it easier to replace the 2D with a 3B, as they are the same notes.
Question: Given a ‘C’ harmonica is recommended for beginners, what is the next key one should buy? That is, which is the most commonly-used key when playing with someone playing Blues? (Note: I do have the cased set of Marine Bands.)
This thread has inspired me to give it a shot.
Jesus.
For guitar music, E, A, and D would probably be the most common keys, so A, D, and G harps, respectively. Also an F harp for key of C blues. I’d go with an A harp as my next purchase.
Check out Adam Gussow’s videos on Youtube. Been awhile since I’ve had my harps out, but I think tilting the harp upwards somewhat (back higher, front lower) can help. 2-hole draw will come, it’s not hard. Just take it easy and slower, coax it don’t muscle it. The low holes take a lot of air, too.
Like I said, been awhile, and so much of what you do, you almost can’t remember unless you grab a harp and concentrate while you do it. Magic Dick has had to break out his harp and play parts as he’s tried to describe playing, “Whammer Jammer”, for example. I RECALL, I think, that I would move my tongue back in my mouth to coax a bend.
It’s good to have a single-note pucker working, but eventually, you may want to try some tongue-blocking as well. You can get some fat sounds and cool rhythmic effects going once you move to that. Some folks switch between the 2 depending on their needs.
Derrick Walker learned harp from Paul Butterfield, one of very few who did. If you write him, and he still monitors his Youtube channels, he may offer advice. He did with me in the past, though I didn’t take him up on it.
Thanks. It’s not as if I can actually play with anyone (nor is it my goal), but that’s good to know.
I’ve found his videos, went to YouTube, and (I think) subscribed to his channel. (Not really sure how YouTube subscriptions work.) For bending, I think the tuner app will help. Haven’t worked on the bending yet this round, as I’m going between a couple of books when Mrs. L.A. is out on the deck or out of the house.
Good luck to both of us! 
♬ Oh, when the saints ♬ Go marching in… ♬