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OT - Harmonica anyone?


RABid

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blow while driving

Be careful. Whenever I've seen that in a a TV show or movie, it seems likely to end in disaster.

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I think tongue-blocking is most common for single notes. Instructing someone how to bend notes is next to impossible. You just have to keep trying until it works. I'm a decent blues harpist and it was mostly just self-learning. Got some lessons from real people (as opposed to video), but mainly did it because it was inspiring and a good hang, not because they actually taught me technique.

 

Yes, play while driving. It's far far safer than anything you might do with your phone.

 

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Some good recs there; especially the tutorial people. Tongue blocking isn't the only way; after spending a LOT of time on harp early this year, I ultimately concluded that I personally prefer other approaches, perhaps because of my woodwind background.

 

I play woodwinds from all around the world, and the only technique I have not yet conquered is circular breathing (applicable to Armenian Duduk and other instruments in the double reed family). So I have adapted some of my flute family tools to the harp, focusing (literally) on almost "whistling" through the instrument. For some, that is harder than tongue blocking, and the latter technique is sort of essential for certain blues-oriented techniques (which aren't my bag anyway).

 

You may also find it beneficial to do what I did, which was to buy a bunch of harps in different families and from different manufacturers, to see what you feel the most comfortable with. I was surprised at my own results, but have almost finished selling all of the non-keepers by now. I ended up preferring Hohner Special 20 and Rocket for timbre and feel. But the Suzuki harps are more "pure" in tone (again, not my thing) yet for my small mouth I found them just ever so much on the bulky side compared to Hohner (even across product lines).

 

Seydel is even older than Hohner and easier for me to blow and draw -- especially the lower notes -- but I ultimately didn't feel I got as much expressivity out of them. Yet I kept Suzukis and Seydels in the Tremolo Harp category; just not the traditional Diatonic Harps.

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If you stretch beyond the basic Diatonic Harps, be aware that there are certain conventions -- although well-documented on harp specialty sites and even on some vendor sites.

 

For instance, Lee Oskar tends to mark their harps for the second position key vs. the 1st position key, figuring almost all of their customers are going for the blues sound. But they have other specialty models that do NOT follow this lead.

 

Natural Minor harps are typically meant to be drawn, whilst Harmonic Minor harps are generally blown. This has to do with the musical traditions of the regions of the world where those modes are prevalent.

 

And on and on and on... there's also the Solo Tuning concept that often gets applied to Tremolo harps but also sometimes to certain standard Diatonic Harps, which gives you a slightly wider note range but more importantly aligns the note positions more closely to those of a Chromatic Harp, which helps a lot of people who go back and forth between Chromatic and Diatonic Harps.

 

For just starting out, usually the key of C ends up being the most flexible at the outset but also is in the middle of the standard tuning range and thus is also a great compromise for mitigating the challenges of the extreme low and high notes until you're ready to go further and grab some other keys. A standard Diatonic Harp is usually best for beginners, unless intending to focus on a specific genre that tends to use other types of harps.

 

Note that Diatonic Harps start at G and go to High G and are marked accordingly. So an F Harp is above the C Harp; pretty high and hard for beginners. A Low F Harp is a bit low for starting out. And just to confuse matters, Chromatic Harps start at D, so a D Chromatic is almost an octave lower than a C Chromatic (they also make Low C Chromatic Harps, one full step below the standard D Chromatic Harp).

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I was inspired by Howard Levy to try harmonica. Did not get far, but it's fun. You can use one as a cheap vocoder.

 

If you want to get serious, Levy has a course. He's been known to use as many as 3 different diatonic harmonicas on one song. Even though he's well aware of the advantages of chromatic harmonicas for jazz, he chose diatonics for various reasons.

 

https://artistworks.com/harmonica-lessons-howard-levy

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Good for you. +1 on Adam Gussow. His videos really helped. You can try using a piece of paper to block holes until your tongue and lips learn the correct muscle memory. Not to always bring it back to tools, but you'll be better inspired if you start off with a decent harp. I've danced around all of them but personally love the Hohner Special 20s. Hohner or Suzuki Blues harps are easy to get started on but sometimes a wooden comb (as on the Hohner) can be tough on beginners.

 

Start with one good harp in the key of C. Hohner has some decent packages that'll save a little bit of money, and will give you 4 or 5 harps in the basic rock and roll keys. (If you're playing cross-harp). There are thousands of you-tube videos. Like most things, you've got to really start with the basis. I've personally always found it tough when your fairly accomplished on one instrument trying to translate your skills back to to a beginner's mindset. But Harp is one of those things that the rudiments really establish everything else. I've been playing for 30 plus years, and still struggle at times to get that perfect correct slow vibrato warble, because I didn't learn about it until later on. I too keep a harp in the Car. :)

Chris Corso

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Not a YouTube channel, but there's a really fun book called "How to Play the Harmonica (and Other Life Lessons)" by Sam Barry (brother of humor writer Dave) that's as much about how to enjoy yourself and not take music-making too seriously as it as about harmonica technique.

 

I'm a terrible harmonica player, but I did enough solo renditions of "Piano Man" early on in my performing life that I was ready to jump into action when the CSNY tribute act I play with from time to time added "Heart of Gold" to the rotation. My pitch to them: "to be fair, I suck at harmonica, but so did Neil Young, so I'm claiming the part on the basis of authenticity."

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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I would check out some basic lessons on YouTube, it"s a very easy instrument for the basics (I own 3 myself). For the hard part, stuff like bends, wahs, and different vibratos are worth it.

Also, Toots Thielemans, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, and too many blues musicians to name have made such good use of it.

I usually use Dexed for harmonica purposes though (I love that fake 80"s harmonica synth).

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I've been playing for 30 plus years, and still struggle at times to get that perfect correct slow vibrato warble, because I didn't learn about it until later on

 

I agree, it's the biggest challenge for me, also. Recently I subbed for the harmonica player in a Willie Nelson tribute band (my first ever harp-only gig) and had to do my best to get that distinctive Mickey Raphael vibrato you hear all the way through those songs. I had a week to shed and prepare and came up with something, at least. I think it has a lot to do with building up your diaphragm, something that singers taking voice have to do. I don't see too many players that have a good vibrato.

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Special 20 was my favourite until the similar Rocket came along, whose ergonomics I slightly prefer. But for some reason they don't make a High G for the Rocket; only for the Special 20.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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