Tell me about harmonicas

[Poxican]

Apparently I can kind of play so I'm thinking of signing up to an 11 week Harmonica For Beginners course as I reckon it'd be a lot of fun
It tells me I need a harmonica in C, but I know very little about the things. What should I look for/watch out for when buying?

[SeriousCat]

it takes 11 weeks to learn the harmonica!?

fuck that - ill stick with my kazoo phd course

[thebeagle]

http://www.musicradar.com/forum/show...ight=harmonica

It does sound like fun; I think I'm right in saying that if you're playing 'cross-harp' you're best playing songs in a key that's the fifth of your harmonica's (so if your hapr's in C, you'll probably be playing over a G backing).

[lespaulgb]

I think C is the most popular starter harp.

[musophilr]

If you play a C harp over a tune in G that must mean you're after G mixolydian to go over G dominant chords in bloozy stuff? Wouldn't it then make sense to get a harp for the keys most people play blooze in? AFAIK most people like playing blooze in E or A. So that would mean getting haprs in A and D?

I'm not saying this to criticise, just asking the question, as a curious non-harp playing guitarist.

[thebeagle]

Originally Posted by musophilr

If you play a C harp over a tune in G that must mean you're after G mixolydian to go over G dominant chords in bloozy stuff? Wouldn't it then make sense to get a harp for the keys most people play blooze in? AFAIK most people like playing blooze in E or A. So that would mean getting haprs in A and D?

I'm not saying this to criticise, just asking the question, as a curious non-harp playing guitarist.

Well, yeah; if you're looking at playing blues an A for plyaing over E backing and a D for A backings would be good. I think the reason C is a popular one is because a lot of folky guys tend to strum away using G, C and D so a C harp plays quite well over those.

[musophilr]

Cool. As a teenager I went through a short Dylan phase and used a D harp for playing in, er, D. But I never was that good at it and my singing was worse than Dylan's so I quit with that idea.

[lespaulgb]

Originally Posted by musophilr

If you play a C harp over a tune in G that must mean you're after G mixolydian to go over G dominant chords in bloozy stuff? Wouldn't it then make sense to get a harp for the keys most people play blooze in? AFAIK most people like playing blooze in E or A. So that would mean getting haprs in A and D?

I'm not saying this to criticise, just asking the question, as a curious non-harp playing guitarist.

Fair point..........

I'm a non harp playing guitarist and generally enquired after a harp as, I dunno, a musical alternative to geetar.

The advice I had was that a C harp was a good starting point, but that was by no means the only harp. AFAIK there are many more harps and it's up to the individual to decide a choice based on where/when they will use it.

[thebeagle]

That's pretty much right, most harp players will carry at least a few - the one I've spent the most money on myself is in B, 'cos I use it over tunes in open G tuned down a semi-tone. It's pretty much useless at jam nights (who the fuck plays blues in F#? )

[Poxican]

Cool I think I will get a harp in B then, as I am playing a lot of Open G slide at the moment.

Cheers for all the advice

I had briefly wondered if maybe 11 classes was overkill SeriousCat, but it deals with some music theory and history and stuff as well from the looks of it, so I'm thinking it's not 11 weeks of working on your breathing technique!