There are 2 different ways to play harmonica on stage.
Play Acoustic - this means you play harmonica into the same type of microphone that a singer sings into, and it gets broadcast through the PA system the same way a singer’s voice does. Even though the PA is amplifying the sound of the harmonica so that the audience can hear it, this is not what people are referring to when they say “amplified” harmonica.
Play Amplified - this means playing into a harmonica mic into an amplifier. This is that high gain, “dirty” distorted tone that is synonymous with the sound of the electric blues. You may have seen my recent video review comparing 2 of these types of microphones.
I recently also did a review of my top 5 favorite Hohner Harmonicas so I thought it would be cool to see what each of these harmonicas sounds like amplified, and to give you the opportunity to hear them in a brief side-by-side shootout.
By the way, here are tabs for what I play:
Blues riff with attitude:
-2” -2 -3 4 -3 (go to left and slide up to:) -4’ -4 -5 -4’ -4 -4’ -3’ -2 1234 -123
Splits with a flutter:
-14 25 36 -25 (flutter -34) -4’ 4 -4’ -3 -2 -2” -2
*(Splits is the subject of Module 5 in my Beginner to Boss*course and Flutters are covered in Module 6, Lesson 10)
Little Walter Boogie Woogie + splits:
-2 (-12) -3 (-12) -14 (-23) 25 (23) -25 (-23) 25 (34) -14 (-23) 14 (23)
(This is a variation of the Little Walter Boogie Woogie I teach in Module 6 Lesson 11, and Module 7 lesson 4.)
Hope this is helpful to someone.
Rock on,
Luke
