Chromatic Harp course

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Hi all. I’m David, from West Yorkshire in the UK.
I’m actually a pro musician - a composer, but I’m new to the harp. I’ve done the beginner to boss program (nearly) and I’m going to do JP’s excellent Blues course as well.
In addition to this I’ve just bought a new Seydel chromatic, and would love to follow a course on that as well (if it’s anywhere near as good as beginner to boss!).

Does anyone know of a course or have any recommendations?

Thanks
David T

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Hello @david7,
I started playing the diatonic harp with no prior musical knowledge and completed the BTB. I also finally learned music theory and sheet music through self-study, so that I can basically play my keyboard for my own accompaniment. During this time I bought two chromatic harps (C and G) out of curiosity and I also play them occasionally. Here I can highly recommend the Easttop T10-40 in C, unless you want a chromatic harp with 12 or more cells. I am of the opinion that if you understand the principle of the diatonic harp and can play fundamentally, you can also handle a chromatic harp. But remember, blues doesn’t work on a chromatic! You won’t get that special required sound with it. If you know what types of music you want to play, you’ll know which harp you need. :smiling_face: Welcome to us and have a good time.
Regards from Astrid :woman_in_lotus_position:from Germany

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Agree with Astrid. Instead of looking for a course I did buy the book Complete Chromatic Harmonica Method by Phil Duncan. It comes with chapters on technique and each note/hole in turn plus loads of practice pieces with dowloadable audio files to play along to. My other book is the Hal Leonard Complete Harmonica Method (Chromatic harmonica) which also has pieces and audio files in various styles to practice plus every scale/mode in all keys (using a C chromatic harmonica). The book contains brief advice and practice pieces using the Chromatic for blues.

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Hi @AstridHandbikebee63 . Thanks so much for all this information. I’ve got the Seydel Saxony 1847, but am yet to try it properly. I am going to finish the BTB course fully and then look at some chromatic study.

I’ve been teaching theory to post grad and beyond level for years, so this is not an issue for me - it’s all about learning technique for me.

I’ve got two types of music i want to use it for really…

  1. Stevie Wonder style Jazz/pop
  2. Americana - TV music with an US influence - slightly Prarie style kind of thing.

I know i may need different brands for different sounds, but I’ll start with this and see what i need when i have more understanding of what I already have!

Thanks again

Best
David - UK

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@david7 welcome to the forum. Thanks for joining us. Sorry I don’t have any chromatic harp course recommendations for ya!

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