I am about 3/4 of the way through the Beginner to Boss course. I have actually played harmonica for about 70 years but with zero technique and your course has been really useful at getting me onto single note playing and bending.
I want to try a Chromatic harmonica but cant find any lessons as well structured as yours.
Do you have any suggestions?
Peter
@peter4 Hi Peter, welcome to the forum There are a lot of great people here. Their talents range from diatonic to chromatic. I have only dappled a little bit in really playing the chromatic. Our resident expert in the chromatic harmonica is @Jay1 , if I remember correctly. I am not sure about his current schedule, he tends to be rather busy. I am sure he or someone can make a recommendation on lessons.
We would love to hear some stories and experiences from your 70 years of experience formal or not. Hope to hear more from you.
Enjoy the forum.
Diatonic harmonica have three specific features:
Thanks to these features, many harmonica schools have that learning objectives:
Chromatic harmonica (chromonica) do not have that features.
Isn’t related to blues. You can play all notes and have fewer special effects possibilities.
In chromatic harmonica, you can vibrate and bend.
But you must learn to do that more gently to not damage valves.
All chromonicians I know play by sheet notes.
Many chromatic harmonica players can improvise jazz.
So I propose that learning path:
Play from sheet notes
Get sheet notes and backing tracks for songs you like.
You need sheet notes for vocal line.
(something like this: https://geosci.uchicago.edu/\~archer/jazz_band/sheet/girl_from_impanema.pdf )
Play along with original song recordings.
Learn about 1 hour of songs, then get backing tracks without vocals for these songs.
Share videos, do some concerts. Make people happy by Your music 
Learn general music basic theory
Play Your favorite melodies by ear
Learn improvisation (play Your own melodies to backing tracks you learned in the first level).
Participate in jams, join some band.
Make people happy by Your music
Thanks. I’ll see how it goes!
Saying I have 70 years of experience is rather overstating it! I could play harmonica as a kid as my Father was a harmonica player. However I never really kept it up although I could (and still can) play anything by ear. However I didnt play single notes.
I have a good musical ear and sing in a couple of choirs and can read music. I’m therefore hoping that I can pick up Chromatic Harmonica despite being in my 70s
The beauty of leaning is that it is not limited by age. As a professional educator for over 25 years. I can honestly tell you that learning new things helps keep your brain active and helps fight Alzheimers and dementia. It may take a little more time to get things down, but that is more likely related to physical limitations than mental.
If you have a musical background, and it sounds like you do. That will only help you make connections faster in your brain which will actually speed up the learning process as you tie the new items to existing schema.
You are well on your way to being a good chromatic harmonica player, you already know alot and that will help speed up your learning. I hope to hear some of your progress, if you are willing to share. What you don’t know, simply ask and someone here will be more than willing to share their ideas, knowledge and experiences.
What type of music are you wanting to play on the chromatic?
My new Hohner GX12 Chromatic Harmonica arrived this morning.
The Hole 1 draw is very intermittent. Sometimes it doesnt produce a note at all and at others produces a note, but only if I draw very gently
I have read that hole 1 problems are quite common - but in a brand new Harp, straight out of the box? Is this usual?
I might have expected this in a budget one but the GX12 is not budget
Should I take this up with the supplier?
Hi Peter,
It is relatively common for a Hohner CX 12 chromatic harmonica to have issues with hole 1 not sounding properly. Users report problems such as the blow note on hole 1 being intermittent or slow to start, sometimes accompanied by a whistling or rattling sound. These issues can arise after some playing time and may be related to air leaks or valve problems.
Common causes and fixes include:
Air leaks in the lower holes affecting sound quality.
Sticking valves or loss of air in the slider assembly.
The need to carefully separate layers inside the harmonica with a thin blade to fix valve or reed alignment issues.
Hohner and harmonica repair communities provide guidance and videos on how to address these typical problems, suggesting that while not universal, hole 1 issues on the CX 12 are a known and somewhat frequent occurrence that can often be repaired with some maintenance.
If you experience this issue, checking for air leaks, valve condition, and reed alignment is a good starting point.
I did a quick search and found the above information. The harp may have gotten knocked around during shipping, it shouldn’t be too hard to get it corrected. I would unsnap the covers and inspect the valves. You likely have the hole #1 valve stuck or something in there, like debris from the packaging. Be gentle with the valves they tend to be fragile. Hope this helps.
Chromatic harp is in some ways easier to play. Each octave on the harp is a full C scale on a standard Chromatic, allowing you to play in any key with practice.
Single note play is the first I/M/O. The reason is bending a note requires you play the note spot on. As far bending if you can whistle inhaling and drop the pitch you are closer to bending than you may think. Try to mimic a morning dove or a quail. If none are around you U Tube has plenty of them you can listen to. Once you drop the pitch stop and notice where your tongue is. It will be drawn back, which is a big part of bending. If you hear air rushing in while your inhaling and your tongue drawn back and with the tip down say KA. It activated my first bend. I was going through the sweet spot or moving past the bend position with my tongue. I would lock up a reed as tooo much force was applied.
I tried a chromatic but it was not for me. A well tuned diatonic harp with the reeds gapped correctly just sounds better to me. Some of the very best players like Charlie McCoy play a 10 hole diatonic and play it very well. I/M/O they and have better sound. U Tube has tutorials on it you can watch but less force gets better results. Something I learned the hard way.
It is one thing to be able to activate a bend but another to consistently play them well, especially when you have a faster melody to play. Hope this helps. You will get there. Water wears down granite with persistence. Never give up. I am trying to clean my bending up in a faster melody and mastering it is not going to happen in a year or two. You are bound to be as good as several players than learned it!
P.S.
A clean, warm harp is much easier to play and bend notes. My harps do not like humid weather, especially if is a chili day and cold.