Howdy
I have played trumpet/cornet as a hobby for about 50 years, however, I have Essential Tremor which has made it impossible for me to play anymore. Over the years I have tinkered with other instruments, including harmonicas —several diatonics and even a Hohrner Chromonica Deluxe II I bought in Germany in 1970. The chromatic needs a lot of work to get it in good shape. I have had it dismantled a few times, however, I am not good with my hand due to the tremors.
I have been missing the ability to play music for some time now and have spent many hours watching various harmonica videos. It is time to get more serious about this, thus, I am doing more in-depth research. I think a chromatic would be a good choice, since it might be more like playing my horn and because I want to play tunes, such as Southern Gospel music. I used to play in church and because I have played a lot of vintage styles of jazz by ear and by music, I just needed to get the key and some familiarity with the tune and I can make up some accompaniment.
I expect that there will need to be a lot of practice exercises. I am used to this from studying trumpet.
I need to get started and should probably get a decent instrument and a place to begin getting some instruction. I have always recommenced to beginners to get something that is not so cheap that you have to fight it to learn to play. I also like a warm sound and figure I should get something that is easy to maintain, since dismantling it will be a task and a half for my shaky hands. Is there something that is melodic and warm sounding? Would I be making a mistake if I opt for a 64 hole?
I have a strong feeling that this is the way for me to go, however, I realize that it is a major undertaking of an instrument that is underrated as a serious complex instrument. I heard Howard Levy say that it is the only instrument that it’s invisible while being played. It occurred to me that this is also part of what makes it a very intimate instrument to play—like kissing, I suppose.
Sorry for being a bit lengthy here. I’m sure much of this needs to be separated into several posts. I am hoping to get, not only good advice, but also some direction as to how to how to get the advice here in the forums.
Thank you for helping me to get started on a new journey.