I’m a 53 year old singer and multi instrumentalist. Was a pro bassist for a number of years, playing mostly funk, rock, and jazz. But the first instrument that called to me, and the first one I took seriously was the harmonica. I first heard it when I was 9, ironically the player was Dan Ackroyd, as Elwood Blues on the Blues Brothers live album, Briefcase Full Of Blues. lol. I was too young to know they were a “comedy act”, but for those that don’t know their band was made up of cats who were the top blues and soul session cats in the world, Matt Guitar Murphy, Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn from Booker T and the MGs, Paul Schafer on keys, but it’s their version of Downchild blues bands Flip,Flop,Fly - starts with Elwood doing this little shuffle on the harp that then goes into this honkin draw bend, and when I heard that it blew my mind! My father and a beat to shit chromatic harp he gave me - and for some reason - I was immediately able to bend the note to get that sound… but I was 9, and that’s all I could accomplish… I think my folks may have hid it from me, cause I walked around just making that honking blues sound for about 2 weeks… and it disappeared , lol. I didn’t revisit it until I was 15, this was 86, and I was deep into hardcore punk, as well as prog rock, and the funk fusion my father was into, but one day I was at a bookstore with a few bucks and saw A book called harmonica for the musically hopeless, it came with a cassette tape, and a Hohner pocket pal in C. I bought it as a joke, Kinda, and because I thought I was musically, hopeless for some reason… That night, I went home and learned OhWhen the Saints… and I was hooked. Then I discovered Sonny boy, Williamson… And that was it. In my early 20s, I put it down again and picked up the guitar, started playing in grunge bands… It was the early 90s lol. Flash forward, ended up becoming a professional bass player, and then an engineer and sound designer. And stop playing music altogether then at 47, I was diagnosed with ADHD and high masking autism. And I picked a harmonica back up and haven’t looked back.
Try this The basic “note” (we’re talking just rhythm for now) is the Whole note. Means exactly what it says. So next we divide that not in to two parts making each part a half (of the whole) note then we do that again and we have 4 quarter (25% 0f the whole note.) notes and then 1/8 notes and 1/16 note. the whole note can be divided like that to infinity yes there is such a thing as 64th and 128th notes. If it follows that pattern you can divide that whole note to infinity in theory. So a 16th note simple means that (in 4/4 time) there will be a possible 16 16th notes in that whole note. That’s all it means is that it occupies the space of a 16th of that whole note.
60 years in all the bars as a saxophonist (as you yourself write) explains your comprehensive knowledge of music. Impressive! Sorry, I took a quick look at your portrait posted here.
I’m working on Irish tunes this summer. I found that at first, it seemed very hard, whereas blues felt much easier, but once I started to understand the repetitions and breathing patterns, the pathway opened to a lot of the repertoire. Still working on getting the speed up. Check out Brendan Power and Joel Anderson’s playing and materials if you haven’t already. Good luck!
Welcome. You do it right here!. Just tell us a little about your interest in playing a harmonica. If you choose to tell us where approximately you are etc too thats optional. Also go to your profile and add some general information. It all helps other members relate to you and have an understanding of what you want from the forum.
I am 60 years old and have had musical interest since gradeschool. Did Trumpet for one year but my lips couldn’t handle that. I got into percussion in jr high and have considered myself a drummer since then even though my skills are extremely basic. I am attracted to the harmonica due to it’s simplicity and portability. I love the sound! Looking forward to learning and hopefully becoming proficient.
Did you know that the harp is one of the instruments that is inconspicuous? It is one of the most underestimated because the playing takes place in the mouth/throat area. The audience cannot see that.
Keep learning with patience, relaxation and without pressure! Train the many small muscles and let your memory grow.
@JoshuaDb thank you so much for sharing. We’ve got a lot in common bro!!! Welcome to the forum.
@tttiger123 You just did it!! Welcome to the forum. You got this!
@Anthony_T Welcome to the forum my friend. Yes, you can search for whatever you’re wanting to learn and likely find lots of posts! I’d love to hear what you think of this post:
Hello all, my name’s Jay and I’m based in south west England.
What led me to join this forum was [1] the Simple Melody piece by PETE MOLSEN and I’d like to download his song list but can’t use Dropbox on this computer. [2] I’ve seen a number of items by Luke and although they seem to be mainly for Richter tuned diatonics I do like his relaxed teaching style especially as I’m not a good teacher.
I’m a former merchant navy master mariner who after several years of seagoing command did a career change to law and eventually finished up as a lawyer dealing with international disputes and negotiation. In my early teens I played drums with trad jazz bands but drums were outside the baggage allowance for MN cadets and because I’d always liked the sound of harmonicas I took a couple to sea with me. That was a long time ago, before the Internet and Luke probably wasn’t even born so I was fortunate to learn from some very good players among the crew who were willing to give some time to a rooky cadet. After the career change I didn’t touch a harmonica for 20 years until the pandemic. With courts closed and international travel practically non-existent it gave me time to strip, retune and rebuild the 30 or so harmonicas languishing in my old gig bag and to take up playing again. Although I originally started with Richter tuned diatonics I’ve always preferred chromatics or solo tuned diatonics for melody lines and now that’s pretty much all I play. After doing some on-line research and trying various instruments I settled for non-valve chromatic Forerunner and Forerunner2 (I can’t tell the difference between them) made by Easttop, mainly because the mouthpiece suits me and the simplicity of the instruments. I now regularly play at a recording studio using the forerunners and my old faithful AKG D1200E mic. Although Forerunners are low cost I prefer them to my CX12s. Most of my playing really just needs solo tuned diatonics so having chromatics in Ab; Bb; C; D; E and F# by holding in the slide it also gives solo tuned diatonics in A; B; Db; Eb; F and G, all 12 solo tuned keys in 6 instruments. Starting on draw 3 or 7 gives minor keys. I’ll try to attach a photo of my gig box and the cheatcard stuck into the lid.
Couple of simple things that I’ve found useful. (1) Wrapping a couple of layers of self amalgamating tape around the back of chromatic covers gives more grip and doesn’t stick to the instrument and (2) all my 10 hole Richter diatonics have carefully placed white plastic tape with the key on it just over the low note end of the comb, this has saved me from picking them up the wrong way round on a dark stage, that only happened once, never again!
I agree. When I play for long periods and am really getting into it I feel it. Definitely more than with a lee Oskar but I love the sound. And despite the downfalls like the sound of wooden comb
Some great labelling and other tips there. Thanks. DROPBOX works really well on a phone.
I tried to find the song and name you refer to on the internet but couldn’t find either?
Is it correct spelling? I thought I’d try to upload it for you
Toog
Simple Melody is not a song it’s a post on this forum by Pete Molsen, I found it interesting and it led to joining. I can’t use DROPBOX because it’s not yet approved for use on my law practice computer or 'phone.
I just signed up for my beginner course. I received my Grandfather’s 100 year old harmonica and would like to give it a try! I purchased a new beginner Easttop to learn on. I want to learn and hopefully entertain myself and a few friends someday. I look forward to hearing from others about their experiences. Thank you
Ohh ok. I tried to look at the dropbox files. They have been deleted. May have had copyright issues. ? Anyway they are nolonger available from there. I have a pdf program but can’t access the other link either.
Interesting post. I will digest it slowly when I get more time.
Hi, lower-intermediate guitar player here. I hope to play harmonica while playing guitar. I sing in G, E, A, and C ok. I have fundamental music understanding, but harmonica is kicking my butt. I play other instruments too and seem to pick them up rather quickly by ear mostly, after learning a major scale and a few chords.
I bought an Easttop C diatonic, after reading your recommendations. I have an Am PentaHarp in the mail, but not sure of the direction I should take.
Am I too arrogant to teach? I don’t think so, but at 70 years old and with a limited income, I want to be the best I can be.
I know you sell a course for ~$200, but hope to be jamming soon with the harmonica.
What do you recommend?
Jack
Welcome to the forum. You got this! 