@ervinjn Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of really good people here that will help you with whatever you are looking for help with. Look around and be sure to ask questions. Enjoy!
@ervinjn welcome to the site like you I’m just a beginner too. Never think any. Question is too simple to ask if you don’t know you don’t know. Just ask people on here are a friendly bunch and always willing to help. I started just by finding by luck the YouTube channel. Now I can’t stop watching it even when I’m not practicing.
Hi, My name is D’Ann and I’m new…Been taking Beginner to Boss for 3 weeks and absolutely loving it. I’m in my sixties and as someone who has never played an instrument this is a new world for me. I’m just wondering if all the intense mental concentration on blows and draws eventually comes naturally. As a former dancer my experience is that after practicing a routine over and over that eventually you don’t need to think about every step, because muscle memory kicks in. Can I expect that to happen with the harmonica eventually?
Hi @dannclewis , I’m also in my 60s and had not previously played a musical instrument. It was a brand-new world for me too. I dance like a mud crab so can’t empathise with you there, but in regard to harmonica playing, yes, you can be absolutely reassured that neural connections and muscle memory will take over and you won’t have to think about every tab or note. If I can do it, anyone can do it.
Welcome to the forum, I hope you continue to love playing, it is a wonderful thing.
@Pedro_61 So cool you’re from Scotland. Welcome to the forum! You got this! ![]()
@kapawayna thanks for your kind words my friend!
@ervinjn all that guitar knowledge is definitely gonna help you progress on the harp more quickly. Can’t wait to hear how it goes for ya. Welcome to the forum!
@dannclewis yes the same thing applies to harmonica! You can expect muscle memory to kick in…at some time.
(The more often you play, the quicker it will come.) That dancing experience is also gonna help you tremendously to play with harmonica in time! Rock on! ![]()
HI I am Brian. I’m in Polson Mt. I grew up listening to my Father playing the harmonica. My brother and I used to play with it and made the most God awful noise you have ever heard playing with it. Now I am 55 and have this desire to learn how to properly play this instrument. Looking forward to learning all I can. Wish me luck ![]()
Welcome to the forum. This is a great place to get help and ask questions about anything you want to know. What kind of harmonica do you have? Go look through the sections and ask questions and share your experiences.
Hi I am Bruce from New Zealand . Im also in my 60s. Always had a love for music but never played an instrument so starting at t
Hi Bruce
Great time to start. Good luck withe journey. Look forward to hearing more about your progress
Hi Bruce welcome to the forum.
You will find it a great place for learning here any questions just ask there are plenty of people on here who will know the answer and are more than willing to share their knowledge with you. Good luck with your journey.
Me llamo Benigno y tengo 95 años.
Aprendí a tocar la armónica de niño, de forma autodidacta y de “oído”, La toqué después de modo esporádico de tiempo en tiempo sin dedicarle una especial atención.
Ahora se me ocurrió comprar una Special 20 y he empezado a estudiar algunas cosas: bendings por ejemplo, que no había oído hablar nunca de ellos.
“My name is Benigno and I am 95 years old.
I learned to play the harmonica as a child, in a self-taught and “early” way, I played it later sporadically from time to time without paying special attention to it.
Now it occurred to me to buy a Special 20 and I have started studying a few things: bendings for example, which I had never heard of.”
Hi
Welcome. We will help you anyway we can? Where do you live? I would love to hear you play if you can post something here? Toog.
Hola
Bienvenidos. Te ayudaremos de cualquier manera que podamos. Dónde vive? Me encantaría escucharte tocar si puedes publicar algo aquí. Toog.
Hey D’Ann, I picked up the harmonica for the first time at age 79 and yes, those neural connections formed even for me. Having a background in dance should be really helpful in picking up the rythmn and timing you need to turn notes into music.
Hi, all! I started learning about 3 years ago, but stopped for quite a while as I was really getting frustrated. So about a month ago, I started the lessons again, I’m now 88 years old, and am finding that I’ve kept alot of the skill alive, and I’m enjoying practicing more.
Hey there, harp dawgs. I’m Chris Jay Becker from Iowa, but I’m originally from California and Washington State. I’ve been blowing harp since 1979. I spent the first few years copying the records of Sonny Terry, SBW I, SBW2, Little Walter, Junior Wells, Walter Horton, Charlie McCoy, Mickey Raphael, and my fellow West Coast harpers Curtis Salgado, James Harman, Paul de Lay, Rick Estrin, Norton Buffalo, and Lynwood Slim.
As a player, I’m a hybrid lip purser/tongue blocker, I can’t overblow, and my throat tremolo is non-existent… I do an elbow-pivot technique to get that throat trem sound… something I learned from a Tony Glover book.
@algphd Congratulations, the more you stick with it, The more it pays off in the end. Welcome to the forum. It is a great place with a lot of smart people who are willing to share their thoughts, ideas, and experience with you. All you have to do is ask. Take a look around and ask questions or share your knowledge and experience with the group. Glad to have you here. Enjoy.
@nbfinlay Welcome to the forum Bruce. So glad to have you here. You got this! ![]()
@Benigno Beienvenidos. Much gusto. ![]()
@algphd So glad you’re back in the saddle again, and that you’ve decided to join us on the forum. Keep on rocking. Never quit!
@chrisjaybecker Welcome to the forum harp dawg Jay. I’m originally from Cali as well. Check out this to help with the throat tremolo: https://youtu.be/6IRq5EEVMbg
Rock on! ![]()
Hello, I’m Norm and am a virtual beginner to the 26 hole chromatic harmonica. Until recently I was a long-term clarinet and saxes player. Unfortunately, I developed a shake in my left hand, so had no control and had to most reluctantly give them up. I tried harmonica and found that the shake disappeared when holding this. So I decided to wade in and buy an expensive chromatic, a Seydel.
The instrument is counter-intuitive when you’ve been used to blowing one way down a tube for half a lifetime. The blow/draw sequence (which isn’t a consecutive sequence) is unsettling to say the least, but I’m slowly coming to terms with it. Hitting notes cleanly without smudging is a challenge. My teacher tells me to take passages ultra-slowly until I can play a short passage cleanly, and not move on until I can.
A still unsettling factor is that there are two adjacent Cs every octave, the first of which takes you down a semitone on draw, the next of which takes you up a tone on draw. Confusing or what? Then to have the possibility of 4 different notes on a single hole, eg. C/C# on blow, D/Eb on draw is again counter-intuitive to a clarinettist. All a big learning curve, but enjoyable at that.
I’m concentrating strictly on classical at present, though I played a lot of jazz as well on sax and clarinet, so I like to have a busk on the Gershwin/Cole Porter/Rogers songbook for a change occasionally. Presently slow going, but improving.
Hello, I’m Norm and am a virtual beginner to the 26 hole chromatic harmonica. Until recently I was a long-term clarinet and saxes player. Unfortunately, I developed a shake in my left hand, so had no control and had to most reluctantly give them up. I tried harmonica and found that the shake disappeared when holding this. So I decided to wade in and buy an expensive chromatic, a Seydel.
The instrument is counter-intuitive when you’ve been used to blowing one way down a tube for half a lifetime. The blow/draw sequence (which isn’t a consecutive sequence) is unsettling to say the least, but I’m slowly coming to terms with it. Hitting notes cleanly without smudging is a challenge. My teacher tells me to take passages ultra-slowly until I can play a short passage cleanly, and not move on until I can.
A still unsettling factor is that there are two adjacent Cs every octave, the first of which takes you down a semitone on draw, the next of which takes you up a tone on draw. Confusing or what? Then to have the possibility of 4 different notes on a single hole, eg. C/C# on blow, D/Eb on draw is again counter-intuitive to a clarinettist. All a big learning curve, but enjoyable at that.
I’m concentrating strictly on classical at present, though I played a lot of jazz as well on sax and clarinet, so I like to have a busk on the Gershwin/Cole Porter/Rogers songbook for a change occasionally. Presently slow going, but improving. 16 hole not 26 hole at the start!
Hi
Welcome
Don’t be afraid to try diatonic as well. Might be more intuitive. Check out this guy Filip Jers Harmonica | Patreon