Hi, I’m an older guy that used to play just a little, but around June of this year I decided to pick it up again and give it a try. I have purchased two harmonicas, one in key of C and other in key of G. I can’t read music and am playing so far just by ear. I’ve actually been pretty happy with my progress of just playing tunes and hymns that come to mind. One thing I would like to do is be able to play along with songs that I am listening to either from the radio or cds that I own. My question is, how many different key harmonicas should I be looking at to best get me started, and which keys would be best? Thanks in advance for any input.
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my advice (and I only have a few harps myself thus far and am an ‘upper’ beginner), is to go to harptabs and see which tunes you want to play and what key they are for. There are lots of videos talking about how “you need A, C, G, D, etc” but it all comes down to what you want to play. ALSO, don’t forget the tunings. For example, I like irish jigs and recently got a G harp in Paddy Richter tuning since many recommend it.
- One bit of wisdom is not to be “shy” of the less common keys and tunings if that’s what the stuff you actually want to play is in. There is no rule that you must first start with the standard stuff
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Thank you. I will check our harptabs.
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A harmonica in the key of ‘A’. You can basically play anything that has guitar in it.
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Really? Thank you.
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I love my B flat. Its one of those harps that has always played well. Crossover.
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