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My wonderful sweetie-pie got me a harmonica for Valentine's Day. It just arrived (not her fault). It's got a chromatic scale and is about 8 inches long. The coolest thing is it has a button which changes the pitch of the current notes, just like a whammy bar on a guitar. I'm sure it will be used to an annoying extent.
Now I need to learn how to play the durn thing. Any suggestions for books, videos, or software to help with that?
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I bet you there is a Playing Harmonicas; For Dummies book out there. It is just a matter of finding it, eh?
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There probably is. I think there's even a Blues Harmonica for Dummies, or some such. But actually, I've heard the Klutz book is good. (So saith my father, who has played harmonica with blues groups on occasion.)
(Not that I'm implying you're musically hopeless, Dag. My dad's a professional-level musician. He just recommends it to those getting started.)
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You know, I always feel honored when I can help you with something, Dag. You're so learned and intelligent and knowledgeable. I'm glad that on Hatrack, there's a chance for us all to reciprocate, at least to some degree. My degree seems to be providing recommendations on recipes and sometimes books, with a few household tips and occasionally some organization thrown in. But at least I feel like I can do something for the friends who do so much for me. (((hugs for Hatrack)))
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The purpose of the "whammy bar" (that's a great way of saying it) it to be able to change keys, or play sharps or flats in the harmonica's key. It's called a chromatic harmonica.
If you look at the harmonica guy from Blues Traveler, you'll see he has a vest with loops to hold a whole bunch of harmonicas. Each one plays in only one key, so he needs all of them in order to play any note he might need in any key. The reason he doesn't use a chromatic harmonica is because it's actually easier to "bend" the notes on a regular harmonica, by changing his breathing, or cupping the harmonica with his hands. It gives it that "bluesy" sound.
Harmonica is actually a really tough instrument to play, because you have to have a real understanding of music theory. You have to know all those key signatures. You have to know whether to breathe in or out to find certain notes. The Chromatic will make it easier to find all the notes you want, without knowing the theory quite so much, but it may actually limit you in the long run.
I should amend that: Harmonica is really tough to play WELL. It's actually pretty easy to mess around, pick out a tune that works and have fun.
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Cool - thanks for the info. My musical experience is all with guitars, so I "think" in chromatic. I have no formal training or reading ability.
My goal is to get to a campfire point with both guitar and harmonica - folk songs, stuff like that. I'd like to play "Puff the Magic Dragon" for my kids one day (when I have them).
What I'm trying to find now is how the notes are arranged. Each whole has 4 notes - in and out, with two button positions - so I have 56 possible notes. But I have no idea how they are arranged, other than left is lower.
I'll look into those books, KQ.
Dagonee P.S., that guy from Blues Traveller just amazes me.
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For starters don't use the button. If you're picking out a song and you find you can't find all the notes, pick a different starting point on the harmonica. Keep trying until you get a key that works. Use the button only if you absolutely can't find the right note. Otherwise you'll just confuse yourself.
And don't try to play Beatles songs. They break all the rules. Old cowboy songs, and Bob Dylan songs follow the rules, so you should be able to find a key that works.
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I play the clarinet, and I get notes and scales. Chords are so beyond me. My son just picks them up in a heartbeat, and I am so amazed.
Dag, if you do/can come, bring your guitar and harmonica. He can teach you a chord or two, and you can play together.
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Chromatic harps are laid out more for classical or folk music. That is, you'll generally be playing in "straight harp" style, whereas in blues you'll generally be playing in "cross harp" style. I'm actually not sure if you can play cross harp on a chromatic.
There are a whole bunch of different kinds of harmonicas, and the chromatic is probably the most versatile, but also the hardest to learn.
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Another thing is that since you have all the half-steps (thus, a "chromatic" scale), you never actuallly need to bend a note.
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Oh yeah, and the Klutz book is good (it's how I started), but the instruction is based on a major diatonic harmonica, so I'm not sure it will necessarily be much use for you.
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One more thing: if you're trying to learn to find the notes, play old Stephen Foster songs! My dad swears he was a harp player, because almost all (if not all) his songs can be played on the harmonica-- they don't have those notes that harmonicas don't have in them. And the Klutz book should explain things to you, if you want to understand them, music-wise. Good luck!
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quote:Dag, if you do/can come, bring your guitar and harmonica. He can teach you a chord or two, and you can play together.
The harmonica for sure, the guitar if there's room in the car. If we drive, it will be in a very small Jeep Wrangler, and I only have a soft case.
quote:For starters don't use the button. If you're picking out a song and you find you can't find all the notes, pick a different starting point on the harmonica. Keep trying until you get a key that works. Use the button only if you absolutely can't find the right note. Otherwise you'll just confuse yourself.
And don't try to play Beatles songs. They break all the rules. Old cowboy songs, and Bob Dylan songs follow the rules, so you should be able to find a key that works.
I'm figuring that out. With guitar, I'm used to picking two parameters per note (string and fret). Three (hole, in or out, and button) is confusing my poor little brain.
And gotch - no Beatles. Dylan was certainly on the list.
quote:Oh yeah, and the Klutz book is good (it's how I started), but the instruction is based on a major diatonic harmonica, so I'm not sure it will necessarily be much use for you.
OK, then the Klutz book is out. I'll be confused enough as it is.
Stephen Foster - check.
"The Camptown Racetrack's 5 miles long..."
Everytime I think of him, I think of Val Kilmer saying "Frederick ****in' Chopin" in Tombstone.
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I love Stephen Foster's songs. "Comrades, Fill No Glass For Me" has a beautiful melody. I have always been a fan of "Gentle Annie", "That's What's the Matter", and "Sweetly She Sleeps, My Alice Fair", as well as the more popular ones (you know, "I Dream of Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair", "Oh! Suzanna", "Old Folks at Home", "My Old Kentucky Home", and "Nelly Was a Lady").
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I don't know about Puff the Magic Dragon. But you know, even if the melody is unplayable, you can do little filler riffs between verses and things while people are singing around the campfire.
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I'll have to try Puff. I used to play the harmonica a lot more but people tend to find it annoying. Maybe it was my limited repertoire of "Silent Night" and "The Battle hymn of the republic". I also used to wear a little lady around my neck on occasion (tiny 1 octave harmonica).
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I think all I could do if I picked up the harmonica right now would be "Oh! Suzanna", "Camptown Races", "You Are My Sunshine", "Amazing Grace", and some blues riffs. The rest I'd have to get back in practice for.
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Stevie Wonder did some amazing stuff with a Chromatic harmonica way back in his earlier hit-making days.
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quote:Oh yeah, and the Klutz book is good (it's how I started), but the instruction is based on a major diatonic harmonica, so I'm not sure it will necessarily be much use for you.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but if you ignore the chromatic key on the chromatic harmonica, doesn't that pretty much turn it into a normal diatonic harmonica? Dag could get that clutz book and use his harmonica.
Also, I think that clutz book comes with a cheap diatonic harmonica, so you could get that and start figuring things out with the clutz harmonica, and move up to the chromatic if/when you get to that point.
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quote: Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but if you ignore the chromatic key on the chromatic harmonica, doesn't that pretty much turn it into a normal diatonic harmonica? Dag could get that clutz book and use his harmonica.
Pretty much, that's what I was saying when I said to ignore the button for starters. I still think there are differences between the two, even without the button pushed, but I think the scale should be the same, but he should be able to play any song you can play on a diatonic if he treats it like one. But blowing technique and sound might be different.
Click on "which one" at the left, and it starts talking about a number of different "slide harmonicas," not just chromatics. It may be premature to assume that Dagonee's is a chromatic.
Dag, what markings are on your Harp?
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"Chromatics usually come in key of C. But for some makes and models you can get them in other keys too. The difference here is which holes play which notes. They still have all 12 tones per octave.
On a typical chrom you can play 4 tones on one hole with the help of the slide. A 12 hole chrom has 48 tones. A 16 hole chrom has 64 tones. This is because for each octave the beginning blow note is the same as the end blow note, and there are two lots of enharmonics or tones that are for all intents and purposes the same.
For diatonic short harp owners: a chrom's note layout (with the slide out) is the same as holes 4 to 7 repeated every four holes side by side. The slide makes the harp play a semitone higher.
The above is true except: Sometimes the very last hole draw, slide in is a semitone higher than blow, slide in. This is to give a bit of extra range.
You can bend notes on the chromatic harmonica, in fact you can bend all of them. The difference is they are valved bends and have a different quality or timbre than a standard diatonic harmonica bent note."
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Wow, that's an awesome wedding present! If we had a piano, I'd start playing again. And Emma loves to "play" the piano (she's actually pretty musical about it). I think a piano is one of the best things you can have around the house.
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