Harmonica's

[Kazz]

My son asked me for either a Harmonica or a Saxophone this weekend....well I ebay searched a Sax as I love the sound of those...and they are not in my price range LOL so I am thinking about getting him a harmonica....or a set of Harmonica's

Do any of you dabble in Harp? He likes blues so I am sure that is where he is heading with this....any thoughts or suggestions? Brands? Keys?

I know nothing about them...other than I really like to hear them in a good blues tune.

[evenkeel]

Hohner is the big name in the world of harmonicas. You can buy a nice entry level harp for $10-15 or even a bit less. Top of the line harps are in the mid 20's to $30. Entry level harps are made so you can bend the notes a bit easier. The better harps are harder to bend notes on, but have better tone. Good harp playing is all about bending notes.

Re key to buy. If you are playing harp in a group setting (guitars, bass, etc.) there are two ways you play along with a harp. In straight harp position if the song is the key of C then the harp is in C. This is typical folk; Bob Dylan, Neil Young kind of playing. For Blues you play in cross harp position. If the song is in C then you'd play a "F" harp. The harp key in blues is 4 steps up. Most all the blues harp you hear is in cross harp position.

[FatCat]

I recently got this set from my local music store here in South Africa.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Harmonica-Set-7-...QQcmdZViewItem

It's a set of entry level, but decent quality harps. The nice thing about this set is that because you have the most popular keys in there, you can play along with a large selection of songs.

The harps aren't top quality, they are more than good enough though. Harps have a limited life span, depending on how well you take care of them. My plan is to replace each harp with a higher quality one as they lose their tone.

I would really recommend this for a beginner, easy enough to play, and as I said, you can play songs in most of the popular keys. I remember when I got my first harp, it was in the key of C, and I didn't like the fact that I couldn't play all the songs I liked. This kit has given me the freedom to play what I want.

Hope this helps

[just strum]

The store where I take lessons sells the sets like FatCat noted in his post. I don't recall the price, but a couple of the other students and customers have bought them (the ones that happened to be in the store at the time) and they like them.

It might be the best route to go if it's in your price range.

If I remember, I will get info on them Saturday when I'm there for lessons.

[markb]

I'd go with Hohner Marine Bands for blues or Special 20s if you prefer a smooth plastic body. Lee Oskars are great and the reeds don't jam as easily as the Hohners but they're a bit more expensive.

[Kazz]

I have a search saved in my ebay that is for the Hohner Piedmont Blues 7 set. They seem to run about 20 bucks plus 10 for shipping...30 bucks for 7 of anything is not a bad price....so that is probably how I will end up going.


Strum if you remember can you check your local price? I would hate to end up paying more than retail.

[mrmudcat]

I play Hohner.Id get him a blues harp or the golden melody.Get a good made in germany Hohner and not chinese crap .

[Steve206]

I have had a hohner marine band in my possession for my entire musical life. I replace them as they get old.

My father used to play a chromatic harmonica and I even ended up with one of those. [they are like $80 these days!] Much too complicated for a guy like me, who only picks one up every five years or so. Still remember him playing little made up tunes while driving cross country on family vacations.

The first rolling stones album caused me to put $3.95 down for my first marine band. Got the last one for my 13 year old son. I found an audio course for the musically ignorant and gave him the whole package. I told him that if he could give me an hour a day for 30 days, that he would be off and running.

He didn't have the time,,,

PS: has anyone ever heard a guy named Harold[?] Levy?? Did things with a mouth organ that I had never seen before.

Steve