The Harmonica Blues

[H to the ickle]

I really hate to post this thread anywhere, because I'm not quite sure where it goes, but I gots me a question!

Lately I've been listening to musicians such as Neil Young and Tom Petty and I hear the great harmonica that perfectly accompanies their guitars or whatever instrument they happen to be playing. This listenings have led me to wonder about the finer points of harmonica playing. What is a good place to start? What type of harmonica should I invest in? Is there any sheet music or tabliture-ish stuff for the aformentions instruments?

Thanks in advance and tell me if this is the wrong forum.

[cashay350]

Stay away from Kays. they cost about 2 dollars. Guess why. Look into a Hohner or Sousa Band. You can get a fairly good one for about 7 dollars. You'd probably want to get one in the key of C to start because its most common. www.harmonicacountry.com can get you started. Its not the best. But its the best site Ive found out there. A lot of Christmas songs and stuff. Theres some pretty good books out there for harmonica. And its actually a fairly easy instrument to get proficient at. Good luck.

[H to the ickle]

Thanks alot bro.

[~Rock~Guitarist]

i play harmonica.

i got a set of 12 off ebay, since each harmonica is made for a certain key, you will want to get at least a few, and ebay is a great place to start, just search "harmonicas" and you will get tons of packages of multiple harmonicas that are cheap and easy to start on.

you can find all kinds of harmonica tabs on the internet. if you want to just play stuff like neil young though, i suggest you get some kind of instructional book, look up some of his tabs, and write your own from there, because writing songs with a harmonica is very easy, and harmonica has easy to read tablature like guitar.

[moaner]

here's a tip: If you want to play ther blues jamming with guitarists, get one in E


Where do you go for harmonica tabs?

[HomeCatMickey8]

I want to learn how to play harmonica sometime.

After I learn piano.

[AJR1]

I bought my uncle a learn to play harmonica book with a harmonica. So I scanned it all and bought myself a harmonica. 2 presents in one!

[neiltrett]

quick tip:cross harp is blues,straight harp is folk.for cross harp,you count up four notes( chromatically) from the tonic.so,if the guitar is in "e" you play "a".the accent is on the draw,where you get the best bends.straight harp you play in the same key as the guitar,but the accent is on the blow.but if you take lessons,and learn your scales you can use one harp for the whole gig...but i am not carlos del junco,so get as many as possible,to jam with friends,and make sure they tune to the harmonica!!!cheers!

[pinkpanther]

I'm learning harmonica right now.. I got me an "Idiot's Guide"... Better than nothing I suppose.

[hypocracy hater]

Get a horner in E or C. When you get better learn about cross harp playing.

Harmonic tab is very easy to read.

http://tinypic.com/17pl6e

this is MY tab for the C major scale on a C harmonica

the normal numbers are blow, circled are draw.

[NoMoreHate]

I bought a Lee Oskar major diatonic in C a few days ago and I love it. recommended to beginners for sure, bending is easy and it sounds great.

Decent tabs are impossible to find though. There are like 3 sites and all they have is folk and christmas songs. Alot of stuff can be tabbed by ear though.