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Tin Sandwich


Triple-o

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I have been trying to learn Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” but I got side tracked with his harmonica solo. He plays it on a G harmonica. My question for you harmonica players is should I go out and buy a G harmonica or should I start to learn with a C or A. What do you think?

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A lot of the learning materials for harmonica are in the key of C so most people start with a C. Enjoy!😎

 

 

Edited by Nutty 1
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7 hours ago, Nutty 1 said:

A lot of the learning materials for harmonica are in the key of C so most people start with a C. Enjoy!😎

 

 

Thanks, I went to guitar center to buy a Lee Oskar C  harmonica and they didn’t have a C. So I bought a A. The first thing I learned when I got home was that playing guitar really helps to understand the way the harmonica works.I would have really been frustrated, if I didn’t know the major scales,Blues scales.Dorian and mixolydian scales minor 3rds chords etc. Without guitar theory I would have traded it for tuna salad sandwich.

It still seem impossible to blow or draw on only one of those small holes. And I don’t see how anyone “bends” those holes with breaking the thing.😃

One trivia question for you before I close. What did they decorate the White House Christmas Tree with in 1925?

 

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6 hours ago, Triple-o said:

Thanks, I went to guitar center to buy a Lee Oskar C  harmonica and they didn’t have a C. So I bought a A. The first thing I learned when I got home was that playing guitar really helps to understand the way the harmonica works.I would have really been frustrated, if I didn’t know the major scales,Blues scales.Dorian and mixolydian scales minor 3rds chords etc. Without guitar theory I would have traded it for tuna salad sandwich.

It still seem impossible to blow or draw on only one of those small holes. And I don’t see how anyone “bends” those holes with breaking the thing.😃

One trivia question for you before I close. What did they decorate the White House Christmas Tree with in 1925?

 

Wow! I just looked it up. They decorated the Christmas Tree with Harmonicas! Hey you could do that, perhaps not with 50 but with one of each in a different key and a few in minor keys and harmonic minors. Then after Christmas you could use them, it would save on Christmas Decoration storage space.😁

Good choice on the Lee Oskar, they are my favourites! A is a great one to have as you can do blues in E. As for bending I can do hole 1 but am still pretty unpredictable on the rest. I have some courses on Udemy, by Ben Hewlett, which are really good. If you want any of his courses wait until they have a sale on, they usually go down to about £12. I admit that I don't practice enough. Yes music theory helps a lot. Enjoy!

Edited by Nutty 1
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10 hours ago, Nutty 1 said:

Wow! I just looked it up. They decorated the Christmas Tree with Harmonicas! Hey you could do that, perhaps not with 50 but with one of each in a different key and a few in minor keys and harmonic minors. Then after Christmas you could use them, it would save on Christmas Decoration storage space.😁

Good choice on the Lee Oskar, they are my favourites! A is a great one to have as you can do blues in E. As for bending I can do hole 1 but am still pretty unpredictable on the rest. I have some courses on Udemy, by Ben Hewlett, which are really good. If you want any of his courses wait until they have a sale on, they usually go down to about £12. I admit that I don't practice enough. Yes music theory helps a lot. Enjoy!

Thanks I probably will be looking for lessons pretty soon.

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I've always wanted to learn how to play harmonica.  I have very vague memories of my grandpa playing harmonica, and I have the ones he played. 

One is very interesting because it is double sided... still trying to figure it out.  One side is marked as G, the other as C.  I wonder sometimes if it would even be in tune anymore.... ?   Do they get too old to play?  

Now I will need to search this out as my curiosity often gets the best of me (keeping me up till the wee hours investigating random things on the internet, lol)! :) 

 

 

 

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18 hours ago, K9kaos said:

I've always wanted to learn how to play harmonica.  I have very vague memories of my grandpa playing harmonica, and I have the ones he played. 

One is very interesting because it is double sided... still trying to figure it out.  One side is marked as G, the other as C.  I wonder sometimes if it would even be in tune anymore.... ?   Do they get too old to play?  

Now I will need to search this out as my curiosity often gets the best of me (keeping me up till the wee hours investigating random things on the internet, lol)! :) 

 

 

 

I think that the reeds go bad after awhile of playing.

I signed up for some lessons that nutty 1 recommended and the teacher demonstrated about 10 different types, But none were double sided.
I have come to the conclusion that a diatonic Harmonica is the most common.

I mentioned earlier, playing the guitar sure makes understanding the theory of the harmonica  easy. The learning curve seems to be at about the same pace as a guitar, I started out with Red River valley and it sounded about what it sounded like on the guitar when I first started.

Edited by Triple-o
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@Triple-o   Since you've played a bit...maybe you could advise me.... I bought a new Honer "Blues Harp" harmonica in A a while back. I found that the "draw" took quite a bit of effort; much more than I remember than the harmonicas I played campfire songs on in Boy Scouts as a kid.  Is there some way of adjusting these to play easier?  ( I havent really played it much at all as a result)

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1 hour ago, Triple-o said:

I signed up for some lessons that nutty 1 recommended and the teacher demonstrated about 10 different types, but none were double sided.

This is what it looks like....  the far side is a mirror image. I doubt that it's really playable even though it does sound different notes. Might just be a 'cool to keep' thing. But I do have an inexpensive Hohner Bluesband in C. I think I'll check out some of those lessons!

Screen Shot 2019-11-04 at 10.42.48 AM.png

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1 hour ago, NeilES335 said:

@Triple-o   Since you've played a bit...maybe you could advise me.... I bought a new Honer "Blues Harp" harmonica in A a while back. I found that the "draw" took quite a bit of effort; much more than I remember than the harmonicas I played campfire songs on in Boy Scouts as a kid.  Is there some way of adjusting these to play easier?  ( I havent really played it much at all as a result)

I have a Lee Oskar in A and it draws real easy.I am new at this, but I know the reeds can go bad. Some are replaceable, but at what cost I am not sure. When I was reading about harmonica keys, some folks said the G harmonica was hard to draw.Oh yea, I did read something about a gap that can be adjusted to make it easier, but at this point I couldn’t tell you much about that.

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There is also a way of taking the harmonica apart and "readjusting " the reeds up or down as well

From the owner of a $5 harmonica from Target 

Edited by Eracer_Team-DougH
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7 hours ago, K9kaos said:

This is what it looks like....  the far side is a mirror image. I doubt that it's really playable even though it does sound different notes. Might just be a 'cool to keep' thing. But I do have an inexpensive Hohner Bluesband in C. I think I'll check out some of those lessons!

Screen Shot 2019-11-04 at 10.42.48 AM.png

I think Hohner still makes that double sided model of harmonica.

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On 11/2/2019 at 1:35 AM, Nutty 1 said:

Wow! I just looked it up. They decorated the Christmas Tree with Harmonicas! Hey you could do that, perhaps not with 50 but with one of each in a different key and a few in minor keys and harmonic minors. Then after Christmas you could use them, it would save on Christmas Decoration storage space.😁

Good choice on the Lee Oskar, they are my favourites! A is a great one to have as you can do blues in E. As for bending I can do hole 1 but am still pretty unpredictable on the rest. I have some courses on Udemy, by Ben Hewlett, which are really good. If you want any of his courses wait until they have a sale on, they usually go down to about £12. I admit that I don't practice enough. Yes music theory helps a lot. Enjoy!

I looked at the Hewlett lessons and they were on sale ,so I picked up the basic beginner and blues licks. I was a little leery, because the basic price was $199.00 per lesson marked down to $12.95. That’s quite the reduction.

When I looked at a harmonica chart and seen all the notes below, it was confusing.Now, I see they are the notes you can bend to. I found a free app on line that listens to the notes, so that I can see the notes as I blow or draw and also tell if I am bending correctly. The app lets me pick the Key. Bending does seem difficult even on the first hole.


 

Thanks again.

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11 hours ago, Triple-o said:

I looked at the Hewlett lessons and they were on sale ,so I picked up the basic beginner and blues licks. I was a little leery, because the basic price was $199.00 per lesson marked down to $12.95. That’s quite the reduction.

Yes, it is all about the constantly frequent sales on Udemy, I like Ben Hewlett's courses and the app will help a lot.

I really should practice more myself.🤔😁😎

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10 hours ago, Nutty 1 said:

Yes, it is all about the constantly frequent sales on Udemy, I like Ben Hewlett's courses and the app will help a lot.

I really should practice more myself.🤔😁😎

Yes, I use Udemy to take classes to keep up my Project Management Professional credential.  I consitently take classes listed at north of $100 for $10-$12.

Checking frequently and waiting for the sale is the key.

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On 11/4/2019 at 6:49 PM, K9kaos said:

This is what it looks like....  the far side is a mirror image. I doubt that it's really playable even though it does sound different notes. Might just be a 'cool to keep' thing. But I do have an inexpensive Hohner Bluesband in C. I think I'll check out some of those lessons!

Screen Shot 2019-11-04 at 10.42.48 AM.png

Wow, what a beautiful Harmonica! Hey Barbara, if you ever join any of Ben Hewlett's classes you could post this picture in the Q&A section, I am sure Ben would like to see it and he may be able to tell you a little about it. He is Harmonica man. I think maybe a chromatic tuning app would be able to tell you if it is in tune.

@NeilES335I have adjusted the gap on one or two of my Fender Blues harmonicas (starter set), you can make the gap bigger by sliding a piece of paper under the reed, there are videos on Youtube about it. But you have to be careful not to break the reed.

Edited by Nutty 1
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