 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Harmonica for the Musical Newbie
Jonny B recommends a harmonica as your first instrument. There are several good reasons
for it:
--It is small. You can carry it anywhere in your pocket.
--It is, cheap, inexpensive and affordable. I mean, virtually anyone can afford at least one
harmonica. Should you get a cheap one? My feeling is, no. Because a well made harp will
respond much better than a cheap one... The quality is like night & day! If you only have
enough money for one, get a Lee Oskar diatonic (C or D) about $24.00 or Hohner diatonic
C or D Special 200harmonica about $18.00.
--It is very easy to get a sound out of. (I mean, have you ever tried to play a saxophone or
a clarinet?) Since you will be encouraged by the experience, rather than frustrated by
attempting to play other instruments, you are more likely to continue.
--It is a wind instrument and requires you to learn proper breathing. "Breathing affects how
your music gets through and is expressed. What gets transmitted is the quality of the note",
says Jonny B. In a non wind instrument, you are actually somewhat removed from it.
-Don't look at the fact that there are only 10 holes as a limitation, but rather a challenge to
create sounds, and an expression of feeling, using the instrument as your medium.
Important safety tips:
Do not blow too hard (you can blow out the reeds... I do, and go through a lot of harps).
Do not share wind instruments (germs, my friend, germs).
Don't sit on it (I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere).
I like the response from Lee Oskar harps and pretty much use them exclusively.
Okay, now get out there and start blowin!
If you have an opportunity, please come out and show your support for Jonny B & The
Blues Blazers.
Feel free to email me with questions, etc...
All The Best,
Jonny B
Jonny B recommends a harmonica as your first instrument. There are several good reasons
for it:
--It is small. You can carry it anywhere in your pocket.
--It is, cheap, inexpensive and affordable. I mean, virtually anyone can afford at least one
harmonica. Should you get a cheap one? My feeling is, no. Because a well made harp will
respond much better than a cheap one... The quality is like night & day! If you only have
enough money for one, get a Lee Oskar diatonic (C or D) about $24.00 or Hohner diatonic
C or D Special 200harmonica about $18.00.
--It is very easy to get a sound out of. (I mean, have you ever tried to play a saxophone or
a clarinet?) Since you will be encouraged by the experience, rather than frustrated by
attempting to play other instruments, you are more likely to continue.
--It is a wind instrument and requires you to learn proper breathing. "Breathing affects how
your music gets through and is expressed. What gets transmitted is the quality of the note",
says Jonny B. In a non wind instrument, you are actually somewhat removed from it.
-Don't look at the fact that there are only 10 holes as a limitation, but rather a challenge to
create sounds, and an expression of feeling, using the instrument as your medium.
Important safety tips:
Do not blow too hard (you can blow out the reeds... I do, and go through a lot of harps).
Do not share wind instruments (germs, my friend, germs).
Don't sit on it (I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere).
I like the response from Lee Oskar harps and pretty much use them exclusively.
Okay, now get out there and start blowin!
If you have an opportunity, please come out and show your support for Jonny B & The
Blues Blazers.
Feel free to email me with questions, etc...
All The Best,
Jonny B
| Here is a chart comparing the different positions of the harmonica relative to other instruments and the key that they may be playing in |
Richard W. Rinn's BLUES HARMONICA TIPS Harp Keys: Position Playing: Circle of Fifths math with the fingers of my mind from time to time) was The Circle of Fifths. I’m not players’ lives easier.....but it might as well have been! Basically, it’s just the notes of the regular western chromatic scale, ordered with a fifth interval between them. The great bit is that you don’t need to understand it, you just need to remember twelve ‘keys’ in a certain order. If you do want to delve deeper however, it’s a pretty useful and interesting thing to know about. (See diagram below) Usually it’s presented as a diagram, the notes dotted round the perimeter in...well...a circle, with other stuff inside (rabbits and so on), and an almost occult-like look to it. The order of the notes, if you start at C and go round clockwise is C--G--D--A--E--B-- F#--Db--Ab--Eb--Bb--F. To make it easier to remember I switch the accidental (i.e. sharps or flats) on the F# to a Gb (the same note, just a different way of saying it). I then remember it as C -- GDAEB -- GDAEB -- F, remembering that the second GDAEB (I actually remember it like a word) is flatted. Hohner labels the harps with flats rather than sharps anyway, except in the case of that F# (Gb), so that’s super handy. What’s so handy about this once you’ve memorised it then? Well, check this out. Say you’re playing with a band, and they want to play in the key of B. You like playing in second position. Look at B on the circle of fifths (in your mind!), and then go back one. That’s the key of harp you need, an E harp. If the band were playing in B minor, and you wanted to have a bash at some third position playing, you would count back TWO spaces, and reach for an A harp. If you wanted to play in first position of course, you’d want a B harp, counting back no spaces, which is perhaps a stupid thing for me to point out, but will hopefully ram home the rule: first position, as per. Second position, one space back. Third position, two spaces back. Fourth position, three spaces back etc etc. Counting the actual key as ‘1’ makes it easier to think of one space back being ‘2’ for second position etc. You could also easily switch the thing round. For example, if you showed up at a jam with only a D harp, and knew you could play comfortably in the first three positions, then you count forward on the circle of fifths, and know you could play in D, A or E with it. Or perhaps you’re listening to a bit of music that you know is in Ab, and playing along with a G harp or something mad, and you want to figure out what position you’re playing in, you could just count forward from G (or back from Ab) and discover that it was eighth position. Read this section again, understand it, memorise the circle of fifths, I rest my case. NEXT! |
| JONNY B & The BLUES BLAZERS |
