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Harmonica

Blogs > FFGenerations
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FFGenerations
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
7088 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-21 14:31:08
August 21 2011 14:22 GMT
#1
does anyone play harmonica here?
i have a $5 C diatonic harmonica and want to try to learn how to play

im interested in playing (to begin with) those slow sad country improv tunes

i dont really know any examples of this.... just remember stuff like ike from south park playiing the harmonica (in the sp movie?)

heres the only example i have



im downloading some random harmonica music to have a listen

im just wondering if anyone has self-learnt this before and has some tips and direction for me...

like some starter songs (key C), with a bend here and there so i can figure out if im doing them properly yet...

anyway just throwing this out there incase someones in the same spot as me or has been and wants to advise



*
Cool BW Music Vid - youtube.com/watch?v=W54nlqJ-Nx8 ~~~~~ ᕤ OYSTERS ᕤ CLAMS ᕤ AND ᕤ CUCKOLDS ᕤ ~~~~~~ ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ PUNCH HIM ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ
qrs
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States3637 Posts
August 21 2011 15:00 GMT
#2
I play harmonica. I'd hardly call myself an expert, but I can pick out a tune all right. I'd say it's one of the easier instruments to self-teach, at least to basic proficiency.

I learned the basics from a book by a guy named Marco. He used a simple system to notate tunes, which I found pretty easy to pick up: it simply consisted of the number of the note's hole, surmounted by an up arrow for blowing and a down arrow for drawing. He had a different notation for bending, which I don't recall, but you could make up anything for that, I suppose. Notating songs that way made it very easy to learn them quickly. Of course it doesn't help you with reading conventionally notated music.

I never got good at bending myself: I can bend the lower draw notes (which are the easiest), but not the higher notes or the blow notes. Even then, when I bend a note, I can't quite make it sound natural, so I prefer to avoid it as much as possible. Then again, bending does have that distinctive country/blues sound, which I've never much been a fan of.

As for slow, sad, country-ish songs to start with, I suggest the music of Stephen Collins Foster: classic songs, very pretty, not too hard to play.
'As per the American Heart Association, the beat of the Bee Gees song "Stayin' Alive" provides an ideal rhythm in terms of beats per minute to use for hands-only CPR. One can also hum Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust".' —Wikipedia
Revolt
Profile Blog Joined January 2007
United States288 Posts
August 21 2011 15:33 GMT
#3
aha.

first tune i played when i got my harmonica was three little birds
A depth of pure blue just to probe curiosity.
TheGlassface
Profile Joined November 2010
United States612 Posts
August 21 2011 16:37 GMT
#4
Been playing for a while.
My best advice is similar to Victor Wooten (sp?)
"Just play"

Seriously, just keep making noise on it until it sounds right. You can read about how to move your tongue and all that but I definitely think it was the best adice I ever saw/read/heard.

As for which kinds of tips? All I can ever think of is go watch some harmonica players play. There's a great concert somewhere of Muddy Waters, along with a bunch of other musicians playing around and since all the action is going on in their mouth...pay attention to the hands. That was a huge leap for me, was when I started cupping correctly and learning how much you can influence the noise with just your hands.

Good luck!
The mystery of life is not a problem to solve, but a reality to experience. **Hang in there STX fans!! Kal Hwaiting!**
Banteng
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States147 Posts
August 21 2011 16:41 GMT
#5
I play guitar and harmonica at the same time. Honestly, it wasn't that hard to learn to learn the harmonica, and you can pick up songs easily by ear. With any song I cover on guitar, I usually add a harmonica bit (provided I have one in the right key >.<), even if the original song does not have it. It shouldn't take you long to learn-- just keep working at it and soon you'll be a harmonica maestro ^^
FFGenerations
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
7088 Posts
August 21 2011 20:30 GMT
#6
thanks for your posts, i will have to come back here when it is not evening/quiet time
ive downloaded some help files and know there are lessons on youtube
Cool BW Music Vid - youtube.com/watch?v=W54nlqJ-Nx8 ~~~~~ ᕤ OYSTERS ᕤ CLAMS ᕤ AND ᕤ CUCKOLDS ᕤ ~~~~~~ ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ PUNCH HIM ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ
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