[HN Gopher] A gang of harmonica geeks saved the soul of the blue...
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A gang of harmonica geeks saved the soul of the blues harp (2013)
Author : eversowhatev
Score : 37 points
Date : 2024-08-09 18:48 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.collectorsweekly.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.collectorsweekly.com)
| skybrian wrote:
| This is great. I wish someone would put a similar amount of work
| into making melodicas better. (Reed plates in Yamaha's can't be
| replaced.)
| lagniappe wrote:
| I love the melodica sound, reminds me of Augustus Pablo every
| time
| jedimastert wrote:
| I think Suzuki and Hohner make melodicas too. I don't know if
| any of them have replaceable reed plates though.
| lagniappe wrote:
| Yall ever listen to zydeco? Can I take you on a lil journey real
| fast? If you're into harmonicas, and you like that blues sound,
| zydeco is a danceable higher paced style of music i'd love to
| share with you. Harmonica gets my toes tappin and two steppin in
| no time.
|
| https://youtu.be/nrLJg6LFlxE
|
| https://youtu.be/Gap7ynbggOA
|
| https://youtu.be/859-k6jWCFo
|
| https://youtu.be/cI2sDO423EA
| egypturnash wrote:
| user name totally checks out
| michelpp wrote:
| An inexpensive 10 hole Hohner harmonica is a fun and easy way to
| learn a bit about music and self expression. when I was 10 my
| parents got me a book by Klutz Press, "Country and Blues
| Harmonica for the Musically Hopeless" that came with a cheap
| plastic Hohner harp and a cassette tape where the author Jon
| Gindick walks you through everything you need to know to get
| started on straight and cross harp. The whole tape is now on
| YouTube!
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fayFSiceZA
|
| The hardest skill to master on a harmonica is playing one note at
| a time without bleeding into the holes on either side. Once you
| master single hole pucker, introducing the side holes adds more
| texture and harmony at your discretion. The second hardest skill
| is "bending" by changing your embouchure and air stream flow to
| bend the pitch of the reed. You can't really effectively bend
| until you single note pucker since the reeds bend at different
| rates which only sounds good when you've mastered both skills
| which are key to a good cross harp player.
|
| If you decide to get a harp for starters the plastic Hohner
| Marine Band harp is super tough and forgiving. The more expensive
| wooden comb blues harps sound amazing but they take some skill to
| master.
|
| Diatonic harmonicas are keyed, where the "C" note (4th hole blow)
| can be in any whole tone, so some transpositional thinking is
| required once you get good. If you want to play cross harp (aka
| "blues") with a guitar player typically playing in the key of E,
| then get a harp keyed in A.
| AlbertCory wrote:
| I've actually been picking up the harp again, after decades of
| not doing it, since my college roommate is into it and I'm
| seeing him in a few weeks.
|
| That "single-note pucker" is something I never even thought
| about. I use tongue-blocking, and I can still bend a note. I
| should note here that, at the time, I didn't even know there
| WAS another way to get a single note, so that's what I did.
|
| I'm not saying you're wrong. I'll just note that he says he
| can't quite master bending, and he's doing the pucker.
| musha68k wrote:
| Also a shoutout to Doc Gussow's resources in case anyone wants
| to get into harmonica blues:
|
| https://www.modernbluesharmonica.com/home.html
|
| https://www.youtube.com/@gussowsclassicbluesharmoni2726
| mprovost wrote:
| There are photos of Bob Dylan dipping his harmonica in a glass of
| (supposedly) whiskey before playing. I've always heard that it
| would make the wooden comb in the old Marine Band swell which
| made it airtight and produced a better sound.
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