4 replies to this topic

[Belletrist]

I love birthdays!
I don't think I'll ever put this thing down - it's a Hohner Special 20 in C. Marine Band, which means nothing to me, but I thought it'd mean something to you guys.
I've just been playing with it, I can sort of bend the low notes, haven't managed to get the high ones yet. So I was wondering if you guys had any hints, tips, suggestions or something of the like you'd like to share with me to help me get started? I can sort of play Mary Had a Little Lamb.
Any help would be appriciated.

[bluesharp]

I've got one of these harps and so did Elwood!!

Jim's the guy to ask and ElwoodBlues,they know what they're talking about!!

Took me awhile to get the hang of bending,but hang in there!!

[FatJim]

Special 20 in C Excellent choice!

The perfect harp to learn on! Loads of Pro players use a Special 20 it's a good quality handmade harmonica. A lot of folks start out by choosing a real cheapo nasty piece of *@$% and then find they can't do half the stuff they want to when they start getting good. If you can bend the low notes that's good - don't worry about the high notes too much yet, most blues is played right at the bottom end - holes 1-4. The high notes bend by blowing not sucking. You'll get there eventually.

The key to playing blues is learning about positions. If you're at all musically trained, you might know about modes. Well harp positions more or less equate to modes. The first three positions are the most common in popular music.

First position is when the scale you use on the harmonica is the same as the key of the music. In your case you play a C major tune on your C major harp. In formal musical terms this is called Ionian mode. It's great for simple tunes and folk music. Dylan plays mostly in first position or 'straight harp' as it is also known

Second position is when you play music in the key that is 5 half steps below the harp key i.e.
Your harp key - C Maj
C --(minus 1/2 step)--> B
B --(minus 1/2 step)--> Bb
Bb --(minus 1/2 step)--> A
A --(minus 1/2 step)--> Ab
Ab --(minus 1/2 step)--> G
The music key - G Maj

So you're playing a G major scale on your C harp. Actually the 7th note of this G major scale is flat (a blue note) Formally this is called Mixolydian mode. Harpdogs call it cross harp.http://www.bluesbrotherscentral.com/forum2/public/style_emoticons/default/icon_cool.gif

Third position is when you play music in the minor key that is 10 half steps below the harp's key (it's crossed cross harp!) It's easier to think 1 whole tone above. So with a C Major harp, you can play in D minor. Musos call this Lydian mode. Bluesmen call it Slant harp or more usually just 3rd.

Don't worry if you're not familiar with music terms! Just remember with your C harp...

1st position C Major
2nd position G Major (with a flattened 7th)
3rd position D minor

The one to really concentrate on is cross harp. This uses mainly draw notes at the lower end of the harps range, ideal for all those soulful bends. Find some blues tracks you like in the key of G and just jam along. I swear it's the best way to learn...

Awww... what the hell...

I hadn't finished this yet, but I'll post the unfinished version for you to play with (you'll need flash player) I hope it works for you OK. Nag me and I'll finish it!:wink:

right-click and save it to your hard drive. Double click to play along

[Belletrist]

Well, we're currently very low on bandwith, so I'll dowload it when we get more on Monday. Still, that was really helpful. I appriciate the time you took to write that up for me :D
I've been fiddling more, I can now play "The Rose" - not well, but almost.

[bluesharp]

I'm gonna listen to that when the house is quiet,thanks Jim!!