18 replies to this topic

[Soul Man Sam]

Would a Hohner "Blues band" be a good harp for a beginner? I'm kinda new to all harps in general so it would be nice to hear some things on what one would be good for beginners ect.

[TakkunEG]

I have one of those. What little I was able to ever play on it sounded okay.

[Soul Man Sam]

Thanks takkuneg

[Cropper Classic]

As a beginner, I think any simple harp is o.k. to learn on, just make sure it is a common key.

[Soul Man Sam]

Would a common key be like "C"?

[ChAnOoD_bLuEs]

"C" is almost the key everybody buy when he´s trying to play the harmonica.

The Hohner model you use is fine. Hohner harmonicas are nice, but after a few problems with some models (Pro Harps) I changed to Lee Oskar´s.

[Soul Man Sam]

I havent bought it yet but I was wondering if there is any ones that would be good for a beginner and one that sounds like Elwoods since a friend and I are starting a tribute band. We think we have a name but it would also be nice to get some feed back on the name we made too "Rubber Biscut Society". I know its different but I kinda like it.

[ChAnOoD_bLuEs]

Good luck with the tribute! If you wanna sound like Elwood, maybe you would like to buy the Special 20 harp by Hohner. It´s the same model of Elwood.

[Soul Man Sam]

Oh sweet. Thanks alot ChAnOoD. Do you happen to know the price range on these?

[Dauber]

I agree on the Special 20. They're really easy to bend notes on (although I'm desperately trying to hole #2 down a whole step on most of my harps; I can only do that on my E harp...), and they have plastic combs that don't have the moisture problem the standard Marine Bands do.

A standard ten-hole diatonic harmonica will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $25. I've found that the best deals are actually on amazon.com

[Soul Man Sam]

Thank you very much Dauber, this will really help me with my decision.

[Soul Man Sam]

Now I know thatsome songs use different keys of harps but do you think If I bought a Hohner special 20Marine Band that it would be ok for most of the songs the Blues Brothers Play?
The harp would be a "C"

[Dauber]

Depends on the song! Generally, blues harps (that is, ten-hole diatonics such as the Marine Band, Special 20, Golden Melody, Blues Band, etc.) can only play two chords, and a C harp can play a C chord (blow) and a G chord (draw). And since standard 12-bar blues uses mostly the I chord and the IV chord, the C harmonica would be best suited for tunes that are in the key of G -- as a standard blues tune in the key of G uses nothing but Gs and Cs, except one or two bars of D7 (the V chord, or more accurately, the V7 chord)...and as you may have gathered, when playing blues harp, you'll most likely be drawing more than blowing.

So...that C harp would be good for any BB song in the key of G. Can't think of which ones are in G right now, though. I can tell you off the top of my head that if you wanted to play the licks from Jonathan Edwards' "Shanty," that C harp will come in handy! [pre-edit: WAIT! "I Don't Know" is in G!]

If you're looking to play harmonica with, say, "Sweet Home Chicago" and "(I Got Everything I Need) Almost," both of which are in E, you'll want an A harp.

"Hey Bartender" is in C, best suited for an F harp.

"Messin' With The Kid," which is in Bb, would require an Eb harp.

I know, it sounds odd that to play in a certain key, you'd use a harmonica in ANOTHER key (playing the harmonicas as described above is called "second position" or "cross-harp")...but when the diatonic harmonica was invented back in the 1800s, it wasn't expected that they'd be popular in 12-bar blues decades in the future.

Oh...and about 95% of the stuff I've posted in this forum...I never would have known only three short months ago!

[Soul Man Sam]

Wow, well from what I gathered from that I never woulda known that you only learned this stuff about 3 months ago! Thanks again for the info I will surely put it to good use.

[ChAnOoD_bLuEs]

If you want a list of the BB songs and harp keys check this forum, I made a list with the harps of all the songs. It will help...

[Scott]

If somebody can find that list, I'd like to sticky it.

[Cropper Classic]

ChAnOoD_bLuEs said:

If you want a list of the BB songs and harp keys check this forum, I made a list with the harps of all the songs. It will help...

I was going to say that I know there is a list here somewhere of the keys......

[Cropper Classic]

Old school post!

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4th Nov 2004, 08:12 AM #4 ChAnOoD_bLuEs
Senior Member


http://www.bluesbrotherscentral.com/forum/image.php?u=401&dateline=2006

Join Date: Apr 2004
Country: Spain
Posts: 768



Almost in E-------------Harp in A
I don?t know G-----------------C
B movie E-----------------------A
Hey Bartender C----------------F
Gimme Some Lovin E----------A
Green Onions F
Flip Flop & Fly Bb?-------------Eb
Born In Chicago (BB2K) A-----D
Harmonica Musings------------D
Cheaper to Keep Her Bb-------Eb
Lookin?for a Fox C#-----------F#
Can?t Turn you Loose C-------F
Maybe I?m Wrong G-----------C
Turn On Your LoveLight E------A
New Orleans D------------------G
Messin?With The Kid B---------E

[Dauber]

Something just occurred to me...."Riot In Cell Block #9" and "Hey Bartender" are both in C, but I think they throw in some minors here and there...some of the notes Jake sings are Eb's and Bb's in the latter, and a lot of Bb's in the former...if that's the case, a Bb harp might actually be in order for that...I think some of the notes Elwood blows are only available on Bb harps (without some severe note-bending, at least), and also, my instructor uses a Bb harp in third position on a Bob Seger song they do that I know is in C minor....