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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Other string instruments → Anyone play harmonica?
I love the sound of harmonica and guitar and wondered if any one else plays.
Ya know what Steel, I bought a Marineband something or other last year, had a couple of blows and stuck it in the drawer. An impulse buy. Since then I've bought three guitars and a uke. I think my wife wishes I had stuck with the harmonica obsession as it takes up a lot less space!
Love me Kala tenor uke and now I am after getting a Kala baritone. We only have a one bed bungalow so very little space, mores the pity.
Back to the harmonica. To me, it sounded a bit off key and it's too much aggro to try and tune it up but I agree, when played properly they sound great, huh?
Also love the sound of bagpipes, when played in a huge pipes and drums band. Sometimes they practically move me close to tears I have to admit. Won't be buying a set of them though!
SS.. I can only play tunes like I've Been Working on the Railroad and Oh Suzanna type stuff.. but one of the guys in the band plays a mean harp.. adds alot to our gigs - especially the Neil Young covers we do.. its alot tougher than one would think.
Deb
Took a couple harmonica lessons. All the notes aren't on it. That drives me nuts. Chromatic harmonicas aren't practical either.
toots
Yeah, I "play" harmonica. I attended the Neil Young/ Bob Dylan School of harmonica if that tells you where I'm at with this thing..
I play a few instruments and have just started learning harmonica. There are some good online tutorials on youtube, and now that people have their own channels, it's easy to go through the 3-4 minute "lessons" in the right order.
I bought a Hohner Special 20 in C, which I think is a good one to start with (in case it gets put in a drawer!)
BTW this is my first post on this forum....
Have been enjoying browsing all the songbooks on here. It's a brilliant site!
I been playing a harp for many years still love it 
i had a couple of good (not great) mouth organs in my early years when i used to play everything in discord including vocals (probably still do) but i didn't realise till many years later why. it's because mouth organs, harmonica's and "harps" come in different keys. that explains a lot as everything i used to play back in the 60's and 70's was in E!!!!
by the way, something that has bothered me for a while. why is it that you colonials call a harmonica a "harp"?
crisps = chips. and chips french fries? bet it's something to do with darwin's theory of evolution. if it wasn't for tv and the interweb, i bet we'd be totally different species by now...lol
phill
I been blowin' harp for 48 years now and still love it. Its nice played in a relaxed setting but its awesome played with a full blown blues band. I also love to play mess around with it along with a guitar or uke. Paul Butterfield would be one of my main influences, my grandad is the other as he first taught me all them years ago.
dont know why but we kicked your butts in the Revolution so we can call it whatever we want 
by the way, something that has bothered me for a while. why is it that you colonials call a harmonica a "harp"?
Just played Harp in my first gig. I was scared stiff, but our second performance went pretty well. I'm still pretty green at it, and playing on stage is way different then playing in the basement.
I've been tooting for a number of years, but only got serious with it the last two years. Like "baribari" said, there are a lot of good youtube tutorials. These have been real helpful to me.
ok russel, let's get technical. a harp is a stringed instrument of various types such as orchestral, Irish there's even a Welsh harp. 2000 years ago the bards that wandered around Britain used harps to pass on news or accompany their songs/verse.
a harmonica is blown and operates in a similar fashion to a church or bellows organ ergo; it's other name "mouth organ"
you may have managed to remove the English military out of the US, but then again your army consisted mainly of immigrants from the UK anyway, people who wanted to get away from the "red coats" and their tyranical king and government.
the US and UK, 2 countries separated by one language. what does it matter anyway, we'll all be speaking Chinese soon!
phill
The first harmonicas were called Aeolina - which refers to a harp
whose strings are excited to sound by wind. Here the reeds replace
strings. Other early harmonicas were called "mundharfe" - mouth-harp.
I'm not sure when the harmonica name was first borrowed to refer to
our instrument.
I remember Andy Griffith in one of his TV shows calling it a French Harp. Don't know why.
Joe
Ha Ha Ha ,
I'm from the " Billy Joel " school ... In fact the only tune I play on the harp , is " Piano Man " ... Love that tune ... Back in the early seventies , I used to hang out in a lttle bar not far from where I lived and every time that song came on the jukebox , for some reason , the place would go all quiet with everyone listening ... Probably the reason that I still love that tune ... I remember a while back , I was playing a solo at the VFW here in town ... I did that tune and my wife happened to be by the bar , and when I finished she overheard some guy say , " I love that tune and the harmonica , did he really just do that with a guitar ?? " L O L ...
Jerry
i play the guitar quiet often than not. but ukulele is my favorite instrument
Phil ...
My dear wife of 34 yrs is from England, and we've had fun over the years learning one another's vocabulary. We had to alter her phrase "Stick it in your boot" to keep someone from thinking she was telling them off in a rude fashion.
Back to the harmonica, I had some brief adventures with a little Hohner I've got here, and never managed to control the drool successfully. I remember seeing Johnny Cash on TV years ago playing "Orange Blossom Special", and he had three of them in between his fingers to deal with the key changes ... pretty amazing stuff.
hi TF, "stick it in your boot"? never heard that one before, i cant imagine what that means in yankese, but a boot here is what you wear on your feet and it's the bit that sticks out the back of your car what you call "the trunk". also noticeable differences; US "the hood" = UK the bonnet. US "jello" = UK jelly. US jelly UK = jam. fortunately, beer is the same in both countries.
also; German = bier
Turkish = bira
Spanish = cervesa ? what?
... fortunately, beer is the same in both countries...
A British acquaintance of mine would disagree with you. He thinks American beer is served too "cold and fizzy".
Phill Williams wrote:... fortunately, beer is the same in both countries...
A British acquaintance of mine would disagree with you. He thinks American beer is served too "cold and fizzy".
jets,that is what a friend of mine told me also and they drink it mostly at room temp,I guess we all have our own ways but I will stick too my ice cold beer. I have also noticed that most of the english and irish movies show the actors getting dark ale or beer,but those are movies,maybe on of the U.K. members will let us know.
Oh wow... I just now noticed this. yes I play harmonica, if fact it's my primary instrument.
I kinda suck at guitar, but I work at it any way.
I just enjoy music.
Oh wow... I just now noticed this. yes I play harmonica, if fact it's my primary instrument.
I kinda suck at guitar, but I work at it any way.
I just enjoy music.
My friend, your memory is getting as bad as mine! You posted to this thread back in 2011.... but it wasn't just yesterday, so we all will understand.
Keep puffing on those reeds, and don't give up on the strings. Making music is something to enjoy for life (even if we can't always remember all the lyrics)!!
I tried it when I was a teenager back in the 60s when I followed Bob Dylan. I never gave it a chance though. Wish I did
Got myself a Hohner C-harp last Christmas. Need to spend more time with it but I can pull of a pretty consistent Piano Man intro.
i never realised until recently that "harps, harmonicas, mouth organs" are made in specific keys. a guy asked if he could come on stage and give a tune, then told me it had to be in "G" as that was the only harp he had on him at the time! he explained later. so now i know.
oh and what you call beer we call lager and is served cold. the dark stuff you refer to can be Guiness or dark ale, bitter which is made with hops is usually lighter, but still served cooled. i've tried Coors, Budwiser and Labatts and i'm afraid i was not impressed, not with the fizz but the taste....sorry
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Other string instruments → Anyone play harmonica?
