Playing Harmonica

Lukin_oz

Howdy all
Been thinking of trying to learn harmonica to add a bit of colour and soul to some of my songs. Does anyone else hear play and have any comments or advice on playing before i give it a shot? Are they hard instuments to play? If one is playing a song in the key of Em the harmonica must be in Em too?

J.D.

Not hard to play at all as they're in key. But to play it well will take time. Don't expect to be a Blues Traveler after a week.

The harmonica does have to be in key. It'll probably be labled Gmaj, but Gmaj and Emin are the same thing.

bostonlou

i actually got an instructional DVD as a gift ... this should be interesting

Troy

one decent tip for beginners is that a harmonica actually has a few keys you can play it in.

the most basic is first postion and second position.

Second position is what is used to play the blues.

Most harmonicas will be labelled in first and second position.

A harmonica in the key of c in first postion is in the key of g in second position.

I would suggest initially decide to learn to play in either first or second position and go from there. If you want to learn the blues you would be best to learn second position. It is a little more difficult. If you just want to play a few simple tunes and make up some melodies for harmonica solos i would suggest first position as a place to start.