1 score (74 pages): 30 cmStaff and numeric notationAlabama bound - Alabama jubilee - Alexander's ragtime band - Ballin' the jack - Billy (I always dream of Bill) - Beale Street blues - Bill Bailey, won't you please come home? - Because - By the light of the silvery moon - China, my Chinatown - Dear old girl - Fascination - For me and my gal - Give my regards to Broadway - Gypsy love song - Hello! My baby - I wish I had a girl - Ida, sweet as apple cider - In my merry Oldsmobile - In the good old summertime - JA-DA - Johnson rag - Let me call you sweetheart - M-O-T-H-E-R - Missouri waltz - Nola - My melancholy baby - Oh, Johnny! You beautiful doll - Paper doll - Peg o' my heart - Poor butterfly - Pretty baby - Rose room - Ross of Picardy - Row, row, row - Saint Louis blues - Smile, smile, smile! - Spaghetti rag - Somebody stole my gal - Sweet Adeline - The band played on - The Darktown Strutters' Ball - The trail of the lonesome pine - There's a broken heart for every light on Broadway - They didn't believe me - Tiger rag - Wait till the sun shines, Nellie - Yankee Doodle boy - What do you want to make those eyes at me for? - You made me love you (I didn't want to do it) - While strolling thru the park one dayNotesObscured text on back cover due to sticker.
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Oct 16, 2014 Comment: Get fast and secure shipping knowing your purchase helps empower our community to transform thier lives through work. There might be writing in the margins, possibly underlining and highlighting of text, but no missing pages or anything that would compromise the legibility or understanding of the text. By mike Toots Thielemans (born in Belgium on April 29, 1922) is arguably one the greatest harmonica players of all time. Credited with playing some of the.
Hey gang, my kids have been taking Harmonica lessons from a GREAT teacher who unfortunately is no longer available. He suggested that anyone with any musical experience and a basic understanding of the Harmonica could teach them what he was teaching them. That being said, I am considering teaching them myself.My father in law being the gracious benefactor that he is is also willing to help with the purchase of a full range of harps as well!I know only a very very little about the Harmonica but am willing to learn more to keep one step ahead of them so I can teach them. Can anyone recommend some good resources? Etc????Many thanks in advance! Are you playing cross harp or straight harp, there is a difference in the two and you use different harps to play in the same key.
A G harp to play in G for straight harp and a G harp to play in D for cross harp. Straight harp is 1 blow 4 draw and 5 blow, cross is 1 draw, 4 blow and 5 draw. You can only bend the draw notes so cross is used for blues, straight is more melody oriented so works well for folk styles.
Playing along with some one on guitar slowly and experiment, it's fun and you can learn quite a lot. Find your scales with the root straight hole 4 blow is the start of the scale, cross use hole 2 draw to start and don't worry about a scale just improvise.
I teach harmonica from time to time; here are my suggestions:1. The basic harmonica is the ten-hole diatonic, which comes in a variety of keys. 'Diatonic' means it doesn't have all the notes of, say, a mandolin or a piano. This is the one I would recommend starting with.2.
There are many acceptable Asian-made harmonicas that are inexpensive. Here, for example, is a 'Jambone' (for seven bucks at Musician's Friend. I have found acceptable student instruments for as low as $2-3.50.
The Hohner harmonicas on which I learned - Marine Band, Blues Harp, Special 20, Golden Melody - are now all $30 and up; you can spend that much if you want, but it's not necessary.3. You can download a Harmonica For Dummies e-book (for free. I've not used this particular teaching method (I think the one I used to use for teaching was something like 'Harmonica For the Musically Hopeless'), but from my experience, most methods are pretty similar.4. Starting to play the harmonica, you usually learn 'straight harp' or 'first position.' This involves playing melodies in the key that's written on the harp: e.g., you buy a ten-hole diatonic harmonica in the key of C, you learn to play Mary Had a Little Lamb (my favorite beginner song), the C major scale, etc., in the key of C.5.
If you progress to playing 'blues harp,' you learn how to play in the '5 chord' or dominant chord, which in the case of a C harmonica, would be the key of G.6. Advanced techniques, like tremolo, vibrato, note bending etc., come with further experience and practice.I've probably played and recorded with harmonica more than any other single instrument, which is weird considering my journeyman level technique. It's a great instrument, not hard to learn, portable and user-friendly. As a teen, I used Hohner Marine Band and Blues Harps in various keys, as well as a nice chromatic.
The chromatic harmonica is fine if you intend to use both hands with your harp. I preferred the blues harp around my neck while accompanying with guitar.That was a good long while ago, and recently I decided to use the harmonica again, and only had a couple harps left from the good old days, so I bought a full set of the plastic Hohner Piedmont Blues harps for about $20.00 from Best Buy. You can get such a set for $20 - $30 around the web, and I would think they'd be fine for beginners to learn with.150314. I bought one of those multi-sets in the zippered case a while back and found to my disappointment that several of the harmonicas simply would not blow at all. Maybe I just got a bad batch, but overall they just seemed very cheezily constructed.
Then again, they're cheap ($20) so if only 5 out of 7 function you're still getting a good deal.Luckily, many years ago I inherited a wonderful Hohner Comet from a relative and it's a joy to play around with. Looks fantastic too. I believe it's chromatic but I don't know that much about harmonicas (it doesn't have the little plunger button.) Maybe allenhopkins can opine as to its utility or lack thereof. Not sure if they still make 'em.150315. Thanks everyone! I'm not as concerned yet about which harps to get.
I'm pretty sure I'll end up with a set of Hohners. I like the Marine Band's but I have a Lee Oskar C harp that I like. I'm mostly wanting to know about good teaching resources, so that I can stay one step ahead of the girls. Allen I really appreciate your in depth response, it was very helpful, as were all of your responses.I definitely agree in the simplicity, portability etc of the harmonica and think it will be great for the girls. One is already a guitarist and another is a violinist, the third is only playing the harmonica, but I'm thinking of introducing her to the Uke eventually. Haven't seen them mentioned so I will do so. The last five harps I have purchase have been Suzuki.
The Bluesmaster and Harpmaster are the same pricepoint as the Hohner Special 20. I feel the build quality and consistency of the Suzuki models (hand made and tuned in Japan) surpasses those currently being built by Hohner and certainly Lee Oskar.
I've never had to tune a Suzuki out of the box. I gave up on Lee Oskar long ago. Every Lee Oskar I've purchased required excessive work out of the box to make them play and I had one I just could not make playable at all. I still like Hohners, but usually need to do a little tweaking to get them up to spec.There are several harmonica forums you can Google that have all the info you will ever need. Petrus- that Comet is not chromatic.
They have doubled rows of holes because they are octave harmonicas. You play them just like a diatonic but each note is doubled on the octave. Like playing 2 harmonicas at the same time, or sort of like a 12 string guitar in a way. The double sided ones like yours can be flipped for 2 different keys in one instrument.
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C and G are the usual combination I believe, but there may be others I am not aware of. Keys would be stamped into the metal of the top plate.
That is over 200 dollars brand new.I had a true chromatic many years ago and found mine (a high quality Hohner) very problematic. You see, in order to get two chromatic notes on a single hole, there are little flaps made of very thin plastic attached to the reed plates. When you blow, or draw, the plastic flaps are designed to close against the reed you are not playing. Eventually, from the fatigue caused by the constant flexing, the plastic flaps eventually break and fall out. Then, without the flaps, you get both notes simultaneously, usually a very unpleasant discordant half step apart.
I found web sites with directions on how to repair this problem but was not successful and I finally came to the conclusion that it was toast. It's a lot of money to spend on something that is doomed by its very design to self destruct sooner or later.Harmonicas need to be replaced now and then as well, making that $30+ even more painful!One reason I now use the Lee Oskars: you can replace the reed plates (without buying a whole new instrument.Saves you about 50% of the price.When I started playing harmonica 50± years ago, Hohner Marine Bands were $3, Blues Harps $3.25. Of course, there's inflation to be figured in, but using the on-line calculator, the Marine Bands should cost $23, not $43. Plus I think Hohner's making them in Asia; you pay extra for a German-made harmonica.
Exchange rates, maybe?The Lee Oskars are also Asian-made, but they seem pretty good quality, and I've got a stock of key-of-D reed plates, since I wear out my D harps on a regular basis. Elderly has several Harp tab books that are excellant.
I'm currently going through a 'fiddle tunes book. Excellant but not for beginners.I recently pulled the trigger on a Hohner Crossover in A and a Seydel 1847 in C. Now I can't wait to wear out my others to justify more 1847s.
The initial cost should'nt scare you as they last so much longer but once played in thry sound heavenly.I still have'nt tried a Special 20 but IMO the Marine Band is THE starting point to work through the basics and the Blues Harp a great next step for that bending. I'm realizing something that may not have been already communicated. My girls have already been taking lessons so all of them already have Harmonicas. Each has some versions or another of a Hohner C harp, one of my daughters also has G and F harps as well. I'm not concerned about which harps they get since they already have them.
I, myself need a set to learn on in order to teach them, and I would like something decent but not too terribly spendy.Thanks for all the recommendations on books and such! I was looking at the partial sets of Hohners. Amazon has a set of 5 Marine Bands or 5 Special 20's with a case in the $175 range. Obviously it's a savings over buying them piece meal.
Any thoughts? What is the difference in the 2? I'm not so interested in blues as I am in playing stuff like I do on my mando; a lot of Old time, Irish and some BG.
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Suggestions?The main difference between Marine Band and Special 20 is that the 'comb,' the perforated central part to which the reed plates are attached, then covered with the two outside plates, is made of different materials in each model (at least it was when I was still buying Hohners). In the Marine Band it's wooden, in the Special 20 plastic.I would recommend plastic (Special 20), because its comb doesn't absorb moisture from your saliva. The moisture can cause the wooden 'dividers' between the holes to swell just a bit, which makes corners protrude. This can be uncomfortable as you slide the harmonica back and forth across your lips - I once likened it to 'kissing a wood rasp,' which is a bit extreme, but I've experienced some sharp corners against my lips from wooden combs, on the Marine Band and Blues Harp. (Parenthetically, the Lee Oskars I'm using now have plastic combs.)With regard to your 'needing a set to teach your daughters, something decent but not terribly spendy,' the real question is, how serious are you about playing harmonica?
Do you need a performance-quality instrument, or just one to give a lesson now and then? You can get a set of seven student-quality Hohner Blues Band harps (for 40 bucks. If I were just going get a set for occasional play and teaching - you say you don't yet play yourself, but want to learn in order to teach your kids - I'd spend the lesser amount, see if I wanted to 'get serious' on harmonica, and, if so, start investing in better instruments.If you want to go with the better-quality Hohners, I'd get the Special 20's, but perhaps just individual instruments in the keys your daughters have, rather than a whole set. Not to discourage you from 'going first class,' but if you're playing 'old time, Irish and BG,' you won't get much use out that E harmonica. Thanks Allen, ever since the girls started playing them and I started noodling with one, I've been considering getting more serious about playing them. Given the opportunity to use it as a teaching experience for the girls, it seems like all the more reason to actually GET serious.
On top of that, my father in law is offering to foot the expense of the gear. All of that is to say, I think it might be worth my while to 'go all out'. But within reason of course. If they are good quality instruments (that will last and stand the tests of time) and the set of 5 for $180 is a decent price that he is ok with spending, it seems all the more reasonable to me. I am also of course planning to consult with their former teacher.
Just an update on where I'm at on this:First of all, thanks so much everyone for all the advice.So here is the status. I had a nice long chat with the guy who was teaching the girls previously and he gave me some recommendations on direction and teaching strategy etc. He also said that any harmonica that costed in the $20 and under range would not be satisfactory and also like some of you said that harps (like the Marine Bands) with a wooden comb would swell and be uncomfortable to play. He said that anything he spent $30 on up was worthwhile so I decided that it would be best if I tried out a few different kinds of harps to see what I liked rather than buying a whole set of something that I had not tried.
Since I already had a Lee Oskar C harp, he recommended also getting G, D, and E harps too. So I have ordered from Amazon a Special 20 In G, a Golden Melody in E (one of my daughters has one of these) and a Big River in D. Also ordered a case to carry all of them plus 3 more to be determined in the future. I also ordered a copy of Harmonica for Dummies as well. I'll do my best to keep you all updated.Thanks again!
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