Harp

That old man is rockin' home. :D

Years ago I used to play Blues harp a lot and got pretty good at it. I don't know why I gave it up. I have thought about starting again.

To bend those notes you have to suck in and drop your tongue low in your jaw like you were saying hel-LO. If you ever caught that Seinfeld episode where Jerry makes fun of the noises his girlfriend's stomach makes during the night, that is how you bend notes on harp. :D

When I first picked up a harmonica I had no clue what I was doing. David Harp's Instant Blues Harmonica had me playing quickly. I won't say I was playing good, but it was a great primer lesson. I believe he has a number of other books that get much more in depth. Here is a quick link to Amazon.com for the book I started with.

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Blues-Harmonica-Ed-Improvisation/dp/0918321727/sr=8-2/qid=1161406175/ref=sr_1_2/102-3933299-7393706?ie=UTF8&s=books

When you play the harmonica in cross position, you are playing in the key which is 5 steps up from the key stamped on a diatonic harmonica. 5 half steps. The key you use it in is a fourth up from the key on the harp.

Nope - C goes to G - G is a fifth up from C

Lars

You're right. You play a C harp in the key of G for cross harp. I've got my fourths and fifths inverted.

You're both right.

Most harp players will play in the key a fifth higher than the harp - G for a C harp. That's 'cross-harp' playing, and it's good for blues.

But some will also play a fourth higher - F for a C harp. That's called 'slant harp' playing. Cross harp is more common for blues, but slant harp works too.

If you listen really close, you can tell which one a harp player is using; in either style the b5 is a 'bent' note, but for the b3 it's only 'bent' in cross-harp; in slant harp it's a plain draw note.

I think 2,3, and maybe 4 can be bent while drawing (sucking :p) and 6,7, and 8 can be bent while blowing.

Very helpful "basics" site: http://myquill.cc/

...and of course he knows his harp theory as well... One of these days I will stop being amazed ;)
Thanks for sorting that one out noteboat

Here is the website I use: http://www.harmonicalessons.com . Alas my harp has been neglected of late thanks to busy life. Grrr. :(

Anyhoo, it's a paid website, but the lessons are great and the support via the forum is first class. Dave Gage, the Admin on the site, also offers some great personal support. :)

Harp is frustrating. I've tried about every conceivable motion and I can't get a bend. At all. I've watched videos, read books and used every possible body orifice but no results whatsoever. Tried online lessons with Mp3 examples and couldn't get close. I even sank so low as to tru the cheesy-bend by tilting the harp itself but even that didn't change the pitch. Not even a bit.I can rotate it 45+ degrees and it only gets harder to hit the note, which stills stays exactly in the same pitch.

Bah.

I started with, and recommend, this Jon Gindick book:
Country and Blues Harmonica for the Musically Hopeless
http://www.amazon.com/Country-Blues-Harmonica-Musically-Hopeless/dp/0932592082/sr=1-1/qid=1165592643/ref=sr_1_1/102-5551827-9735359?ie=UTF8&s=books

Very basic but it gets you doing some fun stuff in a hurry.
(E.G. you can get a pretty decent sounding jam just playing 3 blow, 3 draw, 4 blow, 4 draw with any pattern you can come up with.)
Scroll down on the link and you will see some very good info (Cross harp chart, simple song, link to a forum) from the author posted there.

Or you might prefer his more comprehensive and advanced book:
Rock n' Blues Harmonica: A World of Harp Knowledge, Songs, Stories, Lessons, Riffs, Techniques and Audio Index for a New Generation of Harp Players (Includes ... book and 74 minute stereo CD Jamming Buddy)
http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Blues-Harmonica-Techniques-Generation/dp/0930948106/ref=pd_sim_b_1/102-5551827-9735359