Beginners Corner

Harps, instruction books, tapes, videos, CD's, tab, and more!
Harmonica Instruction
Jon Gindick is of the most creative teachers in the harmonica world. His book/CD Rock n' Blues Harmonica is a great example of his work. Lessons are taught over a constant blues jam on the 74 minute CD, which makes learning fun and easy. All the important harmonica techniques are covered. If you are a frustrated beginner this refreshing package will have you blowin' the blues in no time!
One of my other favorite book/CD's is Mel Bay's Complete Classic Chicago Blues Harp by David Barrett. This progressive lesson book takes you through the basics of blowing and drawing single notes, to the advanced techniques used by professional players, such as note bending, tongue blocking, playing positions, and the challenging bent vibrato. Lots of great 12 bar blues exercises, and 2 classic blues songs.

Blues Harps

My harp of choice is the Suzuki Promaster, it's very responsive, great tone and it's assembled with screws making it easy to take apart for reed gap adjustments, ect.. The Hohner Marine Band has a distinctive tone, but because of its' soft pearwood comb and nailed construction, it's probably not the best choice for a beginner. Hohner has introduced the Hohner Marine Band Deluxe which is assembled with screws instead of nails, and the pearwood comb is sealed to prevent swelling. Hope to try one soon. Below is a list of some other harmonicas I would recommend to anyone interested in learning to play the blues. They are all good quality instruments you will never outgrow.

Take your pick!

Hohner Special 20
Hohner Golden Melody
Hohner Big River Harp
Lee Oskar
Suzuki Bluesmaster
Bushman Delta Frost

Chromatic Harmonicas
I just bought a new chromatic harmonica the Hohner CX-12, what I love most about this harp is that the CX-12's four major parts can be disassembled and reassembled in seconds, without the use of tools. It's so easy to clean and has a great jazzy tone. I prefer it over my Hohner 270 Super Chromonica. If you're thinking about buying a chrom and you don't want to spend a lot, there's a harp similar in design to the CX12 called the Golden Butterfly WH12 it's received some good reviews and it's available at a fraction of the price. Chroms are wonderful for playing melodies, lately I've been spending more time on my CX12 then my blues harps. I think every harp player should try one.

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