hohner

Congratulations to the following Global Blues Harmonica Summit improvising video giveaway winners! Paul Arrighi (Hohner CX-12 Chromatic Harmonica); Tina Wisecarver (6-Month Subscription to tomlinharmonicalessons.com); Eli Ariel (6 Month Live Online Recorded Class Membership with Ronnie Shellist); Kamyar Bayat (Hohner Crossover Set: G, A, Bb, C and D); Marc Graci ($75 digital download from Modern Blues Harmonica); Justin Norton (Hohner Special 20 Set: G, A, Bb, C and D); and Daniel Vilaplana (6-Month Subscription at BluesHarmonica.com). Thanks to Hohner Harmonicas for sponsoring this giveaway. continue reading...

Hohner has just released their low series of the Rocket model. Lower keys (below G) have only been available in the Hohner Thunderbird series. Though the Thunderbird series is great, it's also more expensive than standard-keyed models. I haven't seen any price points as of yet on this new model, but it looks like we'll have a low series of harps below the $100 price tag now. Here's a video demonstrating the new model https://youtu.be/0CgLsZ0O7as

Roger "The Archivist" Trobridge (most known for his work with the National Harmonica League in the UK) asked that I put together a radio program based on the series of articles that I wrote for their magazine on playing the blues chromatic. In this program you'll hear George “Harmonica” Smith, Little Walter, William Clarke, Rod Piazza, Rick Estrin, Mark Hummel, Paul deLay, Dennis Gruenling, Mitch Kashmar, Gary Primich, Paul Oscher, Steve Guyger, Lynwood Slim, Kim Wilson and Jean “Toots” Thielemans (my apologizes for the other great players that I didn't have time to include). continue reading...

A BIG announcement has just been made... you can now return defective Hohner Harmonicas at the place of purchase. In the past you would have to take the time and expense of mailing a defective harmonica to Hohner directly for repair or replacement, now you can just return the harmonica with proof of at the store you purchased it from. I recommend you print out the portion of this new Hohner Easy Reeding magazine though, this non-return policy has been around so long that I guaranty you'll have to prove that this is the case. continue reading...

"A Brief History of Harmonicas" from the What You Missed in History Class podcast http://www.missedinhistory.com/podcasts/a-brief-history-of-harmonicas/

Lastly, everything's just easier to play on a custom harmonica. The big one is that bending is easier (draw, blow and overbend) and the middle bends are less airy in tone. When playing a 3" you'll notice that there's an airy quality to the bend... this is normal for all harmonicas, but is greatly diminished with a custom harmonica.

Okay, let's review...

Balanced
Same breath for each reed, making playing across the range of the harmonica effortless

Dynamic Range
The main reason for playing custom harmonicas is so you can play softly, giving you great dynamic range

Longevity continue reading...

Yesterday I gave you two reasons of why custom harmonicas may not be necessary. Here are the reasons why I personally like custom harmonicas…

Balanced
Though construction and quality control is currently better than it's ever been in the harmonica's history... from the factory, for obvious economic reasons, you’ll never reach the level of attention that a customizer will give your harmonicas. Most simply, a harmonica will play more evenly across the entire range of the instrument. This means that it takes the same amount of air pressure to sound hole 1 as it does hole 10. continue reading...

Just released today. Joe Filisko talks about the HOHNER Affiliated Customizers Program https://youtu.be/IkCGb7HXw1A

Just announced from HOHNER Harmonicas today...

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You and your harmonica in the most unusual location!

You and your harmonica – that’s all we want. Be it on a backpack trip through Asia, on your vacation in the Caribbean, or in the middle of a desert. In fact, the more unusual the location is, the better!

What do you get in return? How does 1.000 Euros sound to you? That’s right: We’re giving away 1.000 Euros for the best photo and for the best video.
What are you waiting for?

All you have to do is follow the three steps below: continue reading...

The chromatic harmonica has more moving parts than a diatonic (slide assembly, wind savers, etc.) and is more prone to needing adjustment now and again. If a reed goes bad on a diatonic harmonica we commonly weigh the cost of sending it out for repair, taking the time to learn how to repair them for ourselves or just buying a new one. Chromatic harmonicas are more of an investment and most chromatic players I know do their own repairs (unlike diatonic players... though more are doing it these days). continue reading...