C harmonica
Hello everybody !
I just got a blues harp MS-SERIES harmonica, and I'm glad to join the community !
The key of my harmonica is C, and I have started to read and to watch the videos on the website. It is specified that the lessons are designed for an A harmonica, is that a problem ?
Sincerely, Alex
There is a lesson dedicated to new players that only have a C harmonica, due to the fact that many people are recommended to purchase a C harmonica to begin with. Here is the lesson http://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/c_harmonica_intro_lesson
However, I'd still get the A harp. You'll need it anyway as it's one of the most popular harmonica keys for blues (along with G, C, D, Bb and F, which you can pick up one by one as you progress).
Hi Winslow Yerxa, thank you for your both replies !
I already know that a C harmonica will produce different notes as compared to an A harmonica, I have been playing the piano for 13 years before. I was wondering if there were a specific section for C harmonicas. The link that you gave me in your second reply is exactly what I was looking for, thanks a lot ! I am going to check it out, and I will definitely get an A harmonica after. I am looking forward to starting !
Sincerely, Alex
I am very confused about C and A harmonica and I believe somebody here will clarify the topic.
In the notation PDF I found the statement:
"All of my notation (excluding some chromatic harmonica notation) is written as if you are playing on a C Major Harmonica."
In the forum I found many answers from David that suggest that if we want to continue this course we need A harmonica.
These 2 statements are in conflict.
Something more - David insist that tha A harmonica is the most used harmonica, but this is clearly not true - almost all tabs are based on harmonica C, almost all other lessons in the web are based on harmonica C, almost all harmonica in amazon, ebay, local music store, etc are key of C. I spoke with the salesmen - almost all harmonicas that he sell are key of C. So is pretty clear - the most used harmonica is harmonica C major and almost everybody (exept David ofcource) talk about harmonica key of C as great start for play blues.So basically my questions are 3:
Why David notations are based on Harmonica C?
The statement for popularity of Harmonica A is more a opinion as a fact - am I right?
How far can I go with Harmoinica C in this lessons actually? I believe many techniques and best practises are common between different harmoncas. Maybe is a good idea for every lesson to be pointed clearly for which harmonicas they are applicable.
I see David is a great proffesional with great presentation and teaching skills and probably there is a very good reason to advocate for Harmonica key of A, but the situation for newbie like me is very confusing.
There's no conflict, despite how it looks.
Writing as if the harmonica is in C despite tha actual key makes reading easier. This is also done with saxophones, trumpets, clarinets, and French horns, by the way. They are being treated as transposing instruments.
Writing for transposing instruments makes reading easier for the player.
Let's say you pick up a C harmonica and play "Mary had a Little Lamb" starting on Hole 5 blow.
Now, pick up an A harmonica and do exactly what you just did on the C harp - same holes, same breaths, same sequence of actions.
The tune will come out as "Mary Had a Little Lamb" in both cases, but the actual notes will be entirely different.
When you go to write those different notes in musical notation, they'd be on different lines and spaces. So now the same holes and breaths are in different places on the musical staff.
if you were to follow that practice, you'd have to learn to read the same tune 12 different ways (on 12 different keys) even though the actions are exactly the same in all cases.
So why not just write for all keys of harp as if they were all C harps? That way you can always know that, for instance, Draw 2 is always on the 2nd line, Draw 3 on the 3 line, Draw 4 on the 4th line, and Draw 5 on the 5th line - pretty neat correspondence, eh?
Does this help?
The white keys on the piano play the C major scale.
For this reason, C is widely considered to be the most easy key in music. hence all the C harps. That's the reason I wrote Harmonica For Dummies for C-harp - it's the key of harmonica someone is most likely to already have and is also the easiest to get.
But for blues that's not true. The popular keys are the easy keys on the guitar, the ones that have an open string as the home note - E (the lowest note), A, D, and G.
The most popular key of harmonica for playing in E is the A harmonica, because the bendable draw notes in Holes 1 through 4 play an E chord. You can also play it in A, although that's more often done using a D harp.
OK. So I will start with C harmonica and will follow every lesson that C harmonica is applicable (I believe most of the lessons from 1 to 3 level are OK (I don't know about the others)). When I am ready I will buy A harmonica for the blues specifics :)
Thank you for the answer.
A C harp plays different notes from an A harp. If you try to play the holes and breaths specified in the lessons, your C harp will pproduce different sounds that wont match what you hear in the video. This can be very confusing. So get an A harp to follow any videos that call for an A harp.