D-harmonica for beginners?
Hi! I have signed up for the first 1 month at this sight. I am on a long journey in asia and I brought a D harmonica. I have a limiter possibility to find and Carey more then the one harmonica I have with me. On lever one you want me to use an A harmonica...I have no possibility to that. Where can I start playing and learning D harmonica and if I like it later. Then I can buy an A harmonica and go back. So where can I start as a D harmonica player?
Hi David, I`m in a similar position. I bought a C Harmonica and was hoping to access the online lessons with that. Are we expected to have a full set of different harmonicas to do the course?
Hi David, I`m in a similar position. I bought a C Harmonica and was hoping to access the online lessons with that. Are we expected to have a full set of different harmonicas to do the course?
Welcome to the site. There is an intro lesson for those with only the C Harmonica, and it's found here http://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/c_harmonica_intro_lesson. After this lesson, if you decide to continue, you'll need to pick up an A Harmonica. You'll only need the A harmonica for quite a while. Best wishes on your studies.
Could I suggest that it`s a bit disingenuous to offer free online lessons on the packaging only to reveal that there aren`t actually any lessons (or one only) for the instrument purchased? Would you be willing to offer a free/discounted A Harmonica in order to keep up with the promise offered? I don`t mean to be rude but I am genuinely dissapointed. The reason I chose this product rather than a considerably cheaper one next to it on the shelf was the lessons offered and I simply can`t afford to pay out another £35 just to be able to follow the lesson plan I was promised with purchase already. Thanks
I'll put this out there for you guys. I'm a total newb and I have a c harp ( I LOVE IT) a G harp ( I LOVE IT) and an A harp ( I HATE IT ).
So guess what, I NEVER play my A harp in the lessons here or otherwise (I'm going to buy another A harp from a different company eventually but for now meh ). When David tells you to use an A harp it's because that harp is what's going to be most common when you start playing with other ppl ( which I strongly suggest you try it's GREAT fun ) BUT I went from not being able to play single notes to doing all kinds of neat tricks with my harps ( I can bend \o/) and actually play some music ALL with out ever playing my A harp a single time !!!!
The skills you will learn here from David are amazing !!! Rarely you will find someone who will explain what they're doing as well as David does here. My recommendation to you is this. JUST PLAY. If you can't follow the backing track then don't, get a metronome and follow the timing ( plenty of free metronomes around, google is your friend). Personally I'm mostly interested in solo playing so what key David is in is just not that important to me. Eventually maybe I'll change my opinion about that but for now I promisse you my playing went from having my gf telling me to 'go do that in the garage' to 'hey that was nice what you just did there' and it's in LARGE part thanks to this site and David ( I also picked up a few things from Joe XD ).
So for all you guys struggling with technical details like keys here's my advice stop thinking about it and play your instrument!
p.s: David, thanks for making this site it's an amazing resource !
Regards,
Chris
Hello pwentland. Harmonicas come in twelve keys. Instead of requiring you to purchase an entire set, I built the lessons based on the A harmonica... the most common harmonica used by blues harmonica players. If you were to go to a jam session or sit in at a buddy’s gig, the harmonica you would throw in your pocket would no doubt be the A harmonica. The harmonica that you first learn will be the key of harmonica you’ll be most comfortable playing for a while, so it’s beneficial to have your “go-to harp” be the common A harmonica. It’s especially helpful to use the A harmonica when learning the important technique of bending. If students first learn how to bend on a higher-keyed harmonica, such as the C harmonica, they often struggle when trying to play the more common lower-keyed harmonicas like G, A and Bb.
With all this said, this is why I designed my beginning series of lessons based on the A. The good thing about you having a C harmonica is that you will use it, just not for your beginning lessons.
In regards to a discount on the purchase of a new harmonica... BluesHarmonica.com is not a Hohner company, nor do I sell harmonicas. Hopefully you enjoy your studies, and after you go through your intro lesson, you decide to stay with the harmonica and get an A harmonica to continue.
Hi David, I understand what you`re saying but do you not agree that it`s false advertising to promise free online lessons with purchase (which was stated no my c harmonica packaging) and then find out there aren`t free online lessons with the product at all, but rather I`m expected to buy another harmonica which I cannot afford? I`m homeless and trying to get through university right now so the c harmonica was a big spend for me and I`m really dissapointed that Im not now going to get the lessons which as I say were the main reason for me choosing that brand. By the time I do manage to get an A harmonica this free month will have expired so can`t help feeling ripped off. I`m sure that`s not your intent and the site looks great, I definitely would consider trying to stay subscribed if wasn`t for this but I`m sure you would want to know about this issue if you don`t already, and I wonder what you suggest to do to rectify it
Yours Respectfully,
Pete
Hi David, I understand what you`re saying but do you not agree that it`s false advertising to promise free online lessons with purchase (which was stated no my c harmonica packaging) and then find out there aren`t free online lessons with the product at all, but rather I`m expected to buy another harmonica which I cannot afford? I`m homeless and trying to get through university right now so the c harmonica was a big spend for me and I`m really dissapointed that Im not now going to get the lessons which as I say were the main reason for me choosing that brand. By the time I do manage to get an A harmonica this free month will have expired so can`t help feeling ripped off. I`m sure that`s not your intent and the site looks great, I definitely would consider trying to stay subscribed if wasn`t for this but I`m sure you would want to know about this issue if you don`t already, and I wonder what you suggest to do to rectify it
Yours Respectfully,
Pete
Hello Pete. As I stated in the previous post, there is an intro lesson for those with only the C Harmonica (http://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/c_harmonica_intro_lesson). This will keep you busy for easily three months (download the mp3’s and PDFs).
My bad, I thought there was just an individual lesson for C. Thats a whole beginner`s course. Thankyou, it looks great and sorry for the misunderstanding :)
No worries. Enjoy your studies.
Hello Fredrikharmony. I'm sorry, there are no beginning lessons for the D harmonica. You CAN learn with your D though, you just won't be able to play along with me in the videos. You can change the key of the MP3 backing music you're supposed to play along to though... using a program like the Amazing Slow Downer to do so.