Key question
Hello, David!
I just inherited 3 harmonicas, all Hohner Marine Band. However they are in three different keys, C, Bb and Eb.
Beeing a total novise in music (I'm 60 yo, never played anything before, so I've just recently put harmonica and a tenor sax on my bucket list...starting with the harmonica!) I need some guidence...
I now need to figure out which one to concentrate on.
I realized in the first lesson, that I probably need a piece in key of A, correct?
I mean, do I have to purchase an additional piece of harmonica?
BR
Andrew
Thank you, David! A Hohner Marine Band, key of A, will be purchased...as you pointed out: much cheaper than a saxophone!
And it's a interesting situation that I have right now...a few days ago I didn't have any instruments at all, and now I have 4 different harmonicas...I really hope that I at least can learn to use one of them...:-)
Thanks again!
BR
Andrew
My pleasure Andrew. That's a good point... you have instruments-a-plenty. I'll look forward to receiving your first submission.
Hello Andrew, welcome to the site, and to the harmonica. Yes, pick up an A Harmonica... it's the most common harmonica used in the blues, this is why the lessons focus on this key from the beginning. As your studies progress, you'll use other keys as well (Low-F, G, A, Bb, C and D). Eventually you'll have all twelve keys, but these are the most common.
Unlike the sax, which can play in all keys, each harmonica is keyed differently. It actually makes the learning of music much faster. To change keys, you just change harmonicas and play the same holes and use the same breathing. This allows you to focus on making music earlier on, apposed to spending most of your time on scales in the beginning. The only downfall is that you need to purchase many keys, but luckily it's still much less expensive than a sax.
Enjoy your studies!