Need advice on next harmonica - Key of A
This question has probably been asked many times. I am an absolute beginnner. I bought a Hohner BluesBand harmonica in the key of C. After signing up for bluesharmonica.com I found that to go through the levels of achievement I need one in the key of A. What brand/model should I get? I went for the cheapest on my first one and may want to spend a little more. Any advice? Thanks.
The Bluesband is near the bottom end of the quality spectrum. A good harmonica has these qualities:
- Doesn't leak air, so that you're not gasping after playing a few notes.
- Produces good volume of sound with normal breathing.
- Plays in tune.
- Has an even response, so that all notes sound with about the same effort, and will all "speak" readily as you move from one to another.
Expect to pay around $35 for a decent quality harmonica. You can spend more, but when you're starting $35 harps will work fine and are used by many professionals. Also, beginners tend to ruin harps quicker than experienced players before they learn how to control their breathing, so why spend more than you need to at this stage?
You can get harmonicas where the center part - the comb - is plastic, wood, or metal. For beginners I recommend plastic.
- Wood can swell and warp with misture and beginners often produce an abundance of saliva until their body figures out that the harmonica is not digestible, and that can cause problems with wood.
- Metal combs are fine, but those are found in the more expensive models that I would advise you to wait on.
- Plastic wont' swell or warp and is available in mid-priced harps.
Plastic-bodied models that are widely available and well regarded include the Lee Oskar models, the Hohner Special 20, the Suzuki HarpMaster, and the Seydel Blues Session. The Special 20 has always been at the top of my recommendation list, but right now (February 2015) there's a lot of concern that the Special 20 reed setup has been changed. Some players say there's no problem, while others report a change for the worse. I don't really know anything beyond reports I've seen in recent weeks, though. Same goes for the new Hohner Rocket, which shares some parts with the Special 20. The Hohner Golden Melody is a good quality plastic-bodied, mid-priced harp. However, the fine tuning of the notes makes the chords sound harsh (it's for melody playing) and you need smooth-sounding chords to play blues. (The Hohner Marine Band series are the classic blues harmonicas and really great harps, but the wood combs may give you trouble at this stage.)
I'm not Winslow but I suggest the Hohner Crossover if you can afford the $65 rockinronsmusic4less has great deals and is great to work with. It's comfortable to play and you won't be fighting against anything which can be a pain while you're learning. Stay away from the cheaper models like the BluesBand, etc. Just buy a good quality harp (Seydel 1847, Hohner Crossover, etc.) in the key of harmonica for the next study song you'll learn on the site. An A-key harp will get you through the first few songs which will take months to learn. Then a G harp for Gary's Blues, D for The Strut and so forth (names of study songs). For a lot of reasons, don't go out and buy every key all at once!