Ask Harmonica Expert Winslow Yerxa

Hi Winslow,

I was sadden to learn the great Toots Thielelmans past away August 22, 2016. Any recordings from Toots are still required listening and study for me.

You had numerous occassions to meet and work with the Maestro. For our benefit, can you share your best moments with Toots?

Kinya

I was looking at some jam tracks and came across a 16 bar blues progression.

(Iam only familier with the 12 bar blues pattern)

The pattern is:

I Chord / I Chord / I Chord / I Chord

I Chord/ I Chord / I Chord / I Chord

IV Chord / IV Chord / I Chord / I Chord

V Chord / IV Chord / I Chord / V Chord

Is this a pretty good example to a typical

' 16 bar  blues pattern ' ?

  Thank you for your time

                Steven Barta

Hi Winslow

I see that Hohner is releasing a new chromatic model, the ACE 48. I recall reading that they will be showing it at SPAH.

 I was wondering if you could share any thoughts on the new ACE. 

Best,

Andrew

Winslow --

I posted this on the New Music forum but, while I've had some folks reading the post, I haven't received any answers thus far. Can you help?

Hey All --

So I'm wondering if you all are familiar with Jason Kincheloe who plays with Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds. I saw them a year ago at the High Sierra Music Festival and was just blown away by his playing. Truth be told, he was the one that turned on the light bulb to pick up the harmonica. continue reading...

hi,

i have two harmonicas. one is the 'ms blues harp' in the key of c and the other is the 'marine band 1896' in the key of a.

my question is which harmonica do you recommend me to buy if i want the one that will help me the most in improving my bends and in a different key from what i own?

thanks/

hi,

i have two harmonicas. one is the 'ms blues harp' in the key of c and the other is the 'marine band 1896' in the key of a.

my question is which harmonica do you recommend me to buy if i want the one that will help me the most in improving my bends and in a different key from what i own?

thanks/

Winslow:

Can you tell me if there is anything I can do to eliminate the acidic metal taste on my tongue that I get with a brand new Suzuki Promaster Hammond? I just purchased it, tried it once and taste metal on my tongue bending. Sure would like to think I didn't waste my money. Thanks.

-Todd

Hi Winslow, over the years, I have bought and played many chromatic harmonicas. In addition, I have toured both the Hohner factory in Trossingen, Germany, and the Suzuki harmonica factory in Hamamatsu, Japan. Witnessing their craftsman build chromatic harmonicas was nothing short of amazing. continue reading...

Hi Winslow,

What are your thoughts around the best harmonica for traditional melody playing? What I mean by this specifically is Irish and Scottish music and other styles you typically hear on pipes or fiddle. 

Chromatics come to mind first but i am also seeing Paddy Richter tuning on a diatonic mentioned frequently. 

it seems like Paddy Richter would leverage a foundation on the diatonic. do you see pros or cons to either approach? 

Thanks for for any feedback. 

Andrew

Hi Winslow

i was wondering if you could share any thoughts on the Key of F Harp. 

i have  noticed there are no Key of F studies on this site - other than Low F. I've seen many comments around usually like the "dreaded F Harp". I expect this is because it is so high And must grate on the ear for some.  Is it common to just substitute the Low F nowadays?  Any pros or cons with that approach?  Thanks for any thoughts...

Andrew