Rkbaker
1 post
Oct 12, 2011
10:30 AM
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Harmonica people:
I have a wonderful niece who happens to be autistic. She does not vocalize much, but one thing she does VERY consistently is hold her hands in front of her mouth and blow as though she were playing the harmonica.
I would like to purchase her a QUALITY instrument, not a toy, that she will be able to play. I play many instruments myself, and have a strong hatred for "student" instruments, as I find them limiting and discouraging. There are so many millions of harmonica options out there I'm not sure where to start.
We call her Dee, so I would like to get her a harmonica in the key of D. Any advise you are willing to provide will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
.r
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Bb
279 posts
Oct 12, 2011
10:39 AM
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Give her a Hohner Special 20.
Giver her parents some earplugs. :^)
My youngest son is on "the spectrum", but I like to say with the way it manifests in him that he's got "The Goofy". He's an absolute joy. Still, I worry about his future and am doing everything I can to help him (and me) prepare for it.
-Bob
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Kingley
1672 posts
Oct 12, 2011
10:40 AM
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I'd say buy a Hohner Crossover.
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
736 posts
Oct 12, 2011
10:48 AM
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Last Edited by on Oct 12, 2011 10:49 AM
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nacoran
4732 posts
Oct 12, 2011
10:48 AM
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I'd suggest a plastic combed harp, like a Lee Oskar or a Hohner Special 20. The Lee Oskars, in particular, have a reputation for being very durable. A Hohner Big River would also be an okay harp, but for $10 more you can get a better harp. Most music stores carry Hohners and Lee Oskars and you shouldn't have any problem finding them. (You'll probably want standard tuning. Most stores only carry the Special 20's in standard but they may have Lee Oskars in minor tunings.
I'd stay away from harps with wooden combs. (The comb is the middle part of the harmonica, with the holes) Some of the more expensive models are fully sealed but the regular models, including ones that pros use, can have swelling issues and can become rough on the lips. You can do things to fix that, but plastic combed harps avoid the problem altogether. (I prefer plastic combs for my harps.)
edit:
And if you order online, a lot of the forum members have had great luck with Rockin' Rons.
http://www.rockinronsmusic4less.com/
I see a couple people weighed in before me. I haven't played a Marine Band Crossover. It's the high end Marine Band. I hear good things. My experience with the standard Marine Band makes me worry about how rough they might be on the lips, but I haven't heard anyone complain.
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Nate
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Last Edited by on Oct 12, 2011 10:52 AM
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
737 posts
Oct 12, 2011
10:52 AM
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I work with autistic children for a living. Of course, autism is this huge umbrella that covers all manner of different types of children, but going on what information you revealed, I wonder why you need a D.
She's probably going to blow it hard, D is going to be high and squeally. I would be more inclined to try an A, or if there is a reason you want D, maybe a low D.
Is she OK with music? I never thought kids who didn't like music existed until I started working with autistic children. I worked with one girl who would go into an acting-out episode whenever she heard a musical tone. She would cover her ears and run screaming around the room. That was the most severe anti-musical behavior I saw.
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David
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Last Edited by on Oct 12, 2011 10:52 AM
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sonvolt13
100 posts
Oct 12, 2011
10:53 AM
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Alot of kids with Autism have sensitivity to certain sounds. The tone and volume of the harmonica may or may not be to her liking. I would say a special 20 would be a good choice. A lower key than D will be less shrill and may be more to her liking. Of course all kids on the spectrum are different and she might like a "D" harmonica just fine.
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nacoran
4734 posts
Oct 12, 2011
11:01 AM
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They are more expensive, but a Low D might satisfy the D requirement and be a more pleasant register. They take a little more air to play, but not too much. Hohner makes a harp called the Thunderbird that comes in low tuning. Seydel makes some nice low tuned harps. I have one that I love. Rockin' Rons sells both, but for a Seydel I'd talk to David (ElkRiverHarmonicas-above). I got my Low Low F from him. I love it. He makes fully sealed wood combs too. Mine is a Seydel Blues Favorite and it's the most comfortable harp I own.
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Nate
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isaacullah
1626 posts
Oct 12, 2011
11:03 AM
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I don't have much experience working with autistic kids, but depending upon her age you might consider the suzuki Airwave (http://www.suzukimusic.com/Airwave/index.html). It's a quality durable instrument (not a toy!) designed especially for the needs of kids, and comes with a great booklet. I got one for my nephews, (3 and 4) and they love it. It's an instrument that they can keep and grow with until a time when they might want to step up to a regular harmonica.
Whatever you decide to get her, I hope she loves it!
Cheers,
~Isaac
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Last Edited by on Oct 12, 2011 11:04 AM
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Rkbaker
2 posts
Oct 12, 2011
11:08 AM
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Thanks for all the quick replies.
The special 20 looks to be very well respected. You have saved me a lot of money, as I was looking at stuff 10x this cost.
Thanks
.r
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earlounge
376 posts
Oct 12, 2011
11:17 AM
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I agree Hohner Special 20 is a quality instrument and good for beginners... I recommend the key of C to start, because most learning materials are only published in this key.
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waltertore
1550 posts
Oct 12, 2011
11:18 AM
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I have been teaching middle and high school special education for 20 years. Many of my students are autistic. It is always a hit and miss thing with them when you venture into new things. Give it a shot and see what happens. I would buy a cheap harp to start because it more likely than not will be a flop. Try a kazoo, jaw harp, penny whistle, recorder, too. I can't tell you how many times new things are not accepted by this population. You just keep trying and hopefully don't break your bank :-) Here is a link to one of my autistic students music. She is a true savant in music, televison, and the movies. We perform together at disabled artists shows as well. Gwen hates to hear her music played back on any kind of device yet she loves to sing, record, and perform live. She will scream and hold her ears if you try to get her to listen back to her stuff. There are no right or wrong rules in this field with artistic expression. Good luck! Walter
http://www.soundclick.com/gwendavis
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Last Edited by on Oct 12, 2011 4:51 PM
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jim
1020 posts
Oct 12, 2011
11:37 AM
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get her a tuning that has all notes within one scale - "Arabic", "Spiral Harmonic Minor" or "solo".
And yes, the lower the key - the better.
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MrVerylongusername
1990 posts
Oct 12, 2011
12:26 PM
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Just my 2p
I guess a lot depends on what your expectations are and what Dee will be able to learn. I too work with people with learning disabilities and have known people at both ends of the autistic spectrum. Forgive me, but it wasn't clear from your post what Dee can learn to do for herself.
No matter! I certainly don't think you need to concern yourself with specialist tunings or expensive chromatics (the one with the button).
If she has the cognitive ability to learn songs then a regular old 10 hole diatonic will give her plenty to work with. If on the other hand she just wants to get some joy by making a sound from the harmonica she'll still have bags of fun with a regular tuned instrument. In fact, the beauty of the regular tuning is that she won't get anything too dissonant if she just sucks and blows.
I'm curious about how that behaviour you talk about came about - is she copying someone she has seen playing? or is it just a coincidence that your capitalising on?
Personally I would go for a Lee Oskar as they are plastic combed and can take more abuse than any other brand before the reeds go flat - and if she likes it and plays a lot and loudly so, then that is a serious issue to consider.
If Dee is a youngster (or if age-appropriateness is not something you are too concerned about) then Isaac's idea about the Suzuki Airwave is a really good suggestion. It is designed for children, but is still a quality instrument.
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
739 posts
Oct 12, 2011
12:29 PM
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No, don't get her any special arabic, spiral or any other unusual tuning. She's going to be playing chords.
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David
Elk River Harmonicas
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"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." - Lewis Grizzard
"Also, drinking homemade beer." - David Payne
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nacoran
4738 posts
Oct 12, 2011
12:34 PM
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Special 20's might actually be better sounding for chord playing than Lee Oskars. Lee Oskars are Equal Tuned. The individual notes sound better one after the other, but the chords don't sound quite as smooth.
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Nate
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MrVerylongusername
1991 posts
Oct 12, 2011
12:37 PM
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Yeah but Special 20 reeds have the life expectancy of a mayfly with cardiac respiratory disease.
The difference between the two temperaments is blown out of all proportion.
Last Edited by on Oct 12, 2011 12:37 PM
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harpdude61
1105 posts
Oct 12, 2011
12:45 PM
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The rounded, smooth ends and the playability of a Golden Melody seem like a good fit.
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nacoran
4739 posts
Oct 12, 2011
2:06 PM
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MrVLUN, I don't know, the more I listen to my harps the more I can hear the difference in tuning. I actually like the rough chord sound sometimes, but if I was someone listening to a kid play chords I might want the smoother sound!
I've only ever blown out a couple harps, but one was a Special 20. I was jamming with some friends who were all playing amplified and I was trying to keep up. For pure durability I think I'd go with a Lee Oskar.
Harpdude, I like the shape of the Golden Melody, but at least the one I've got is pretty rough on my lips. It's got a protruding reedplate that catches my lip right at the reedplate ends. A little sanding could fix that. (It's an F#. If it was a harp I played more regularly I'd have fixed it by now.) I've got 2 Marine Bands and the Golden Melody with protruding reedplates and they all bother my lips.
Only my Seydel has protruding plates that don't catch me, but then again, individual lip sensitivity may very. The little squares on the Lee Oskars catch my whiskers if I don't keep my mustache trimmed (in fact I've got to trim up before heading out to open mic tonight!) The jellybean shape of the Golden Melodies is really comfortable in my hands; I wish they'd just do a little better job finishing the plate corners.
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STME58
3 posts
Oct 12, 2011
5:52 PM
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I understand why you want the D and also that a D is high and squeaky. I just got a Sydel Session in Low D and I really like it. At $60 it is definetly not a toy but it is one of the harps that comes in low D so you can have the D label for Dee and less squeek.
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conjob
132 posts
Oct 12, 2011
6:44 PM
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Walter that little girl is amazing.
Her poems are vivid and aesthetically beautiful, thanks for posting.
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Rkbaker
3 posts
Oct 12, 2011
7:45 PM
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Yes, Thank you Walter, she IS amazing. I also find it interesting she will sing each song only once. Does she write them down, or otherwise compose them ahead of time? Or is it stream of conscious?
And thank you Harmonica people for all your fantastic advise. We shall get D a Hohner 20 in the key of A. And if she likes it, we'll get her something in the key of D.
She's only 5 so I'm sure I can get away without explaining what key it is in. But don't worry, she's extraordinarily tall so I'm certain she will have no problem playing a full sized information.
Thanks again!
.r
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waltertore
1553 posts
Oct 13, 2011
3:36 AM
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r: Gwen writes poetry that she sings when I back her. She does sing her songs over and over but will not listen back to them. The autistic spectrum is a broad one. Most people think of it as the rain man type character which Gwen is. The majority of Autistic people fall in the other levels of the spectrum which goes from being non verbal and needing others to toilet them up to the rare savant. Walter
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
" life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
2,800+ of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
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jim
1023 posts
Oct 13, 2011
3:44 AM
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All those tunings offer awesome chordal possibilities.
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jbone
659 posts
Oct 13, 2011
4:15 AM
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this is very sweet of you sir, to want your niece to have a harp. i would agree, a lower key than D is probably a good idea, or a low-tuned D which is an octave or more lower than a standard D tuning.
the one other thing i would consider if it were me is, getting a harmonica with replaceable reed plates. this is usually much cheaper than buying a whole new harp, and one big problem a lot of new harp players have is, they tend to draw and blow too hard and wreck a reed. this makes the harp pretty much unusable.
Hohner and Suzuki and Lee Oskar are 3 big makers who offer replaceable reed plate models.
i hope your niece has a great time with music!
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Philosofy
397 posts
Oct 13, 2011
8:00 AM
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Lots of good suggestions here. Regarding the key of the harmonica: if she likes the D harp, then that's fine. But, if its a little too high pitched for her, buy an A harp, and switch the combs, so she's playing an A, but the comb says D. Or get Chris Reynolds to make a customized brass comb with her name on it. (mucho bucks, just kidding.)
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jawbone
459 posts
Oct 13, 2011
8:12 PM
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Just a thought - but is a diatonic the best choice - I'm not sure of all the types but would an "echo" style or something of that nature be a bit more mellow??
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If it ain't got harp - it ain't really blues!!!!
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AirMojo
221 posts
Oct 15, 2011
10:39 AM
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I remember seeing a "made for TV" movie with Bill Bixby (known for "My Favorite Martian" and "The Hulk") where he was the father of an autistic son and how his son responded to him playing a harmonica and bringing him into "normalcy".
I did some Googling on this movie just to see if it still exists, but I couldn't find it.
Personally, I can see how many people respond to the sound of pleasing harmonica music... and this may very will be a help to autistic children.
Let's hope !
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2chops
45 posts
Oct 15, 2011
6:31 PM
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Interesting topic. Here's something that happened to me today. My wife & I have a recreational tree climbing business, and today was one of our public/ beginner climbs @ a local city park. As we were hanging out with some of our climbers, I pulled out one of my harps and started playing a couple of tunes to entertain the troops. Before you know it, a young lad came running over to us, just a smiling & laughing. His mom called him back. Then after another tune he came over again. His mom came over to apologize for the bother. We told her no big deal and she said that it was unlike him to be so forward with people. He too was non verbal. I thought it was interesting that this occurred just a couple of days after this thread began. You never know.
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