So. We all play harmonica, that's why we're here. Some play other instruments as well. Howard Levy is an A+ grade piano player. The sadly late and greatest Toots Tielemans played guitar in George Shearing's combo.
More locally, Adam is very handy with foot percussion.
As for me, I've been playing button accordion in recent years. Better still, I've been teaching my 11 year old son, who now leaves his poor old Dad in the dust. We're called The Accordionaires, you can see us here
Anyone else out there play other instruments? Show us what you've got.
---------- Tony Eyers Australia www.HarmonicaAcademy.com everyone plays...
The only other instrument I play with the level of proficiency I have on the harmonica is trombone. I have taken up trumpet recently and I am advancing quickly. I can get a tune out of a hulusi, bawu, or a penny whistle which all use the same fingering. I have few dizi that also use the same fingering as the aforementioned diatonic instruments, but getting a good tone out of a flute is much more of a challenge. I am starting to be able to get something approaching musical out of my saw duang, a two stringed Thai fiddle.
Here is a humorous piece I have posted before on how to get a more brass like sound out of your harmonica.
And here is an improvisation, incorporating trumpet at the end, I did for my sister, on the loss of her beloved cat.
Last Edited by STME58 on Sep 20, 2016 6:41 PM
I play guitar and fiddle with mandolin, but in the last few years my attention has really went more toward harmonica. The interesting thing is I originally picked up the harp as a side instrument to the guitar; by playing on a rack, but the more I learned about the harmonica the more I got the bug and now I really only play guitar to supplement my harmonica playing.
@Tony,I really enjoyed your site and your music that you share with your young son.I would love to hear you gents in the future as your son progresses on the violin/fiddle,what a great combo that would make.I played fingerboard accordion from 64 to 68.(2nd to 5th grade)Did a few recitals and classroom show and tells back in the day.I even threw in my version of Hang On Sloopy which my accordian teacher didn,t like too much as I should have been playing the Lucinda Waltz.I unfortunatly gave it up wanting to play sandlot ball after school with my buddies opposed to accordian rehearsals.At 59 playing again is on my bucket list as I own at least 6 accordians.I was sneaking them into the house at one point after buying them cheap at thrift shops and yard sales etc. so I didn,t have to hear "not another accordian" from my better half of 42 yrs.My goal if I do start up again is to play some Zydyco music.It just seems that theres never enough time in the day,but oneday maybe oneday....Again I think that its awesome that your playing the old timey music with your 11 yr old son,All The Best.BTW I will say though that by playing the accordian in the past really helped me alot when I started playing harp back in 1974.
Last Edited by NiteCrawler . on Sep 22, 2016 4:48 AM
i used to play a bit of the drums, but was never very good. Only because I never took it very seriously.
STME I have been wanting to try the trumpet. I love the horn lines in all these blues songs. You say its fairly easy starting?
What would be a decent horn to get for messing around with?
HT you brought up adams kick drum. I have been kindof making my own setup here. A kick drum and a hi hat with the symbals removed and a tamborine on it so I can use the foot pedal to shake the tamborine. It's not fully functional yet as I still need to fix a few pieces because I got them all at flea markets on the cheap. lol, But it should be good.
I also have a guitar and keyboard I mess around with, but I dont take either of those very seriously either. It just takes too much time away from harp. Maybe in a few years when I'm much better at harp, I will take some time off to dedicate to learning another instrument. Oh I have a Didgeridoo also. They are fun. ----------
I manage to get work as a harp player by doubling on sax. No great shakes but competent. Jazz cats can run circles around me but fortunately my bandmates like my stripped down playing better. Started playing lap steel two years ago. It's kicking my butt but I get asked to bring it out for pickup gigs all the time.
I took 3 years of baritone lessons as a kid in school. I took three months of drum lessons. I can play a couple one finger melodies on the piano.
That's about it. I've played around with slide whistle, and ocarina but only ever managed to get a weak version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star going. Tried trumpet but didn't get anywhere. Same with guitar.
I did sing in choral groups all through high school and a good portion of college, and a couple other choral groups along the way. When I was in practice I could sort of sight read, but not well enough to go the other direction. That was actually one of my early reasons for picking up the harp- I wanted something I could find notes on to write down melodies for songs I'd written. Somewhere along the line though my harping caught up with my singing and I was always a little too ADD to sit down and actually transcribe my tunes (plus it just became so much easier to record songs and just play them back rather than writing them down fully.)
If I had a bit more room and cash I would definitely buy an electric drum kit and get back into that. I'd love to learn guitar and/or piano, but I've got tendon problems in my wrists. (The guy who was teaching me drums was really good at showing me how to do it without hurting myself.)
I perform using diatonic, chromatic harps, washboard, pancdeiro (Brazilian tambourine)and kanjira(south India frame drum). Most comfortable on diatonic, somewhat comfortable on chromatic, novice, but passable, and on the percussion if I keep it simple.
Tony, it is very cool that your son plays with you. I have 2 sons and one is becoming a pretty good musician, but doing stuff with dad is just not cool!
Killa, picking up trumpet has gone quickly for me because I have been playing trombone since the 4th grade and I have the lip buzzing thing down. I bought an Allora plastic trumpet for about $150 and it plays much better than you would think. It is also lightweight and dent resistant. When I have to travel on business I usually pack the trumpet and a plastic alto trombone (P-Bone), and a Seydel soft case full of harps. For $150 you could get a reasonable used trumpet, likely one that plays a bit better than the Allora, but you would need to figure out how to find the good ones, or find someone to help you look them over like you might take a used car to a mechanic before buying it.
Killa - I want to play the trumpet too, so I've joined a training band to learn cornet/trumpet. I didn't have the opportunity to learn brass at school (unlike pretty much everyone else I've mentioned it to), so I'm coming to it cold. I thought it would be difficult, but it's much harder than that!
In one sense, it's similar to learning the harp (esp bending) as you have to do particular strange things with your air, mouth, lips, tongue, throat to get the notes to sound properly. And everyone has to find that out for themselves it seems. And annoyingly, some people can just do it and others have to learn it. I'm Type 2.
I've picked up a few instruments, with experience of getting something musical out of them early on, which acts as encouragement. The trumpet is something else!
This isn't to put you off, the reverse in fact. I have the use of a proper brass instrument, and a plastic one. For learning on, the plastic one is fine. Better, actually, in some specific ways.
The only tip I can give is that you don't get any notes by breathing in. Hope that helps.
Last Edited by MindTheGap on Sep 22, 2016 12:56 AM
I started on guitar years ago but was never much good, mainly because I didn't do enough practice. It did give me some understanding of basic musical concepts which was useful when I took up harp though.
My wife has a guzheng (Chinese zither). I love the sound and occasionally muck around on it.
I'd like to take up pedal steel guitar one day but don't have the time and space (or coordination) to do so at the moment.
I play "junk" percussion instruments. Rhythm bones, washboard and jaw harp.
I play harp on a rack along with the bones and washboard. But I can't play them at the same time so I alternate. I am working on playing them at the same time as harp. That's this old horse's current musical challenge.
Michelle
---------- SilverWing Leather - Custom leather creations for musicians and other eccentrics.
Harp is my first instrument,then i started playing slide guitar,when I got a les paul I got into regular guitar.also I play a bit of blues on keyboard.Blues is reason,i`ve been hooked since 1968...
STME58 - how much backpressure does your Hulusi have compared to a harmonica or tin whistle? My wife brought one back from China, and it has a nice sound but there's a fair amount of backpressure. Just wondering if this is normal. Even in the SF Bay Area you don't see these instruments in most shops.
KiethE, the Bawu and Hulusi have a lot of back pressure. It only has one triangular reed (or one per pipe if you are using the drones).If you play with very low breath force, you can get a low note, but it is not very responsive to fingering. Better players can use this note musically. Add more pressure and the pitch jumps up, and you can get the full scale with the fingerings. It is similar to the register shift on a tin whistle or recorder, except for the lack of pitch control in the low register.
If you dont have them already, consider Pat Missin's books on the Hulusi and Bawu. One of the few, if not only, books on the subject in English.
Last Edited by STME58 on Sep 22, 2016 11:50 PM
Started on cello, then guitar, harmonica, then some electric bass, piano, accordion, basson, saxophone, flute, mandolin.
Nowadays all kinds of harmonicas and guitars. I recommend to play and try out many instruments, they all help and benefit to harmonica playing, because one realize it's all about the music in the end :-)
Cool thread- not surprising to see so much versatility.
I’ve been a trumpet player most my life but now much more of a harmonica player.
I started on the harmonica in the 60’s when I was 8 years old but was quickly converted to trumpet in 4th grade because the harmonica was not a legit school instrument. That still bugs me.
I have a couple of horns that I play with once in a while but my lip is not good. It takes consistent practice to maintain a solid embouchure.
Someone mentioned the Jews Harp. I actually played one in high school jazz band. Nostalgia recently got me to collect a few nice ones from fleabay.
I am currently building an electric diddley bow to have some fun with.
I can play a bit of handsaw and actually have a bonafide "musical saw" that was a gift.
I've played around with other instruments but not well.
STME58 - thanks for confirming that. When I first tried playing on the Hulusi I thought it was broken because all notes were coming out as the under blown note. At that sounds really horrible when you're trying to get other notes on mine. For some reason it sounds ok when all of the holes are uncovered though. But it seems tricky to get that and maintain timing.
I do have the "How to Play..." book by Missin, and some Chinese jianpu music as well. One interesting thing about the Missin books is that he notates for both C and G Hulusi. If you have a D tin whistle then you can read the G notation and it comes out correctly except it's an octave high. (Unless you've got a low D whistle which I don't happen to have. Although I do have a Freeman tweaked tenor G and that's large enough for now.)
I play bottleneck guitar. Harmonica,guitar and vocals are my main thing, but I play banjo, mandolin,fiddle ,Uke,and bouzouki too . I like to play washboard when I get a chance,and bass. When I was a kid, I played trombone. It is amazing how much you can forget ---------- www.shakeylee.com
Last Edited by shakeylee on Sep 24, 2016 4:28 PM
Sax- but I'm no 'sax players sax player'. I do have a sop, alto, tenor and bari though. I don't bring them on stage much, though I'm starting to play with someone who doubles on trumpet and may - one of theses days.
- oh yeah, - futz around with mandolin too, and I do use it as part of the acoustic duo thing I do with my fingerpicking buddy.
see 'Kimo Suave and the Suavetones' included on link below - for sax & harp vid. ---------- Bone's music videos
Last Edited by bonedog569 on Sep 23, 2016 8:14 PM
I started out with clarinet way back in my school days in the 60's. We had a grand piano in our lounge room at home but it never interested me. I took up harmonica in the 70's
Fingerstyle drone blues guitar, ukulele, slide cigarbox guitar, dotara, synth and keys, melodica, dijeridoo, cajon, and drumset. Not all with huge skill, but some decently. Harmonica is my "best", followed by guitar and ukulele. I love learning new instruments. ----------
Daily practice: Harmonica (diatonic & chromatic), piano, voice Weekly or Monthly practice: Melodica, guitar, Irish whistle I've been known to play them a few times: shaker eggs or tambourine.
I'm also in the club of people who play multiple instruments but is best at harmonica and puts most time and effort into that.
Piano, keyboards, a little bit of guitar (enough to be able to "read" a real guitar player's chording), beginning didgeridoo, Jew's harp, small percussion instruments and some basic Sitar. ---------- The Iceman
@ Popculture - you might want to get that sax out of the closet sometime. It's a reed instrument - and now that you know how to bend and control reeds (thanks to the harp) , you might be surprised at your ability to express yourself on sax. Just working on horn lines is fun. ---------- Bone's music videos
I'm with the percussion on the side thing with foot tamb and shakers, my son is becoming a jazz drummer so I can now use his kit too!... But I've discovered I have an uncanny knack on the tin whistles, so I'm collecting them, and I'm trying in vain on a pocket trumpet but the embouchure thing is harder than I thought..! And now I've just got a little sax from China and am having heaps of fun with it....YEEEEHAAAAARRRRR! ---------- Old Man Rubes at Reverbnation Dads in Space at Reverbnation
Fun thread! My first instrument was classical violin. Learned to read music on that instrument. Took up harp and really never put it down. Played trumpet, many years of lessons for that.
Took up guitar as a teen and learned normal acoustic playing and bottleneck/slide. These days, I spend a lot of time playing mandolin, a 4string resonator cigar box guitar I built, and regular guitar as well.
I whistle everyday. I can do trills and two notes at the same time. I couldn't tell you what notes I'm making though.
I also play bass guitar. I use a lot of harmonics, so my style is pretty melodic. I recently wrote down one of my bass riffs in Finale, and I ended up extrapolating a little bit if you guys care to listen.
