I may be teaching a new college course about playing both the diatonic and chromatic harmonicas and I'm looking for information/material about the chromatic, in particular.
I thought I'd start with my friends here before I join slidemeister.com.
- I have a few books on the chromatic but don't find them to be that helpful. Any you can recommend?
- I got some ideas about good-quality lower cost chromatics in a post I started here last spring but I'm wondering if anything has changed in the past six months.
- Students can rent some instruments for the semester but we all know that the harmonica is considered yours as soon as you buy it and put it in your mouth. (I tell students that the harmonica is like a toothbrush.) But I'm wondering if chromatics could be cleaned and repaired, if necessary, at a reasonable cost so they could be resold at a price enough below the original price to make it worthwhile. I kinda doubt it but now is the time for me to find out.
Tom585, teaching that class sounds awesome. I wish that type of course was available to me when I was younger, or even now for that fact.
I had a Suzuki Leghorn 12 hole chromatic that was given to me by a friend. I wanted a 16 hole and I got a Swan off of Amazon. And honestly, it is awesome. I'm a good player and it meets my every need. The 16 hole is $70 and the 12 hole is $50.
I got a few Easttops recently, and they would be awesome for an entire class. I know Rockin Rons has discounts for large purchases.
I spent hundreds of dollars on books in college, I would have happily spent that on an instrument for a class!
Have fun teaching.
Last Edited by agarner on Nov 15, 2018 4:36 PM
Tom, sounds like a cool deal. Re chromatics, used can be ok but they can be tricky to clean. Maybe best to have a pro go over one and do a clean and check tuning. The windsavers are fragile and can be bent or pulled off easily sometimes.
I have one used that is a pretty good harp, the others I bought new. Early on I tried a Hohner 270 and didn't like it. Went to the Chrometta model and made progress. It's a much easier harp to make play. Price was pretty good when I got mine but that was the 90's so.
I like the Suzuki SCX48 model a lot. They make a 16 hole as well. This is a solid well built chromatic that has lasted at least 3 to 4 years with me, gigging maybe 30 times a year and regular practices at home.
I hesitate to lend a harp to anyone. If I am given a used one I will disassemble and clean with 91% alcohol but I would not do this on a chromatic for the above reasons.
My opinion is, if someone wants to learn chromatic they should be willing to spend some cash on an instrument. You could recommend a few different models and let them pick what they want.
Tom, I suggest you join Slidemeister now. I am a member of MBH and Slidemeister and have found much more info on chromatic harmonica at that site than this site. Suffice to say, this site is Blues oriented, Slidemeister is not. As fof renting instrumenting vs buying, I would suggest buying them is the only way to go. You can buy a new 12 hole chro for less than a 100$, Swans are decent, a Hohner Discover is better at 139. DO NOT get a 10 hole, get a 12 hole, you want 3 full ovtaves. It is far better to get a decent chromatic than a cheap one . I initially bought cheap chromatics and they sat in my sock drawer for years. I finally bought a CX12 and in a year, was playing tunes. If one is going to be serious, ( a college course is) use a quality instrument and forget about renting. I used the book Mel Bay's David Barrett Basic Blues Chromatic for the Diatonic player. The book is decent and since I'm a Blues player, it worked for me. Finally, the most important lesson I learn in my first year was learning the scale and the blues scale. It took 6 months to master it. Also, I concenrated strictly on tongue blocking technique and not lip persing.
Last Edited by 6SN7 on Nov 16, 2018 5:19 AM
Thanks for the advice all. I've heard some good things about Easttop but never played them. Their chromatics seem to be somewhat cheaper. Any opinions?
Diatonic Eastops are pretty solid but I have not tried a chrom from them. I have 2 Eastop 10 holers in my gig case. ---------- Music and travel destroy prejudice.
I made a serious but short lived effort to learn chrom several years ago. There are almost no really good books out there that I could find. I thought Barrett’s book was very limited in scope and defficiently simplistic. The most useful book I could find was The Hal Leonard Complete Harmonica Method-Chromatic by Bobby Joe Holman. What made it so good was it had tab for all major, natural minor, harmonic minor and jazz melodic minor scales in ALL 12 KEYS which is extremely helpful
Hohner Discovery is a good "first chrome" and has a nice, practical case.
For a little bit more money, the Suzuki SCX48 and Seydel Deluxe are both very good instruments. The Hohner 270 Deluxe suffers from the disadvantages of a wooden comb, but it also remains a popular choice.
There is a lot of buzz about EastTop, but I have never tried one, so cannot judge if it would be appropriate for your class. Online reviews seem mixed.
Last Edited by AppalachiaBlues on Nov 17, 2018 8:03 AM
I think the 12 hole Caberet (an EastTop build specified by Danny G.) is an amazing bargain. It is more airtight than my Herings and much more airtight than my 270s.
Be aware that playing the Caberet benefits from good breath control due to it not leaking like the others I named above. It is not a harp I would play really hard, because leakage is minimal and you would choke reeds with hard playing.
It is a good chromatic at a very good price! I read that you may have to contact Danny as it is not listed on the website. I bought mine from Danny in person. ----------
I myself am not a fan of music instrument books. One reason being, books don't give answers to questions. What I use, & for a lot less money is the Mel Bay's Harmonica Wall Chart. I bought it primarily for playing my chromatics, but it has some diatonic assistance. The wall chart, & instruction videos on YouTube work pretty well. And at least with YouTube, you can ask a question, & you'll get an answer.
Tom, with regard to your original post seeking chromatic information/books for you to possibly teach a "new college course about playing both the diatonic and chromatic harmonicas" I feel I should ask you, do you play chromatic well enough to teach it?
Your questions about instructional information on playing chromatic and about cleaning and re-selling instruments used in your course made me wonder about the course itself.
Chromatic is significantly different in many ways from diatonic and a bit finicky instrument. The note layout is different, which could confuse beginners when presented in one course.
Recently on Slidemeister there was a post by skilled chromatic player Neil Adler in which he said, "I play jazz piano, and tell everyone that the chromatic is much more difficult." Perhaps a course on diatonic with a brief chromatic demonstration would be more suitable that trying to teach both in one course?
If you only intend to teach 3rd position blues chromatic in your harmonica course, that can be challenging enough, but it could be do-able in an introductory course.
Actually learning to play the chromatic in many or all keys has a very steep learning curve that could take semesters or years of coursework. ----------
Good question, Doug, and a fair one regarding a course at the college level. I started playing diatonic in the mid-seventies and bought a chromatic probably 3-4 years later. I started on blues but have expanded over the years on both instruments to a variety of styles. I will never be mistaken for Toots but can get around some in most keys on chromatic.
I already teach a class called the harmonica and the blues which is about the history of blues and the harmonica and involves learning the basics of diatonic, i.e., first and second position and some exposure to third. Some students are interested in taking the playing further - less history, more playing. I thought about broadening it to include chromatic - start in C, move to Dm, G, etc., major and minor scales and progressions, and apply it to soloing, melodies, chords, etc, over a variety of music. I'm not exactly sure how far to go with it, which is often the case with a brand new course.
The course is stalled out right now so I may have to resurrect it in an altered form.
I have mostly bought Hohner 12 hole chromonicas over the years but find that the price is pretty high for college students so I'm exploring alternatives.
I'm glad you asked and thanks, everyone, for your input.
Good luck with your teaching! I hope it works out well for you.
I tried teaching diatonic to beginners for a year at a local arts center and decided I would rather play than teach. I declined requests to teach at our local community college.
Though I play chromatic acceptably, I didn't feel knowledgeable enough to offer chromatic instruction at the arts center. Chromatic harmonicas are a big investment for a beginner.
