dchurch
1 post
Nov 02, 2014
6:39 PM
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It’s about time I got around to this…
First I want to thank Adam Gussow and all of the members that have built this fantastic forum. I have learned so much here and I have been incredibly inspired to dive into the harmonica.
It’s been about 8 months (or almost 50 years) since I started playing. It was 50 years ago when I was first introduced to the harmonica by “Brother Benson” at our Nazarene Church. Brother Benson was a classic thin old man that would pull a harmonica from his vest pocket and just play away. I bought a harmonica and Brother Benson gave me pointers like, “listen, play what you hear in your head…” He would play a few notes and I would try to play them back. “That’s good, you’re getting it son, stick with it…”
I remember playing for hours and getting sores at the corners of my mouth… but I’m real sorry to say that I didn’t stick with it. One big reason was because music was offered in 4th grade but with no harmonica part I started playing trumpet. I played all through school in concert band, marching band… Like most schooled musicians I was hammered pretty hard to practice, read music, memorize, counting, scales… I did pretty well at this and had some great times.
But, about 8 months ago I realized that I had a nagging regret. I wished I’d stuck to the harmonica and put more energy into Brother Benson’s method of playing, by ear. Really, when does being able to site read music come in handy for the average Joe? And, it’s pretty awkward packing a horn around everyday…
So for the past 8 months I’ve been back to Brother Benson’s method for harmonica. He couldn’t imagined the help that I would find here, some 50 years later but I’m sure he’d give some enthusiastic praise.
I’ve made plenty of progress and more importantly I’m having a great time with it.
Here’s my eight month journey in a nutshell: I Googled harmonica, found this forum, watched some youtube, bought a Special 20 “C”, tried a few methods, tongue blocks, single note tunes, bending, riffs... I quickly learned to play my way through a bunch of simple tunes. I liked playing blues style but also wanted more pure single note melody. So, my 2nd harp purchase was a Seydel Zirk “G”. Even though I don’t read music for the harmonica the circular layout was an instant advantage for me. I split my practice time/days between Richter and Zirk tuning. I started building a blues harp collection, listening to masters, made a portable amp, and recently transformed an old clarinet case for my harmonica collection.
I’ve explored a few other tunings and recently fell in love with semi-spiral. It keeps 1-6 Richter for blues then 7-10 alternates right up the scale like my Zirk. I had played with a pretty clear distinction between pure melody on the Zirk and blues on the Richter. Now with the semi-spiral I’m mixing it up more often. I’ve also found it more intuitive to switch between the two types of tunings. I understand alternative tunings are a very personal choice, just saying it works for me.
Playing by ear is great. I had some doubts, but just put notation behind me. I never really considered using tabs. I do practice scales and a bunch of my old horn exercises. Songs that I know well come pretty easy and I'm getting better at improvising and picking the right harp to jamb with the radio.
I play for fun and therapy, and I’m just an accomplished beginner_ but I am a harmonica player!
Thanks for helping,
Dave
Photos(I hope, my first post:
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dchurch
2 posts
Nov 02, 2014
6:48 PM
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How about this...
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dchurch
3 posts
Nov 02, 2014
7:53 PM
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Ok I think I got it.
The above photo is of the instert that I made for this old clarinet case:
Here's the finished harmonica case:
And here's a portable that I built into another old clarinet case. This was a real fun project: electronics, woodworking... and I got to use a bunch of parts that I had on hand. The amp runs on batteries for several hours.
Thanks again, Dave
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orphan
379 posts
Nov 02, 2014
8:06 PM
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Hi Dave. Welcome to the forum! That amp looks really sharp. Good idea with the clarinet case too.
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BronzeWailer
1505 posts
Nov 02, 2014
8:32 PM
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Hi Dave.
I like the look of your gear.
I have a similar harp story. Got into it age about 18. Became a solid beginner and made no progress for 30 years. Got seriously back into it about 4 years ago and having a blast!
Welcome aboard!
Eric
BronzeWailer's YouTube
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didjcripey
839 posts
Nov 03, 2014
2:55 AM
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'Solid beginner, and no progress for 30 years'..... me too.
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Lucky Lester
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Udderkuz03
57 posts
Nov 03, 2014
7:36 AM
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We talking about women or harmonica here?
Quote: "solid beginner but no progress for 30 years"
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dchurch
4 posts
Nov 03, 2014
9:42 AM
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Funny you should mention 30 years and women. Today my wife and I just reached our 30-year wedding anniversary.
Marriage is like playing the harmonica, sometimes it blows and sometimes it sucks but we make sweet music together. Oh boy, sorry about that.
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It's about time I got around to this.
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BronzeWailer
1508 posts
Nov 04, 2014
2:03 AM
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I wouldn't know if I am better with the ladies, no let me rephrase that; I couldn't be any worse than I was. Lucky one took pity on me.
30 years is a long time with no progress if you think about it, so I don't.
BronzeWailer's YouTube
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