Tried something new today. It occurred to me I can pump my harmonium with my leg, which frees up my hands. Do you think the harmonica pairs well?

(marine band natural A minor)

Hi Ive been playing standard solo tuned chromatic harmonica for a few years now am thinking of retuning a secondary harp in an alt tuning for more access to double stops or harmony across keys for tunes or accompanying others.

Would appreciate any thought on which tuning(s) I should choose (in terrible at choosing trade offs), I mostly play classical and folk but also some rock and bluesy stuff since they're crowded pleasers

Circular/spiral

Usually a diatonic tuning that gives all the common chords in a key with adjacent alternating minor and major thirds, I realized a Chromatic version of this could play half of all major/ minor chords with the rest faked as power chords (tongue blocked fifth double stops), looked it up and found a couple people gave tried it**.**

Pros: easy access access to all perfect fifths as well as half of all major 3rds and 7ths and the opposite half of minor 3rds and 7ths, ~three octaves in ten holes so more cuppable.

Cons: no octaves eg asymmetric, not truly key agnostic

The other two options are basically major/ minor variants of each other

Diminished

The most popular alt tuning for chroms, built on adjacent minor thirds. Diatonic players often like it bcs it only has three patterns to learn every standard scale and semitone bends on every draw unvalved (I like valved bends though so not too much of a draw either way).

pros: makes all minor 3rds, diminished 5ths, major 6ths, and octaves easily available. Allowing you to play root-third of minor chords and third-fifth of major chords

Cons: I don't find much of the Playing I find online inspiring, can sounds tense/unresolved to me, great for moody songs but could be undesirable otherwise

Wholetone/Augmented

Diminished's less popular little brother built on adjacent major thirds. Like dimi it only needs four patterns for standard scales but since every note up the scale is a whole tone step (slide filling the semitones) it eliminates any repeat notes giving it three octaves in ten holes

Pros: access to major 3rds, minor 6ths and octaves easily available. Allowing you to play root-third of major chords and third-fifth of minors, again ten holes cuppability

Cons: not much info online, should have the opposite end of the stick to diminished, resolved sounding harmonically though at least it has every augmented chord which do have an "unresolved" quality.

Thanks again for any advice, I might try retuning harps to two of them and choosing which I prefer.

Hi everyone !

First of all, Im a HUGE beginner, I started playing harmonica ten years ago because I always loved this instrument (my fav one) and blues is one of my favorite genre, but I didn't progress as much ever since. I dont know any musical theory and I struggle a lot to keep practice (+ Im so bad at improvisation, so sad). I dont play any other instrument except a few guitar chords and melody. Im searching for advice and explanations (very detailed if possible !), because other internet resources kinda lost me haha.

So recently with my friend we started a music project. I really want to explore the noisy side of the harmonica, and I dont know where to begin. I have a Hohner marine band in C, but I struggle with the first three holes and Im much more confortable with the 4-5-6 in general (the only ones I can bend). What could you advise me for a very low, very deep sound in term of other harmonica / key ? I like it when it sound rough, deep, low and bendable.

Second question : I would like to make some electric sounds with my harmonica, to play with the harsh noise wall / industrial / noisy / experimental / concrete style of our project. I think I understood that I need to buy a microphone to connect it to my amplifier (a very old guitar amplifier + my cats scratched it a bit haha, dont know where it comes, picture below). Do you have recommandations for microphones and maybe amplifier that could suit my idea ?

If you have any advice, i'll take it with pleasure ! i feel like a HUGE poser but right now we really want to start doing something with my friend so i guess i have to dig it for real. Thx !!

Hey guys, my grandpa died and he left behind an old harmonica, or at least I think it’s old. Id really love to use it but unfortunately I’m a big germaphobe so I’m wondering how I’d go about cleaning it. It looks like a mixture of metal and wood. Here are some pics.

Any help is appreciated, I also am not really sure what I have so any knowledge is also appreciated. Thank you!

Just got my 1st harmonica (easttop t008k) and learned piano man as my first song. Is this good for 1st day?

Super chromatica

I have several other keys in more "traditional" shaped harps. I came across these in a discussion of alternatives to the Special 20 to try and decided to pick one up in a key I didn't have. I love it!

The upper register is a little finicky for me so far, but it's brand new and it's a pretty high key, so I'm not surprised. I'm also not particularly good yet, so it's probably just user error.

Overall I'm very impressed with it.

Today picked Special 20 in A from the post (before I only had Big River in A and felt I want something more bendy) - and as soon as I got into home, I gave it a try - completely missing the fact that Dora the Dog will immediately join (the reason why I rarely try playing at home).

It probably is hardly recognizable - but I'm trying to play "Tout va tres bien, Madame la Marquise" - comic French song from 1930s.

My dad found this harmonica in his wardrobe, he bought it way before the pandemic, probably around 8 years ago (we only used for like, a week at the time). As you can see, it's probably kinda moldy, since the paper stored with it is moldy. I know nothing about harmonicas. How can I clean it so I won't get sick if I play it?

*(AI-Optimized).

I paid about $60 for each. They have 3 extra low note holes. Used the C for the audio.