Nivedan's Tips on Harmonica - Types of Harmonica

Initially, my friends played notes one by one patiently on keyboard or guitar and let me find that note in the Harmonica by trial and error until I got it. After regular practice, I started to play songs once I heard them. But note that I could play only C scale. Maybe this is the best way for a novice to learn that. All you need is a keyboardist with loads of patience.

Normal ones do not play more than one scale. Getting a practice piece in C scale itself was quite an achievement in madurai :D But later, when my brother went to Germany, when he was with Siemens, he got me a professional piece. It is a chromatic harmonica which is tuned to C scale by default, but you can play all scales by pushing a small button to close full notes to access half notes that do not find place in C scale. Let me explain this. There is an inhale note and an exhale note in a harmonica. In Chromonica there are two pairs of such reeds in a hole. With the button in normal position you can play one set of notes and with the button pushed, you can play half notes in the same holes. But I had no time or motivation to practice with that. It will take years of practice to learn that.

I had used three harmonicas before. The first one was a c scale practice piece by Matth Hohner called "Puck". It is tiny and has plastic comb (The core that forms the holes). It was the easiest of all to play. You need not strain much and it is too sensitive to the air. The notes sound great. As a beginner you won't be exhausted fast. But the disadvantage is, it is too small to hold. The air you blow won't seep through the joints between the comb and the metal covers (That is essential if you wan't to create effects like the 'wah-wah' effect (CHECKOUT THE SITE- www.harmonicalessons.com to learn playing it and create modulations. It helped me long time back. I hope the site still exists) . So, it will sound loud and it will be easy to play, but the modulations won't sound professional.

My second Harmonica was a semi-pro C scale Matth Hohner Blues Harp. It was the only piece that I used on stages. It won't sound as good as puck as long as you do not know the basics. It has a solid wooden comb and it is good to hold and make great modulations. If you shift to this from Puck, you should do atleast 3 hrs of practice, otherwise you will be a flop on stage, with loss of breath. It requires more energy to blow, but it sounds great with acoustic guitar on a professional microphone and amplified speakers.

The last one is a pucca professional piece- Matth Hohner Chromonica. Unfortunately, as I told earlier, I don't have time and motivation to play that. It is also too hard to play and one has to practice atleast 4-6 hrs everyday. If ever you want to learn that, my suggestion is not to buy a wooden combed professional piece. Get something like the Puck. It is cheap (I got it for Rs. 650 sever years ago). If you do not have a keyboardist, listen to songs and try to practice (Titan watch music was the first song I practised- It took me 3 days to identify the notes).