(Part 4) Top products from r/harmonica

The hohner Marine Band is certainly a good harmonica. The wood comb gives you a nice sound but you'll just need to be careful with it as it's a little more sensitive to moisture. Hohner also makes the Special 20 which has a plastic comb. Then there's the Lee Oscar, the Hohner Golden Melody (a little more expensive than the others), and the Suzuki Harpmaster. They are all pretty good and I don't think you can go wrong with any of the above, even the Marine Band, just remember about the wooden comb and research the best ways to take care of it and clean it.

The best key to start with is C because that's what most instructional material is based on and is considered the "standard" beginner harmonica. I imagine that you want a G because that's what's used in heart of gold and that's fine but I'd also recommend getting a C as well so you can play along with most of the instructional material out there. (Maybe get some different types of harmonicas in different keys as a way of seeing which you like)

Finally to start learning, I'd recommend Adam Gussow's beginner special and really, any of his lessons. He has a bunch of free ones on youtube so you can get a sense of his style. He has 2 part introduction video which would be a good place to start. part 1 and part 2.

Good luck, the harmonica is a fun instrument!

As /u/Smufflegump has noted, Hohner, Seydel, and Suzuki all make high quality harps. But its more important to note their specific high-quality harmonica. Hohner does makes $5 pieces of crap, so don't just buy based on the company name.

Hohner Special 20 a great starter harp, but it isn't as high quality as the Hohner Crossover. The Seydel Session Steel is the high-quality harp from Seydel.

I dunno Suzuki, although I hear they make good Harps as well.

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I personally only have a Hohner 1896 Marine Band. Its not bad, but the nails make it difficult to service. The harder, sharper wood is also abrasive while playing. If I were to redo things, I'd get a screw-based Harmonica (Lee Oskar or The Hohner Special 20).

One day I'll buy the top tier Harmonicas and try them out (like the Session Steel or Crossover). But I definitely can say that the ~$40 tier is perfectly acceptable for a beginner. I did have to adjust the reed distances to perform overblows however (it was literally impossible to do a 4th hole overblow until I took the harmonica apart and pushed the reeds around), which is why I'd suggest something that can be easily taken apart (ie: Special 20 or Lee Oskar). Lee Oskar gets bonus points for selling the individual reed plates to their harmonicas. If you bust your Lee Oskar due for any reason, buy a reed plate for half-off and you can fix it.

A diatonic Harmonica can be played chromatically if you learn to control the squeaky overblows, and master bending to the correct pitch. But more often, musicians seem to just buy another Harmonica in a different key, or buy a chromatic harmonica.

In any case, the "bluesy" notes come from the 2nd hole and 3rd hole draw bends. All harmonica players need to master these. The overblow technique is very advanced and doesn't seem to be used very often... but needs to be mastered if you want to play something crazy like Wammer Jammer.

Intensive practice can yield good results if you're sensible.

Temper your expectations.

• You learn at the pace you learn; you won't get good overnight.
  
  
• Treasure your victories, however small. A win is a win.
  
  
• Be patient with yourself.
  
  Pace yourself.
  
  
• Break up your practice into shorter sessions so you don't burn out.
  
  
• Work intensively on one small thing at a time.
  
  
• Break your learning into "chunks." It's easier to work on one chunk at a time and then string them together.
  
  
• Work on something, go away for awhile, then come back again, but don't wait too long. Learning can evaporate if left too long, but can be strengthened by short intervals between working on the same thing.
  
  
• Alternate practice with other activities so you stay fresh.
  
  Don't give up.
  
  
• Frustration is always greatest just before a breakthrough.
  
  
• Consistency will get you there in time.
  
  Learn from the best
  
  
• Get a good harmonica book or video course. (I humbly submit that mine, Harmonica For Dummies, with 408 pages, tons of audio examples along with online videos and animations, is one of them).
  
  
• Learn about good learning strategies. I recommend Daniel Coyle's The Little Book of Practice.

When it's time to polish the metal, head to your local version of Walmart or Amazon and pick up some aluminum polish. I use Mother's. It's strong enough to work on the metals harmonicas use, but also pretty gentle. Just rub that on and if your cloth starts going black it's working. Get that elbow grease going and every few minutes wipe it off so you can see your progress. Repeat until fine scratches are gone and it's shiny new.

If you have deeper scratches, then you'll need to use sandpaper in increasingly finer grades first. 120 -> 220 -> 400 -> 1000 -> aluminum polish will take a seriously messed up cover plate to shiny new in about 15 minutes total. It's pretty easy to do.

This pack of sandpaperwill do hundreds of harps

Mother's polish

I have three of these. C, A, and G. They were the first that I bought. They are awful harps. They will only hinder and frustrate you as you attempt to learn to play. Out of tune, difficult to bend, and they totally lack the full sound you get from a better harp.

My wife is a professional musician and she gave me the best advice I've ever received when it comes to shopping for a harp. She said when it comes to buying a first instrument, always, always get the best you can afford. If you're serious about learning that instrument it's a great investment. You'll appreciate it more, it will make learning easier, and when you reach the point that you're actually good at playing you won't have to "upgrade" to something more serious.

With that advice, I bought a Suzuki Promaster in the key of C and proceeded to develop in leaps and bounds over the last few years. Trust me, you will be blown away by the difference.

tl;dr: Get a good harp. Don't mess around with cheap Chinese made crap.

It's not quite as cool looking as your example, but if you're looking for Dylan specifically there's the Dylan Signature Hohner that comes in a box that looks like this:

Pic 1

Pic 2

It's not really that much cheaper at about 120$. I also don't own it so I cant tell you how well the box is suitable for your needs.

I'll have a look if I can find anything else closer to your example pic.

EDIT: Just went through the Amazon reviews and some of the customers complaned that the received only the harmonica in a plastic bag (without the case). Make sure that wherever you buy it you get the box with it. You can send that harmonica my way anytime btw :)

I dont know any as I taught myself based on my knowledge of other instruments. I would recommend if you are going to do it to spend your money on a real book sixth edition to get a bunch of jazz melodies/chords and irealpro to practice soloing over them. I think the embouchures pretty similar so you shouldnt need much besides forcing yourself to actually use the slide (jazz tunes tend to go through a few keys so you will get a slide workout). Some of the guys on slidemeister have strong opinions on chromatic books if that peaks your interest.

If you ever want a theory book I recommend: https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Music-Concepts-Applications-Vol/dp/0070654743

Its serious but I learned so much. One thing that might help you is looking up functional harmony. Its basically the theory of what chords lead where. It changed everything for me because I learned to imply other chords on top of simple progressions while stilling moving with them.

I do not have experience with these mentioned but if you're looking for a steel reed harp I highly recommend the Suzuki Promaster. I bought one in D on a whim and ended up getting an A after a month or two.

If you ever try both I'd love to hear a comparison! Sucks that you can't try before you buy

Sonny Boy does the no hands thing in this video.
But I think OP is referring to tiny harmonicas like these. They have one full octave and are surprisingly easy to pucker. They are a real instrument, not just a toy. You can get them on Amazon for about $30 (though there are other brands as well).

There are lots of little amps and mics out there, but the bottom end of the mic market is about $100 by itself. I got a Shaker Mad Cat

For cheap portable battery powered amps you can go as low as the Honeytone. I got one for $20 at Guitar center. It is a terrible amp, but it can be used for some things. For around $100 I got a Roland Micro Cube. I always thought that would make a pretty good busking amp. It models, it has reasonable control of tone, and it isn't a bad speaker. Battery life is really good.

Do you think they might get a kick out of something a little out of the ordinary? Hohner makes a tremolo harp in the $20-$30 range. Look up Hohner Echo Celeste.

Also, this octave harmonica looks really cool and affordable. Link

I'm working through this book. I'm not sure if other members will have a better recommendation.

https://www.amazon.com/HOHNER-C-12-Hohner-Harmonica-Case/dp/B0002J4JTW

http://www.amazon.com/Suzuki-Promaster-Valved-Harmonica-D/dp/B0014MYT1E/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1382384304&sr=8-10&keywords=promaster+harmonica

this is the link

It's this one right here. Wouldn't double as a fallout shelter but it seems sturdy enough.