Re: Like to learn

[Pierre <slavio@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Diatonic harmonicas were designed to play whole notes. People figured a =
long time ago that some of the notes can be bent allowing some of the =
sharps and flats to be played (and also some missing notes). You can =
bend some notes down 1 to 3 semi-tones. Its difficult to play blues or =
at least good blues without bends.

To start learning, you can learn with either a chromatic or a diatonic. =
Since you're a fan of jazz and classical, you may want to start with a =
Chromatic. I started with diatonics; after playing diatonics for about a =
year I  bought a Chromatic. Initially I found it was cool as what I had =
learned on the diatonic, I could play on the Chromatic (diatonic only =
tunes). But after a while I stopped playing it because it felt too =
impersonal because of its size or perhaps just because I had gotten so =
used to the diatonic. One day I will go back to it.
=20
About 20 years ago Howard Levy figured out techniques that allow missing =
notes to be played (overblows/overdraws). So now some people play =
diatonics chromatically. But this requires a lot of practice. If you =
want to play chromatically quickly, I suggest you learning with a Chro. =
If blues is mainly what you want, I would say go with the diatonic =
although I have heard great blues on a Chro.

Pierre.






 =20







  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Ballou Family=20
  To: harp-l=20
  Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 5:09 AM
  Subject: Re: Like to learn


  Took a quick look at Coast to Coast =
http://coast2coastmusic.com/cgi-bin/cart and =
http://www.harmonicalessons.com/ Have them both bookmarked. Thanks. =
Saving pennies is a good thing! My daughter is heading off to an =
out-of-state private college next fall.=20

  I am in Amherst, New Hampshire. 30 min. south of Manchester, 30 min. =
west of Nashua. Thanks for the offer to tutor in Maine, but you=92re an =
hour and a half at best, and my schedule won=92t stretch that much. =
I=92m commuting 65 miles to work (nights), 60 miles for harp lessons and =
50 miles for bassoon lessons each week ( all one way). I really need =
something much closer. If I don=92t find someone sooner, maybe I=92ll =
hook up with someone in Lowell this summer.

  Music interest - Jazz, Swamp Blues, Folk, Pop, Classical. I was going =
to post a list of artists, but it is 314 names.
  I played clarinet for 4 years and then switched to Double Bass which I =
kept up with for 6. Part of that was in a full orchestra and part in a =
jazz band.
  We=92ve had the pleasure of listening to my daughter for 6 years, but =
she=92s taking her harp with her when she leaves for college. (47 string =
Lyon and Healy concert grand) My son has also taken up music. He plays a =
Fox 240 bassoon and is leaning toward classical, but still pulls out a =
little swamp blues once in a while. He=92s playing first chair at =
All-State this afternoon.

  Until I started reading replies to my request, I didn=92t know there =
were different kinds of harmonica. I also see, on the Hohner web site, =
there is an =93Octave Tuned=94, =93Tremolo=94, and =93Orchestral.=93 I =
guess those are specialty units.
  From what I=92ve gotten here, I guess I should start out with a Hohner =
Special 20, Jerry Portnoy's Masterclass CD set and Jamey Aebersold's =
Jazz Handbook. (Lee Oskar=92s Major Diatonic? Golden Melody? Chrometta?) =
My taste does lean more toward classical, so I guess a chromatic is in =
my future? Or would it be better to start off with one? I do prefer to =
pay a bit more for higher quality now than have to repurchase something =
later and have the first gather dust in a closet. I did, however, see a =
$1200 chromatic on Hohner=92s web site that I think is a bit tooooo =
much.
  If the CDs are confusing I=92ll look into some of the other =
recommendations. Not sure what a =93cave man thing=94 is, but a couple =
years ago I walked out on day 3 of a 5 day class I paid $850 for because =
the instructor spent half of his time playing air guitar. (It was a =
radiation safety class)=20


    ... Here's the basics (apologies if you already know some of this =
stuff).


  No worries there, I don=92t know nuffin=92. In fact, I couldn=92t =
answer some of the questions above before I got to this post.

  Another question; what is =93bending=94 and is it a good thing? =
Reading some of the descriptions for the various harmonicas, I see that =
some of them are easier to =93bend=94 a note with. On my son=92s bassoon =
it means he can vary the pitch slightly with mouth/air pressure. Same =
thing?


  Shopping list:
  Harmonica -
  Special 20?
  Lee Oskar=92s Major Diatonic?
  Golden Melody?
  Chrometta?
  Jerry Portnoy's Masterclass CD set
  Jamey Aebersold's Jazz Handbook.

  Library/book store search:
  David Harp's books

  Web reading:
  http://www.angelfire.com/tx/myquill/=20
  http://www.angelfire.com/music/HarpOn/
  www.coast2coastmusic.com=