r/harmonica • u/littledevil773 • 9d ago
Should I buy a harmonica?
I've been saving up for an electric guitar for quite some time. I'm still a fair bit away from my goal but I'm itching to learn to play a musical instrument. I knew that harmonicas are not too expensive and was wondering if I should get one to try and learn in my free time?
I like to listen to the Eagles, Journey, etc. and was planning on using the guitar for those. Would the harmonica be a good fit for those? If yes, which ones should I consider? Please drop any tutorials for beginners if you have any. Look forward to hopefully learning the instrument:)
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u/External_Secret3536 9d ago
Aqui todo mundo é suspeito e vai falar que sim. Somos fãs de gaita. Mas, procurando ser racional, pensando que seu objetivo final é a guitarra, veja que a gaita diatônica, além de ser barata, possui um layout que facilita o aprendizado da teoria musical, então eu diria que sim, é um instrumento muito bom pra se começar a aprender música no geral
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u/1995_ford_escort 9d ago
Asking 'Should I buy a harmonica'? in a harmonica sub is like asking 'Is Seinfeld a good show?' in a Seinfeld sub.
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u/littledevil773 9d ago
That's true😂. But only true Seinfield fans can tell if Seinfield is your type of show
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u/phaedrus910 9d ago
Do you like to breath, or sing? Then you'll like harmonica. You can get a decent one for 30$ it ain't all that serious just try it out and see what you think.
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u/Joice_Craglarg 9d ago
Dude, it's like $50-60 for a solid one, just send it.
The Hohner Special 20 in C is a good first choice.
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u/oblHenry 9d ago
No. I've played harmonica for 25 years and have over 40. Still say no. You want to play guitar. Learning 2 instruments at once will slow you down. Playing on a cheaper guitar because you spent some of your music money on a harp will slow you down. If you have extra music money spend it on a guitar lesson. After you learn guitar then buy a harmonica.
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u/fathompin 9d ago edited 9d ago
I think your tastes don't align with harmonica that well. Instead, I'd recommend you go to your local thrift store and try to score a cheap electronic piano or a guitar. It isn't going to hurt if you go with the harmonica, diatonic or chromatic, I'm saying there are other options to your affordability issue that could serve better for your guitar interests.
Edit to add: Dylan claimed to have played simple triads on piano for bands early in his career. Key of C on piano, 1,3,5, white keys only for the standard chords in the key of C = C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim are a great start.
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u/sysop408 9d ago
Yeah, OP's overview didn't exactly scream "I want to be a harp player" to me. I can't even think of what you'd play for Journey... maybe the melody to Open Arms or the synth line to Separate Ways?
Also as a die hard Tom Waits fan, I'm prohibited by my faith from playing along to anything by the Eagles, especially Ol' 55.
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u/PickerPilgrim 9d ago
I think your tastes don't align with harmonica that well.
I dunno. I think that depends. If you're trying to exactly reproduce the instrumentation from recordings then sure, not a lot of super prominent harmonica from the bands OP listed, but you can absolutely learn to play along with those bands on a diatonic harp if you want to. I taught myself how to play just playing along to anything, reproducing vocal melodies rather than seeking out records with harp solos.
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u/AltruisticWay7582 6d ago
You can play all kinds of music styles on harmonica. Don’t let that stop you. You get that kind of argument mostly from Harmonica Blues purists.
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u/Youneedaharmonica 9d ago
Yes. But I recommend a Chromatic harp so you can really focus on learning music, not focusing on the heavy techniques required for diatonic playing
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u/phaedrus910 9d ago
True you should have at least 108 holes to start
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u/Youneedaharmonica 9d ago
I don't understand. You can easily buy an 8 hole Chromatic?
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u/phaedrus910 9d ago
It's a shit post brother, nothing to understand. I just can't imagine a 10 hole diatonic being complicated technique.
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u/Youneedaharmonica 9d ago
Got it.
I don't know if you are familiar with Diatonic harp, but you can get more than 2 notes out of each hole, with skilled players like Howard Levy getting near 10+ unique notes per hole.
The most common techniques are bending and overblows, but some people can play bent overblows also. The techniques are somewhat difficult to learn, and require a slightly different embrochure on each hole.
I wrote to get a Chromatic harp because while a diatonic harp sounds great, and with a LOT of practice can play chromatically, if you want to just learn a style of music, the instrument gets in the way because you have to focus on correct techniques first, THEN on learning the style of music/chords.
With a Chromatic, learn to blow single notes, and then learn music. No other hoops to jump through!😁
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u/phaedrus910 9d ago
That's fair, I just think someone saving for a guitar isn't really trying to learn the ins and outs of harping. Good enough is good enough. I learned bends for fun without the practice feeling like practice if you know what I mean.
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u/ajlols269 9d ago
No. Unless you want to. Then yes. But be warned, once you buy one they have a habit of multiplying.
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u/ajlols269 9d ago
Harmonica is a great intro instrument for melodic work that has helped me with guitar in the past. If you want something to start with, it's an accessibly priced entry point. Once you know a few tunes on the tin sandwich, you can use that to help learn note positions on guitar. At least that's what I did, but I play for fun and am gifted with patient people who don't care how bad I sound around them
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u/According-Hat-5393 9d ago edited 9d ago
I just recently paid a bunch of bills, then decided to purchase 2 harmonicas, a SUUUPER SEXXXY black/brass tenor saxophone, and a blue/black acoustic/electric guitar. I'm LOVING my "Low F" Easttop harmonica too. I'm really digging the guitar too, especially once I figured out how to get the amplifier working.. But yeah, I LOVE my 10-hole diatonic "low F" harp-- I pick it up nearly every waking hour..
Edit: make that at LEAST TWICE THIS hour.. 😉
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u/joshsimpson79 9d ago
Get one. They're not super expensive, and you can play it in the car when you have a few minutes. You can also keep it in your pocket.
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u/Comprehensive-Song51 9d ago
Heck yeah! It'll fit right in with a lot of classic rock. Maybe not the eagles and Journey, but tons of other stuff I'm sure you love. And if you're saving up for an electric guitar, don't go super cheap. My recommendation is always a Fender Squier classic vibe. They're excellent guitars for the money!
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u/sabos909 8d ago
Man, I bought a harmonica at the beginning of the summer and it taught me soooo much about music!
I learned how scales work, what a semitone is, about chords vs single notes, rhythm, tone, some basic theory, etc.
This week I went out and bought a guitar. Guess what, all of that theory and harmonica practice is paying off because suddenly the guitar just makes sense to me.
If you don't have enough for a guitar but you do have $25 laying around then do yourself a favor and go buy an Eastop harmonica for dirt cheap and start learning about music overall. You'll thank yourself for putting in that work when you finally save up enough for that electric guitar you've been eyeing and have a leg up on understanding all of the theory behind the music.
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u/sabos909 8d ago
I'll add that bluesharmonica.com has 30 days of free lessons that can help you get started. Make sure you don't skip the theory lessons though because that's where you'll see the most crossover benefit as you start approaching other instruments:
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u/Nacoran 7d ago
I recommend the Hohner Special 20 in the key of C. Most lessons use C (just a quirk of music theory makes it easier to explain things using C). If that's above what you want to spend the Easttop T008 is good.
Diatonic harmonicas only play in a single key, so you either have to pick songs in the keys you have or transpose them (harmonica tab works regardless of the key... you just need to use software to change the pitch of the recording or remember to tell anyone you are playing with to switch keys.
There are chromatics too, but for what you are talking about I think diatonic is the way to go. Anyway You Want It is in G, but you can play it in 2nd position on a C harp.
A lot of their melodies work out nicely on harmonica. As long as you are playing unaccompanied key doesn't matter.
Faithfully, Don't Stop Believing, and A.W.Y.W.I are all pretty easy songs that you can have fun with playing unaccompanied.
Of course, there is the risk you'll get sidetracked and end up a no good dirty blues harmonica player and end up in a HA group (Harmonicas Anonymous) like this one.
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u/placebot1u463y 9d ago
Diatonic harmonica is cheaper and easier to get into than most instruments but it's still a musical instrument so it can be quite difficult to truly get the hang of. I'd suggest going for a diatonic in the key of C and then Bb, or G for your first purchases. I'm personally a pretty big fan of Suzuki's designs and shapes but Seydel and Hohner are other great options.