Hey everyone, here are some sites, links, pictures, guides, videos, and other miscellaneous schtuff to help you get started or improve your harp playing. Please..indulge :)
www.harptabs.com - Awesome site with tabs for every level of harmonica playing and a great search engine to help you sift through songs, artists, key of harmonica, and even type of harmonica. Definitely recommend favoriting this.
http://www.riccardos.org/harmonicas/scales/in_pictures/all_one_page.shtml - Great site to visually see what the different scales on the harp are. I definitely did some more research on wikipedia and google to find out what the hell these all meant..but in the end visualizing the notes definitely helps.
http://www.harmonicagame.com/ - Personally, I've never used this but it seems pretty cool and helpful if you're into virtual learning. I actually recommend going to Target and getting one of those $15 cheap ass harmonicas that come with the manual and learning cd...just for the manual and learning cd. The manual is super helpful and starts from the very beginning and there are two cd's; a video tutorial and a harp-along audio cd. The tutorial is really really helpful and goes into all these different techniques and kinda how to do them. The key to getting them down really is just practice.
http://www.angelfire.com/oh/rseverns/harp.html - Here are some pretty simple blues riffs and tabs that with practice you can eventually string together to make your very own blues song :) It comes with some really helpful sound clips to make sure you're not too far off. It's always nice to hear what it's supposed to sound like and get a general idea of rhythm and bending and such.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonica - Wikipedia has rarely failed me and it's harmonica section is definitely not one of those rarities. This is a VERY useful page for learning about the history, the dynamics, the mechanics and types of the harmonica. Not to mention, it has some PHENOMONAL harp players. Check these guys out, or you can listen to the show and hear most of them..or doing both is an option too :)
http://www.seydel1847.de/epages/Seydel.sf/en_GB/?ObjectID=834581 - My god, i have no idea what i would do without this thing. Without having any sort of musical training or knowledge of music theory, its been pretty difficult to understand this whole key-of-harmonica to key-of-song thing. This is a converter where you put in the key of harmonica you have and it tells you what key of songs you should play it in. Very, very, very useful. Like having Legolas on your side.
http://www.harmonicalinks.com/malerock.html - Here are some harp players with a paragraph on their background and some links. If you're looking for some influences or confused on who to buy, check these guys out.
http://www.harmonicaspace.com/index.php?error=TRUE - This is pretty sweet..its like myspace for harmonica players!! So cool! Get some social harp networking here, meet some local musicians in the area, learn about the latest and the greatest in harmonica technology...things are getting pretty innovative with designs and the reeds and such. I need to update my profile..but befriend me!..once i remember my username that is...
http://www.madcatmusic.net/links.html - This is a pretty sick site with tons of other harp sites on it. There's a ton of stuff and I've barely had time to go through it, but it looks very promising! Check it out yourselves!!
http://www.harpinanawhinin.com/lists/blues_song_keys.htm - Here are some songs specified by what key they are by some of the harmonica greats. Pull these songs up on youtube and harp along!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apm_psk7NN0 - I saved the best for last...Now there are thousands of "How To" vids on youtube..especially for harmonica. But personally, I think Jason Ricci's is the most detailed, informed, and just all around best to watch. This is the very first instructional youtube video of Ricci teaching you how to play harmonica. Its in key of C. Go and watch all the videos in order. Take notes. Watch them over and over and over. Play along with him. Notice how his hair style changes in each video. Then go out and by his new cd. Jason Ricci is freaking amazing at harmonica and at life and is pushing the boundaries on what harmonicas can do. I just don't even have the words to describe how awesome this guy is. Take his free lessons and leave nice comments. He likes those.
Random Notes:
Upon buying your first harmonica, buy a C. Most songs, tabs, and instructional videos are in key of C. If you're really diggin' the blues you're next harp sound be an A or a Bb (B-flat), these have traditional delta blues John Hooker style sounds to them. If you like to sound like a sailor or an Irishman, I suggest you buy an E harmonica. If you want to sound like you work for Dracula as his background music guy whenever he leaves his coffin, go buy an F#m (H) harmonica.
Hope these tips are helpful!
Happy Harpin' - Dj Kamakazzi
