Members Mr Lucky Pants Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 My friend and me need to get a harmonica...we play in the key of Eb on guitar and need something that will match up well. I've heard that the Hohner Special 20 in the Key of C is thee harmonica to buy for beginners, but am unsure whether this will mate up well with our songs, since we tune our guitars flat and need that tuning for the songs we are covering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prages Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 A C harmonica will work great if you tune to standard and all of your songs are in C or Am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dega500 Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 All your songs are in Eb? Or you tune your guitars a 1/2 step down to Eb? According to Wikipedia:Key of Eb major= Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, and D To play crossharp, I think you need an Ab (the fourth note in the scale) harmonica. I actually went through this years ago when a band I played bass in (and tuned down 1/2 step) wanted to play "If You Want To Get To Heaven". Your harp will have to change with the actual key of each song. Good Luck, Dega Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members csm Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 ^^^^^^ Correct -- if you're a harp novice, you'll end up playing either in 1st position (think Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Jimmy Reed) which requires a harp in the same key as the song, or else 2nd position or 'cross harp' (see above), where the harp is the 4th of the key of the song. By the time you get to explore 3rd and 5th positions (respectively: one whole-step below the key of the song and two whole-steps below; don't even ASK about the notoriously difficult 4th), you will know all, grasshopper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dega500 Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 A novice I am! I bow to the great csm! I had no idea! Thanks, Dega Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eddie Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 I have nothing to add since CSM comment covered, but I'll add an old file of me playing cross harp in the first HC cyber-jam we had many years ago. This is just the harp section. http://soundclick.com/share?songid=4024522 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr Lucky Pants Posted February 17, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 All your songs are in Eb? Or you tune your guitars a 1/2 step down to Eb?According to Wikipedia:Key of Eb major= Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, and DTo play crossharp, I think you need an Ab (the fourth note in the scale) harmonica. I actually went through this years ago when a band I played bass in (and tuned down 1/2 step) wanted to play "If You Want To Get To Heaven". Your harp will have to change with the actual key of each song.Good Luck,Dega Thanks for the reply. Not all of ours songs are Eb, but it's what we tune to. Not sure what you mean by 'crossharp'...you're saying I should get an Ab harmonica? Why not an Eb harmonica? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funkwire Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 You use cross harp to play blues harp....if you play a harp in the same key as the song you're singing, everything is major-scale based and can sound like 'Oh, Susanah'. You can play blues on a straight harp, but it's more difficult...I tried an example out of Tony Glover's book years ago and gave up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eddie Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 You use cross harp to play blues harp....if you play a harp in the same key as the song you're singing, everything is major-scale based and can sound like 'Oh, Susanah'.You can play blues on a straight harp, but it's more difficult...I tried an example out of Tony Glover's book years ago and gave up. Typically blues is played in cross-harp, but you can play it in straight harp as well. Like you said, it's just more difficult. Bending can get tricky. I liked Glover's books, btw. Very enjoyable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eddie Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 Thanks for the reply. Not all of ours songs are Eb, but it's what we tune to. Not sure what you mean by 'crossharp'...you're saying I should get an Ab harmonica? Why not an Eb harmonica? As CSM said, if you play a harmonica in the same key as the song it's straight harp. In your case, Eb.Ab is the 4th of Eb. Playing a harmonica in the 4th of the song's key is referred to as cross-harp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thick_mike Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 My friend and me need to get a harmonica...we play in the key of Eb on guitar and need something that will match up well. I've heard that the Hohner Special 20 in the Key of C is thee harmonica to buy for beginners, but am unsure whether this will mate up well with our songs, since we tune our guitars flat and need that tuning for the songs we are covering. You're going to have to change your avatar if you want people to read your posts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eddie Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 You're going to have to change your avatar if you want people to read your posts! I guess it's Misty May. And no, I did not have to look at the name (Just Kidding) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thick_mike Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 I guess it's Misty May. And no, I did not have to look at the name (Just Kidding) Is there writing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members headstash Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 Definitely Misty's better half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted February 17, 2010 Members Share Posted February 17, 2010 I think what the OP means is that they downtune the strings to E flat...not that he plays in the key of E flat all the time. You'd probably want a "B" harmonica instead of a "C" harmonica for playing "straight harp" songs in what would be the C position normally. I would think A flat would be good for crossharp blues in E flat F# would be used instead of G for straight harp tunes normally in G...but F# harps are usually very highly pitched...not my fave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funkwire Posted February 18, 2010 Members Share Posted February 18, 2010 Typically blues is played in cross-harp, but you can play it in straight harp as well. Like you said, it's just more difficult. Bending can get tricky.I liked Glover's books, btw. Very enjoyable. I met Tony once. Told him I liked his books. He completely ignored me. Oh well...the books ARE good. And I still enjoy Koerner, Ray, and Glover! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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