So I thought I'd start this re-opening of the blog by describing my harmonica journey thus far.
I started harmonica because it was cheap, and because I could play without require much effort from my tender wrists.
As most people do, I started on a diatonic (Hohner Special 20 in C). However that didn't last super long - I was confused by the fact it was a diatonic instrument, and I had to do weird things to get "all the notes". And most diatonic harmonica you could head on YouTube was blues - and it felt like it was always the same thing, and always over exagerated.
Then following some advice on a forum, I discovered the chromatic harmonica. Not only did it have "all the notes", but the kind of music I heard people play on chromatic was much more to my liking.
And so I got my first Chromatic, a Larry Alder Pro 12 in C, which I got second hand on ebay. At the same time I got the Method for Chromatic Harmonica by Max de Aloe - the main selling point of which being that it was the only method for chromatic I could find on the internet ! Time passed, I continued playing, did my first small recordings (first recording ever was "Drunken Sailor" !). Eventually I got a second Chromatic Harmonica: A Suzuki SCX56 in C. I loved it, it was a lot smoother to play, and so I continued learning with said method.
Eventually I ditched the method - can't remember when exactly. It's not a bad method, but it was geared towards Jazz. And the ryhtmic part was progressing too quickly for me - something I was struggling on, and I was being kept back on things where the melody was simpler, and the rythm too hard for me. I wanted to play more variety type music, with more interesting melodies and less bothersome rythms.
For a while I got into Irish Traditional Music, bought Brendon Power's Irish Music for the Chromatic Harmonica in C, and recorded "Morning Star" on the Suzuki, which I posted on a forum (me: very proud). I learned a few more pieces of Irish Traditional Music, and that got me to want a tremolo harmonica, as I felt the sound was quite appropriate to the style.
I was by then very used to the solo tuning used on Chromatic, and so got a Seydel Fanfare in G. The Seydel Fanfare is a unique instrument, as it's a tremolo harmonica, but is build like a Chromatic, without a slider and - crucially - using solo tuning, which made me feel safer.
I loved the sound so much, I stopped playing my Chromatics, and played only the Fanfare. Funilly, even though I got it for Irish Music, I mostly played variety (did a cover of French tune "Pierrot" by Renaud, which was well received on my forum). And I loved the sound so much, I wanted another tremolo. Couldn't afford another Fanfare though, so decided to get a Suzuki Humming Tremolo (in D) because it was described as "solo tuning without the extra tonic", which is kind of correct, and kind of not. I'll write later about that tuning.
That harmonic really changed my approach to learning music - and I'll write more about that too - because I was forced to play intuitively, and by ear. There are 21 rather small holes, which are not numbered. You can't look for hole 14, or you can't look for the F. You have to learn by ear. This has really tought me to play intuitively, and now if I can sing of whistle a tune, I can get it pretty quickly on the harmonica.
By now you'll notice I've pretty much embraced the diatonic scale - I don't have "all the notes", and I don't care - I think having less notes is also what's helped me find my way to more intuitive music.
That's it - that's where I'm at now ! Let's see where this goes next :)