harmonicas ?????

[Oldrottenhead]

i was thinking of getting a harmonica, but should i buy a few, as they come in different keys. years ago i bought one and the sales assistant asked what key i would like it in. ?? anything sez i none the wiser. i think i musta got an F# or something cos it was useless, i couldn't use it to accompany anything.

so the crux of the question, should i buy one, say in the key of C , or a couple in different keys? or one for each key? i once saw neil young on tv and his pockets where bulging with different harmonicas.

[henwrench]

Yeah, they come in different keys. So you'll need at least 3. I guess an A, an E and a C should cover most things for a while....

                                                         henwrench

[Oldrottenhead]

cheers henny

[thetworegs]

I bought these a while back to learn on http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hohner-Seven-Piece-Blues-Harmonica/dp/B001J0LLVC/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1373550955&sr=8-10&keywords=Harmonica 

[Geir]

I bought these a while back to learn on http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hohner-Seven-Piece-Blues-Harmonica/dp/B001J0LLVC/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1373550955&sr=8-10&keywords=Harmonica 

Yep, got those too. Got them from my kids one christmas

[64Guitars]

You can also get a chromatic harmonica. They can play all 12 notes of the scale, so you can play in any key. I would imagine that they might be a bit harder to master than a blues harp, but they have the advantage that you don't need one for each key. See the following WikiPedia article for other pros and cons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_harmonica

I believe that John Lennon used a chromatic harmonica on many of The Beatles' early hits such as Love Me Do. Stevie Wonder also played a chromatic.

But chromatics are expensive, so you might be better off with a set of blues harps, as suggested by others.

[na_th_an]

Thomann sells a set with all 12 keys and it's not too expensive:

http://www.thomann.de/es/harley_benton_blues_harp_set.htm

I have a friend who bought it and doesn't have complains.

[ODH]

Stevie Wonder also played a chromatic.

Stevie Wonder's like a harmonica god though, a harmonica SME.

I had a chromatic many years ago, couldn't get my head around it at all.  Having said that I was never much cop with a regular blues harp either.  How do you get the notes to bend?

[na_th_an]

That's like black magic to me. And I have tried.

[Oldrottenhead]

cheers guys.