Blues Chromatic

I play with Suzuki Manji for diatonic, and because of that I am more drawn to get my hands on a Chromatix SCX, instead of what david recommends (the hohner 270 deluxe). furthermore, do most blues players play the 12 hole version or the 16 one? cause someone told me I should get the 16 hole version. it's an expensive purchase so I'd like to be aware of my options :)

Would appreciate your recommendations,

Thanks,

Kobi

Hello Blues Chrome Players,

Just dropping in to say hello. I joined the site today and shared an original tune in the "Chromatic King" contest. Looking forward to hear other chrome blues players.

David, your site looks like it really has a lot to offer. So far I have only had a chance to listen to some of the interviews which are very entertaining and educational.

Keep on Blowin!

Marty

I'm sneaking up on LOA 5 where David introduces a chromatic song so thought I'd ask Santa for a 12 hole chromatic harp for Christmas. Like most new to the chromatic I've been searching for which one would be appropriate. That's a query that's likely repeated ad nauseum so I didn't want to just come to this forum and ask for a recommendation but I still have some uncertainty. continue reading...

Hello,

I'm a beginner-intermediate diatonic player and recently am getting into chromatic.  I bought a Hohner 12 Hole 270 Deluxe on Dave's recommendation, and it came yesterday.  It's a beautiful instrument but the 2-draw is choking on me a bit.  I can get it to play with a gentler attack but if I slap, which I love to do, it will pretty much choke each time. continue reading...

Hey all, I have been playing harp for many years and play quite often. I primarily play diatonic Marine Bands and play all night with a band and have no soreness on my lips, but when I play my Super 64 chromatic for a short while my upper lip gets sore from friction. It seems the cover on the comb causes more friction. Does anyone have any tips for cleaning, polishing, etc. that can help to alleviate this problem? Or is it just bad technique!

Winslow,

I'm working on my scales, learning to play the chromatic chromatically.  Currently I'm working on D major.  Do you have guidelines or rules for making enharmonic choices, when there are more then one way to play the same note (F/F#, C/C#)?  For example let's saying I'm playing a D major scale up and down from draw 1 to draw 5.  Which hole would you use for the C#, 4 or 5?  Would you play one hole going up the scale and another going down? continue reading...

Was recently gifted with first Chromatic. Friend gave me a 64 Chromonica - Professional. At least 20 years old, seems in reasonable shape. Certainly worth keeping and even having some great harmonica technician refurbish a bit. Does not need much. Slide a little sticky .. maybe a reed or two needs tweaking.... Howver my problem is I am not sure what I have. Went to David's intro to Chromatic and he gives basics. Is a C harp and should be a C# when operating slider. NOT... Stampted as a C .. but is clearly C# unless slider pushed and then it goes to C. continue reading...

Hi Winslow...Is it generally accepted that playing a chromatic harp is very different than playing a diantonic.  I am specifically referring to the amount of air required to get decent volume.  I recently purchased a Hohner 270 Deluxe, and after adjusting the the gap on holes one and two, I am still finding that it requires more air than a diatonic.  Before I adjusted the gap, I found holes one and two were choking on both blow and draw if I blew too hard.

Homer.

Hi, Winslow.

What is happening (and where, and when) at SPAH this year on Tuesday night? I didn't see anything about it on the website.

Thanks.

Mark H.

Hello, Winslow thank you so much in advance.

I have found a way to do the Octave while using the Diatonic by putting just the tip of my tongue pointing down slightly into the the adjacent hole to the right of the left most note in the octave.

e.g.

for the 1 4 octave, I use the 2nd hole to place my tongue. It is the left center tip of the tongue going slightly down.

My tongue has a definite U block shape or a channel and I am constantly working on a basic flat tongue, Tongue block technique, blocking the holes to the left and sounding the note to the right. continue reading...