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[Afro Droid]

Anyone got one? Are they hard to play? Compared to a regular set key moothie? Inform me!

[sonhenry]

Depends on the style of music you're after. Most blues guys play them in 3rd position, which is a dorian mode. Not all that hard to get started, but the octaves take work. As for jazz on one? Arrrgh, that's tough work.

If you're amplifying them, it's hard to get a good air-tight seal around the mic to keep it from feeding back, Reeds are real fragile to, not like in a marine band or a blues harp. Easy to damage them if you pull to hard.

That help at all?

[Afro Droid]

Cheers man, it's for blues/rock sort of stuff.

[Paulscoconutass]

I bought one for a blues rock vibe a few weeks back, but it's tuned to C and no matter what I play it always sounds like a hymn! DON'T BUY C Major ones for blues!

[Frosty Jack]

Originally Posted by Paulscoconutass

I bought one for a blues rock vibe a few weeks back, but it's tuned to C and no matter what I play it always sounds like a hymn! DON'T BUY C Major ones for blues!

Sure it was a chromatic? Or was it a diatonic - the smaller one, like a Blues Harp, or Marine Band etc? If it was, then try playing it along with a tune in the key of G, using the second hole inhaled as the root note. This should produce a bluesy scale in G. If you need a bluesy scale for a tune in C, you need a harp in the key of F.

[Afro Droid]

Originally Posted by Paulscoconutass

I bought one for a blues rock vibe a few weeks back, but it's tuned to C and no matter what I play it always sounds like a hymn! DON'T BUY C Major ones for blues!

That doesn't sound like you've got a chromatic harp, with a chromatic you should be able to play in any key.

I have a moothie in C (and in F and G, need one in D), I know what you mean about the churchy sound.

[soundian]

Originally Posted by Jonny Lucifer

That doesn't sound like you've got a chromatic harp, with a chromatic you should be able to play in any key.

Yeah, the fact that he calls it a C major harp is a bit of a giveaway on the non-chromaticism.

[Paulscoconutass]

'Tis a Big River Harp by Hohner, sounds nice, but as I said, a little too songs of praise-esque. Never realised how many types of moothies there were. Would a blues one be more expensive? (That one was £15)

[shaun]

Originally Posted by Paulscoconutass

'Tis a Big River Harp by Hohner, sounds nice, but as I said, a little too songs of praise-esque. Never realised how many types of moothies there were. Would a blues one be more expensive? (That one was £15)

it would just be the same harmonica you have but in a different key, i think?

[Frosty Jack]

Originally Posted by Paulscoconutass

'Tis a Big River Harp by Hohner, sounds nice, but as I said, a little too songs of praise-esque. Never realised how many types of moothies there were. Would a blues one be more expensive? (That one was £15)

The Big River will do fine for a blues sound, but a C harp won't play blues in C. It will play blues in G. This is because you use the draw (inhale) second hole as the root note of the key, in this case this is a G. Playing the scale from this point will give you the minor 'bluesy' notes you need. This is known as playing '2nd position' or 'cross-harp'. If you take the first hole (blowing) as the root it only plays the notes of the C major scale, hence, churchy. This is 'straight harp'.
So to play cross-harp, you need a harp that is marked in the key 4 notes up from what you want. If you want blues in C, then get a harp tuned to F. Then when you draw on the second hole, you're playing a C, and a bluesy scale from there up.
Not sure if you can get a Big River in F, if not get a Marine Band, a Blues Harp, or a Pro Harp. They're a bit pricier than the Big River, but well worth it.
The other secret to sounding bluesy is to master bending. The draw notes can be sucked in such a way as to 'pull' the note down by a semi-tone or so which you should be able to control , like bending a guitar string, but in reverse. It's hard to describe, but it's essentially done by kinda flattening the back of your tongue as you suck, a bit like playing a jews harp. You just need to practice until you get the feel of it.
If you get a new harp though, best break it in first. Go gentle with it for the first cupla days, and get it broken in before you try bending with it, otherwise it'll just go out of tune.