The Harmonica: Blowing In The Wind

When the blues moved from the delta to Saint Louis, Memphis and Chicago – from acoustic to electric – the harmonica made the move as well. And keeping to its low-budget practical roots, the means of amplifying the harmonica followed in line.

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Cheaper desktop crystal microphones, as commonly used by shortwave radio jockeys, taxi dispatchers and high school principals alike, held in the cupped hands behind the harmonica and plugged into low-wattage tube amplifiers allowed the harpist to stay in the mix against the louder electric guitars. It also forever defined the equation for the “Mississippi Saxophone” sound: a harmonica + a cheap mic + a cheap amp = a million dollar sound.

To that end, some of the old guard mics (such as Shure’s Green Bullet and the Astatic JT-30) have stayed in production while being joined by newer vintage-vibe offerings such as the Shaker Retro Rocket, Nady’s Bushman Torpedo and harmonica manufacturing giant Hohner’s Blues Blaster mic.

Larger, more powerful amps did eventually find their way onto the stage. Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds uses two 60-watt Fender Deville amps and Blues Traveler’s John Popper uses a Mesa Boogie amplifier along with four 4×12 cabinets! But most traditional blues harp aficionados in less demanding situations still prefer smaller older amps by Fender, Supro and Valco and drive the amp’s volume high to obtain rich saturated tube distortion, and then mic the amp through the P.A. for the needed volume to cover the venue.

Mick Jagger, Robert Plant, Steven Tyler, and Roger Daltrey are among the great rock vocalists that are heavily influenced by the blues, and have used the harp to great effect to enhance their musical mojo both in the studio and on stage.

Pop music, too, has always provided a good foundation for showcasing the harmonica.  Little Stevie Wonder was blowing formidable harmonica on the more difficult chromatic harp at the tender age of 13. John Lennon blew harmonica in the early Beatles days. And, while Billy Joel might be the piano man, he straps a harmonica around his neck when playing that hit on stage.

While not typically considered an orchestral instrument, Buddy Greene uses it to play some of classical music’s greatest melodies. And Toots Theilemans’ use of the harmonica in jazz is highly acclaimed.

In order to be able to play in musically and tonally complex situations, most of these genre’s players use a chromatic harmonica. There are two basic types of chromatic harmonicas; one has all twelve tones side-by-side, octave-by-octave on an extra long harp. The other has a lever or button on the side of a larger than normal harmonica, whichwhen depressed allows the harpist to play the accidentals.

Inventive and progressive harmonica players (such as Howard Levy of The Flecktones) have developed a technique called “overblowing.” Thismanipulates the reeds in such a way that the player can get all 12 tones on a single standard diatonic harp. Suzuki designed their new Overdrive harp to facilitate this style,with a modified cover with holes that can be covered with the player’s fingers just as one would with a wood flute or recorder. Hohner used a more conventional approach with their XB-40 design so all the reeds can be played with the overblowing technique without additional fingering.

While even beginners can sound decent the first time playing harmonica,far greater rewards await those that master the instrument. With extensive study, one could play in the style of Micky Raphael, whose harp playing would exemplify Willie Nelson’s sound if Willie’s voice and guitar style weren’t already so distinctive: or maybe become the next Jason Ricci, who is already helping to define what the harmonica can do in the 21st century.

But theconventionally played folk-style diatonic harmonica around the neck of the guitarist is the most popular use of the harp today. And with it just about any aspiring singer-songwriter can accompany him or herself relatively easily in the style of some of the greatest artists of our time: Neil Young, Kris Kristofferson, Bruce Springsteen and, of course, Bob Dylan.

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