I got the Glenn Weiser book the other day 100 fiddle tunes & Irish for harmonica w/cd,
But unfoftunately only about 20 tracks"songs" are on the cd. I pick stuff up by ear , but I see the names of songs , withe Planxty , sheg, different words and I have NO idea how it sounds . I can learn it if I can hear it , But alass , oh, yes a lass was involved 
only 20 tunes
Steve,
Iād like to introduce you to ABC and all the wonderful applications out there that play the tune for you (so you can hear what it basically sounds like).
Concertina.Net has the Tune-O-Tron and thesession.org has the tunebook (with gif and midi for each tune). Look em up, listen to them and play them. The Session also has links to CDs with that tune on them and what track itās on. Thatās all one needs in my opinion to get cracking.
I play harmonica. Bits and pieces of whatever I sing or play on other instruments. Mostly ITM and Sacred Harp.
yay jesus! yay bible! yay church! yay sacraments! whoo
Really? I can just imagine a room full of people playing 4 part hymns, and humming syllables into their instruments. 
OTOH, I guess any harmonica played in a church is a sacred harp. 
My good man, you come out with all this and here am I, having spent a lifetime convincing myself that the harmonica is a pagan instrument!
I like to visit old churches and cathedrals wherever I go, and I always endeavour to play Amazing Grace on a G harp in each one. The last occasion was last Saturday, when I played it in St Enodocās church in Cornwall (within sight of the Doom Bar sandbank in the Camel estuary). John Betjeman is buried in that little churchyard. I like to think he would have approved of my rendition.
St Enodocās and the Camel estuary:
The great manās simple grave:
LOL. very true. Nah, I wouldnāt dare bring it to a singing, but the tunes sit real well on harmonica (the tenor and treble parts, at least). Especially the Southern ones, the older Eastern compositions donāt feel as right, or maybe Iām just not good enough for them.
Those are some nice pictures, Steve! Thatās a great tradition.
I play mountain dulcimer with a local group. Also play pennywhistle as well as harmonica.
The harmonica goes well with the āOld Time Musicā that we play.
I keep a harmonica at work and several times a month Iāll play the ābluesā in the hallway. Keeps the management up to date on our attitude.
Honestly, I just started playing again ā and Iāve never played seriously. Iām serious now, though. So, I have a Hohner Special 20 in G and a new one in C. I also have a Hohner Blues Harp in G. Wood vs. Plastic. Meh, anyway, Iām playing all kinds of stuff ā blues, old time stuff, celtic.
Does anyone have any experience with/opinions on the Hohner Celtic harmonica? Itās supposed to be keyed to play stuff that youād play with a set of pipes. Sounds interesting.
Best,
Little John
Iāve never heard of it. Thereās the Hohner Echo Highlander, a D/A double-sided beast (with tweaking on the A side), developed by Donald Black with Hohner. I understand that itās fine for some Scottish piping tunes but the layout wouldnāt be much use to me for Irish tunes. Other than that Iād recommend ordinary blues harps with the 3-blow raised by a whole tone. This gives you the Paddy Richter tuning which is great for the vast majority of Irish tunes and for the Scottish/Northumbrian ones that donāt contain accidentals. Proper modal tunes are just fine on Paddied harps.
Indeed, I stand corrected. The Hohner Highlander it is. Iāll visit your website and hope to find how to raise the 3-blow by a whole tone. Iām sure thatās less complicated than it sounds. Heck, I just took apart, cleaned and reassembled a chromatic harmonica. Raising the 3-blow should be easy by comparison. LOL!
Thanks again for the feedback!