Does anyone know of any good books on Irish Harmonica? I already play the harmonica and would love to move into Irish music with the instrument.
Thanks a lot
Steve Shaw is big into this, and posts regularly on this forum. http://mysite.freeserve.com/trad_irish_harmonica
djm
Check Mat Walklate out.
http://www.matwalklate.co.uk
He plays ITM on Harmonica
Brendan Power has a book/cd set on playing ITM on diatonics (he retunes the 3 blow on a richter-tuned harp).
i second the suggestion of Steve Shaw’s site, and his cd is really good, too.
Here’s a link to an article by Steve Shaw that gives some basic information you may find helpful.
http://www.planetharmonica.com/ph5/VE/IrishUK.htm
Thanks guys, you advice was great!
Although the experts regard the Chromatic G or C as the best of the batch, there is nothing wrong with learning the basics on a simple Diatonic such as the Blues Harp or Marine Band( if you can find one these days!)
Crossing the notes on a Chromatic has a charm all to itself, and can be very addictive to an audience. Once heard, a good player is much praised, but OC there are quite a few these days.
One thing 4 sure, the old hands at it could rattle out a set of reels that needed little else.
G tuning is easy on the wind and nice to listen to, so get a G to start.
A couple of good tunes for a cold beginner makes the learning easier, so try The Mug Of Ale - Jig, and Far From Home- Reel, and for desert try The Stack Of Barle, Barn Dance. Later you can move onto bigger things like Kiss The Maid Behind The Barrel - Reel and The Cliffs Of Moher - Jig on a Chromatic.
Course if you’d prefer an easier more lucrative life ..ahem .. learn a few Slides, Polkas and Airs. Believe me, for sheer crowd pleasing moments there is absolutely nothing so good as an adult playing a haunting Air on a little Harmonica!
Considering it takes about 6 months to get good at it, I often wonder why more people don’t learn to play the Harmonica as well as or instead of the bigger instruments? Anyway I do know kids go bananas for more Irtrad on Harp
Happy Harping!
Thanks, I already have a G diatonic, so I’ll get started right away!
I’ve written a set of articles over the last year for an American quarterly publication called The Harmonica Educator. The articles are all about playing ITM on the diatonic harmonica. I’ve covered just about everything I’ve learned, and gone into a lot of detail about choosing harmonicas; the tuning, retuning and setting up of instruments; how to approach the music (which I always treat very respectfully); learning tunes; ornamentation and variation; playing in sessions; amplification; getting good accompaniment, and more. Some of my own tune-settings are included too. It’s one untutored man’s view, and I’d be the first to admit that The Harmonica Educator is unlikely to appeal to many on this list, but it’s been a good mental exercise for me marshalling my thoughts like this and I’m more than willing to pass on a distilled version of what went into the articles to anyone interested enough to email me offlist (you’ll get a very wordy attachment!). The diatonic harmonica can be a seriously good instrument in ITM and my mission in life (apart from playing the bloody thing and enjoying myself) is to spread the word!
If anyone’s remotely interested, The Harmonica Educator’s web page (in urgent need of updating as I write) is http://members.aol.com/heducator2/index.html
Cheers
Steve